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| FEMI FANI-KAYODE |
The Yoruba people of south-western Nigeria are a nationality of
approximately 50 million people, the vast majority of whom are
concentrated primarily within Nigeria, but who are also spread
throughout the entire world. They constitute probably the largest
percentage of Africans that live in the diaspora and they have made their own
extraordinary contributions in virtually every field of human endeavour
throughout the ages.
Descendants of the Yoruba
and indeed various ancient derivatives and forms of the Yoruba
language can be found and are spoken in places like Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, the
United States of America and various other parts of the western world.
Today, first, second and even third
generation Yoruba have settled down and spread all over the
world and are amongst the best and most sought after lawyers, nuclear
scientists, doctors, industrialists, academics, writers, poets,
playwrights, clerics, theologians, artists, film producers,
historians and intellectuals. Wherever they go they tend to flourish and
excel.
This is nothing new and indeed has
always been the case. The first Nigerian to be called to the
Bar was a Yoruba man by the name, Sapara Williams, who was called to
the English Bar and started practising as a lawyer in 1879.
Yet Sapara Williams was not a flash in the pan or a one- time
wonder.
Other Yoruba men followed in
his footsteps in quick succession and were called to the English Bar
shortly thereafter. For example, after him came Joseph Edgarton
Shyngle who was called in 1888, then came Gabriel Hugh Savage who was
called in 1891, then came Rotimi Alade who was called in 1892, then
came Kitoye Ajasa (whose original name was Edmund Macauly) who was
called in 1893, then came Arthur Joseph Eugene Bucknor who was called in
1894 and then came Eric Olaolu Moore who was called in 1903.
Ironically Sapara Williams was not
the first Nigerian lawyer though he was the first to be called to the
English Bar. In those days you did not have to be called to the Bar to practice
law and the first Nigerian lawyer that practised without being called to
the Bar was a Yoruba man by the name of William Henry
Savage. He was described as a ‘’self-taught and practising lawyer’’ and
he was a registered Notary Public in England as far back as1821.
These were indeed the greats and every single one of them was a Yoruba man.
My
friend and brother, Mr. Akin Ajose-Adeogun, who is a historian by calling
and a lawyer by profession, is a man for whom I have
tremendous respect. I have often described him as the ‘’living oracle of
Nigerian history’’ simply because he has a photographic memory, a knack
for detail, first class sources and has read more books on Nigerian
history than anyone that I have ever met before in my life.
Akin has an extraordinary
mind, he is a living genius and I have often urged him to write a book.
You can ask him anything about anyone or any event in any part of our
country, since or before independence, and he will give you names, dates
and the sequence of events immediately and without any recourse to notes, books
or sources.
After he has given you the information
he will then cite his sources and tell you which books to go and read in order
to confirm what he is saying. I have learnt so much from him that I must
publically acknowledge the fact that I owe him an enormous debt of
gratitude. He once told me something that I found very interesting
and that reflected the semi god-like status that our earliest lawyers,
including some of the names that I mentioned earlier, enjoyed amongst the
people.
These men were not only revered but
they were also admired by all, including members of the
British intelligentsia, legal fraternity and elites. Akin told
me that many years ago in the mid-80s, Sir Adetokunboh Ademola, who
himself was one of the legal greats, who was called to the
English Bar in 1934, who was the third Nigerian to be appointed
as a magistrate in 1938, who was the third Nigerian to be
appointed as a High Court judge in 1948 and who was
the first Nigerian to be appointed Chief Justice of the Federation in 1958, said
the following words to him.
He said, ’’When you saw the
way the earliest Nigerian lawyers conducted themselves in court
and argued their cases you would have been filled with pride and you would have
wanted to become a lawyer yourself. Members of the public used to fill the
court rooms to the brink and sometimes even the forecourts and
passages just to watch these great men perform and enjoy their
brilliance and oratory.
They spoke the Queen’s English and
they knew the law inside out. It is not like that today’’. This is
a resounding testimony from an illustrious Nigerian and
it speaks eloquently about where the Yoruba, as a people, are coming from
and the stock and quality of minds that they are made of.
Yet the dynamism of the Yoruba and
their innovations and ‘’firsts’’ did not stop there. It went into
numerous other spheres of human endeavour. Permit me
to cite just two examples. The first lies within the field of
medicine. Dr. Nathaniel King was the first Nigerian to become
a medical practitioner.
He graduated from Edinburgh
University in 1876 and he was a Creole of Yoruba origin. Next was Dr.
Oguntola Sapara who was the second Nigerian to become a medical practitioner
and who also graduated from Edinburgh University in 1884.
He was followed by Dr. John Randle
who graduated from Durham University in 1891, then Dr. Orisadipe Obasa
who graduated from Edinburgh University in 1892, then Dr. Akinwande Savage
who graduated from Edinburgh University in 1900, then Dr. Curtis
Adeniyi-Jones who graduated from Durham University in 1901. Others like Dr. Oyejola
who graduated in 1905, Dr. Kubolaje Faderin, Dr. Sesi
Akapo and Dr. Magnus Macauly who all graduated in 1912, Dr. Moyses
Joao Da Rocha who graduated from Edinburgh University in 1913 followed.
The second example lies
within the ranks of the clergy. The first African
Anglican Bishop and the first man to translate the Holy Bible and Book of
Common Prayer to any African language
(outside of Ethiopia) was a Yoruba ex-slave who gave his life to
Christ, won his freedom and rose up to become one of the greatest and
most respected clerics and leaders that the African continent
has ever known by the name of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther.
Unknown to many his original
name was Rev. John Raban but he changed it in his early
years. Crowther got his first degree at the famous Fourah Bay
College, Sierra Leone (which at that time was part of Durham University). He
was ordained as an Anglican Bishop in 1864 and in that same
year he was awarded a Doctorate degree from Oxford University.
This extraordinary man who was
blessed by God with an exceptionally brilliant mind was, as far
as I am concerned, one of the greatest Africans that ever lived. He
not only translated the Holy Bible and the Book of
Common Prayer to Yoruba (an extremely difficult, complicated and
painstaking venture which he began in 1843 and which
he completed in 1888) but he also codified a number of
other Christian books and he translated them into the Igbo and Nupe
languages. He was literally the pillar and foundation of
the Anglican Church in West Africa.
Throughout his adult life he
courageously stood up and fought for the rights and the dignity of
the African and he, more than anyone else, was responsible for the spread,
influence and power of the Christian faith in Nigeria in the
late 19th century. He was also the maternal grandfather of the great
nationalist Herbert Macauly who, together with Nnamdi
Azikiwe, founded the political party known as the NCNC in 1944.
Crowther was also the
father-in-law of Rev. Thomas Babington Macaulay who
founded the Christian Missionary Society Grammar School
(CMS Grammar School) in 1859 in what was then the Lagos Colony.
CMS Grammar School was the epitome of excellence and a citadel of great
learning in those days.
It was also the oldest
secondary school in Nigeria and the main source of African clergymen and
administrators in the Lagos Colony. It is not surprising that it was
the son-in-law of the great Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther that founded such
a school and that it was his grandson that founded one of the greatest
political parties that the African continent has ever known.
Source:vanguardng
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