top of page
< Back
9.1j Olawoyin, Chief J. S. My Political Reminiscences, 1948‒1983. Ikeja: John West Publications, 1993.

I have not yet (as of June 2020) been able to contact anyone who might be able to give me permission to reproduce text from this book. I have therefore prepared a summary of the life and activities of Chief Olawoyin’s father and others, based on the account in My Political Reminiscences. I have added a very brief note on Chief Olawoyin’s work in support of the people of the Metropolitan Districts:

Enslavement of Chief Olawoyin’s father (pages 10-11)

Chief Olawoyin’s father was a native of Offa who was captured by Ilorin soldiers during the long-drawn-out war between Ilorin and Offa in the late nineteenth century. He was sold to a man in Abeokuta who was a leader in the Anglican Mission there. His master had him trained in carpentry. Encouraged by his master, he became a Christian.

He returned to Offa in 1907, as did two other natives of Offa who had been sold to Lagos, learned carpentry and become Christians. The Chief’s father was instrumental, together with one of the other returnees, in founding the C.M.S. Church in Offa in 1907 and he became its long-term President. In 1909, an accompanying primary school was founded, the first in the area.

Chief Olawoyin’s support of the Metropolitan Districts

The author was a native of Offa. He was a prominent politician, both on the local and the national stage. He was influential in the formation of the Ilorin Talaka Parapo/Action Group alliance; and he supported the struggle of the dependent people of the Metropolitan Districts in the period of political activity in those districts during the second half of the 1950s. Later, he championed the movement for the recognition and grading of local chiefs in Moro and Asa (the old Metropolitan Districts). .

Contact Us

Name *

Email *

Message

Thanks for submitting!

bottom of page