H. O. Davies

Hezekiah Oladipo Davies was a Nigerian politician during the nation's movement towards independence. He was a founding member of the Lagos Youth Movement in 1934 and after returning from studies abroad along with Nnamdi Azikiwe, the movement was renamed Nigerian Youth Movement when both individuals became prominent contributors and members with large followings. The Youth Movement was one of the earliest political associations to encourage active participation by Nigerians in the political and socio-economic development of the country.

However, he left the movement in 1951 and founded his own party, the Nigerian People's Congress. He later joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons after negotiations for a formidable alliance with Nnamdi Azikiwe was inconclusive. Davies was a Federal Minister of State in the minister of Industries from 1963-1966. [Richard L. Sklar. Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation, Africa World Press, 2004. p 115. ISBN 1592212093]

H.O. Davies was one of the earliest Nigerians to utilize the University of London's distance learning program where he made friends withs the likes of Lord Denning, passing the London Matriculation Examination in 1925 along with Eyo Ita. [cite web |url=http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde25/pdf/article_6.pdf |title=Terhemba Nom AMBE-UVA. NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA (NOUN): A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE AND CHALLENGES, Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE January 2007 ISSN 1302–6488, Volume: 8 Number: 1 Article: 6. p 6. |accessdate=2007-07-03] He also attended the London School of Economics in 1935 where he was a pupil of Harold LaskiIn the same year he was made President of the Cosmopolitan Club. While in the United Kingdom, he was the president of the West African Student Union and was also a representative of the University of London on the executive committee on British Universities. He later studied Law and was made Queen's Counsel in 1959 After defending the then President of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta. That same year he left for the United states where he attended Harvard University and wrote the book "Prospects for Democracy" this also led to him meeting up and becoming friends with U.S. President John F. Kennedy. He led a delegation to the Economic Council at theUnited Nations in 1964, and in September 1974 H.O. Davies was knighted by the French Government Chevelier de l'orde National du merit(Industrial) for contributions made in energizing Total Fina Oil and the Elf Petroleum companies.

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