Theophilus Owolabi Shobowale Benson and the Making of Modern Nigeria

• Authors: Emmanuel Oladipo Ojo , Olusanya Faboyede
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article highlights the contributions of Theophilus Owolabi Shobowale Benson to the making of Modern Nigeria. We argue that Benson joined hands with other nationalists to decolonise Nigeria and struggled for the establishment of a just, egal-itarian, constitutional and prosperous nation. We conclude that Benson, unlike the present crop of Nigerian politicians, did not play ethnic politics neither did he see politics as ‘pot of soup’ for exclusive personal consumption or a ladder for egocentric aggrandizement and enrichment. An ultraist per excellence with unquenchable passion for purposeful nation building and all-facet national development, Benson’s motto throughout his sojourn on Nigeria’s political scene, was “service to fatherland”. Data for the study was obtained from primary and documentary sources and subjected to internal and external criticisms as well as textual and contextual analysis.

Keywords

EN

Theophilus Owolabi Shobowale Benson; Nigeria; Politics;; Nation Building; National Development; Ethnicity

• Publisher: University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic
• Journal: West Bohemian Historical Review
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 71-90

Contributors

author

Emmanuel Oladipo Ojo

• Department of General History, Institute of Humanities, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

author

Olusanya Faboyede

• Department of History and International Studies, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria