HERBERT MACAULAY THE NUPE MAN Herbert Macaulay is today known to many as a foremost nationalist who fought for the independence of Nigeria. In commemoration and celebration of his inestimable contribution to Nigeria, his image is engraved on the One Naira note and embossed on the One Naira coin. And today his statue stood in front of the CMS building, Lagos. So, Nigerians all know and remember Herbert Macaulay as one of the greatest national leaders and figures of Nigerian history. He was the first to register a political party in the history of Nigeria. What many people don’t know, however, is that Herbert Macaulay was a Nupe man. Herbert Macaulay’s father is a Nupe man born here KinNupe at the village of Mammagi just outside Bida in Niger State, Nigeria. Herbert Macaulay’s father, known to history today as Thomas Babington Macaulay, was born a Nupe man at the village of Mammagi but was sold into slavery at an early age in life. Thomas Babington Macaulay was shipped from Eggan en route to the Americas. But he was liberated from slavery when their slave shipped was intercepted on the Atlantic. That was how he ended up at Sierra Leone which was a colony set up for liberated slaves. Thomas Babington later on came back to Nigeria and settled at Lagos. He was educated at Sierra Leone and London and he became a successful businessman and educationist. He was the first to set up a secondary school, the CMS School, in Nigeria. He also set up lucrative business and commercial links between Lagos and KinNupe with Eggan as a branch office in KinNupe. Thomas Babington Macaulay later on married Abigail, the daughter to Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. Hebert Macaulay was one of their children. Interestingly Herbert Macaulay’s mother, Abigail, might also have Nupe bloods as Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther has also been said to be a Nupe man in actuality. Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther might not have after all been a Yoruba man as there are documentary evidences in substantiation of the fact that he was actually born here in KinNupe before he was also sold into slavery at the age of ten. If Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther is a Nupe man then his daughter, the mother of Herbert Macaulay, is also Nupe and that will make Herbert Macaulay a Nupe man from both his paternal and maternal sides. Whatever the case might be the fact still remains that Herbert Macaulay’s father, Reverend Thomas Babington Macaulay, was a Nupe man who was born at the village of Mammagi very close to Bida back here in Central KinNupe. Other tribes have stolen Nupe national figures and claimed them as theirs. Olaudah Equiano is another Nupe man claimed by the Ibos today. In the same vein we should note the fact that several other renowned Nigerian figures are either Nupe or have Nupe blood. Some of these unknown Nupe Nigerians include: Chief Ahmed Bola Tinubu the former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Maitama Sule the Danmasanin Kano, Fela Anikulakpo Kuti and the entire Ransome Kuti family, the Former Minister of Aviaton Femi Fani-Kayode and his greatgrantfather the Most Reverend Emmanuel Adedapo Kayode, Professor prof Albert Ogunsola, Honourable Abike Dabiri the House Charman on Diaspora, Alhaji Ibrahim Gambari the Former Minister of External Affairs, the popular musician Ayinde Barrister, the Saraki and Gambari families of Kwara State, Oshodi families of Lagos, many of the Saros Portuguese families of Lagos, Hajiya Gambo Sawaba, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (his mother is of Nupe bloods), General M.I. Wushishi, the late General Mamman Kontagora, Alhaji Ahmadu Ali the former Minister of Education and National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Ahmed Abdul Fatah the Governor of Kwara State, Governor Oshiomole of Edo State, His Royal Highness Alhaji Saidu Namaska the Emir of Kontagora, Alhaji Abubakar Imam the author of Magana Jari Ce and Ruwan Bagaja, and so on and on. I will compose a fuller and more exhaustive list some other day. Alternatively you may read any of my books, Nupe the First Force or Goldfinger Middle Belt, where you will see the Nupe blood of most of the Nigerian national leaders and historical figures. Picture: Herbert Macaulay the Nupe man and the father of Nigerian nationalism. He was the mentor and master to President Nnamdi Azikiwe in the pre-Independence days. But for his sudden death in 1946, Herbert Macaulay the Nupe man would have been the first President of Nigeria. It was because of his death that Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macaulays boy, became the first President of Nigeria.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 08:27:14 +0000
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