- Egbe Omo Oduduwa
Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà, was a Nigerian
political organization established in1945 , when ChiefObafemi Awolowo along with Dr. Oni Akerele, Chief Akintola Williams, Professor Saburi Biobaku, Chief Abiodun Akinrele, Chief Ayo Rosiji and others, met inLondon . Their stated aim in setting up the organization was to unite the Yorùbá in a manner similar to the tenets of theIbibio State Union and theIbo Federal Union ; which werepolitical action committees of theIbibio and theIgbo respectively.The Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà grew in importance in
1948 when it was launched inLagos with greatfanfare by prominent Yorùbápoliticians associated with theNigerian Youth Movement . These politicians included Chief Bode Thomas, Sir Adeyemo Alakija, ChiefH. O. Davies , Dr. Kofo Abayomi, Dr. Akinola Maja and others. The revival of the Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà in1948 was not accidental, because that was the year heated debates were being held to the decide Nigeria'spolitical orientation;nationalism or parochialism. During this period of the struggle forindependence from the British, radical nationalism had been on the ascendancy since1938 , but it became very pronounced, between1945 -1948 . This period was marked by theGeneral Strike of1945 and the1946 Nigeria-wideNCNC campaign against theimposition of theRichards' Constitution .Yoruba politicians in
Lagos led by Chief Bode Thomas formed the group in response to the afore-mentioned ethnically specific organizations, and also to chart a specific course for the development of Nigeria's Western Region, populated overwhelmingly by Yorubas. On March 21,1951 the Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà set up apolitical party called the Action Group. The party was to serve as the vehicle for realizing its primary objective of mobilizing the Yorùbá into one political umbrella. The Action Group, was therefore formed to implement theideals andobjectives of the Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà; and was led by ChiefObafemi Awolowo .References
*Some facts and dates were drawn from the book, by Yusufu Bala Usman and Alkasum Abba, entitled "The Misrepresentation of Nigeria: The Facts and the Figures", CEDDERT, Zaria, 2005 reprint.
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