Chief Hezekiah
Oladipo Davies (5 April 1905 – 22 November 1989) was a leading Nigerian nationalist,
lawyer, journalist, trade unionist, thought leader and politician during the
nation's movement towards independence in 1960 and immediately afterwards.
Family
History and Early Life
Chief Davies was born in the
southern city of Lagos, Nigeria. His maternal Great Grandfather was the Oba of Effon-Alaiye.
His maternal Great Grand Mother was the Owa (Queen regnant) of Ilesha.
His grandmother was Princess Haastrup, the daughter of the Ijesha monarch, and
his paternal Grand-Father, Prince Ogunmade-Davies of the Ogunmade Ruling House
of Lagos, was the son of King Docemo. His father, known as "Spiritual
Moses", was one of the founders of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church of
Nigeria.
Between 1911 and 1917, Davies attended the Wesley School, Olowogbowo,
Lagos. He then went on to Methodist Boys High School, Lagos, which
he attended from 1917 to 1920. In 1921, he began attending the King's College, Lagos, and did so until 1923.
In the following year, he became Assistant Master at King's College, Lagos
Notable amongst his childhood friends were Nigeria's first
president, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who attended Methodist Boys
High School with him, and Nigeria's first indigenous Chief Justice of the
Federation, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, and first indigenous surgeon,
Dr Oni Akerele,
both from King's College.
Higher
Education
H.O. Davies was one of the
earliest Nigerians to use the University of London's distance
learning program, he making friends by way of it with the likes
of Lord Denning. He passed the London
Matriculation Examination in 1925 in the company of Eyo Ita. He
also attended the London School of Economics in 1935,
where he was a pupil of Harold Laski,
graduating with a BComm (Hons).
In the same year, he was elected President of
the Cosmopolitan Club of the School. While in the United Kingdom, he was
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 returned to London in
1944, where he studied Law and was called to the English Bar at the Middle
Temple Inns of Court, London in 1946. In 1959, Davies spent a year as a Fellow
of the Center for International Studies at Harvard University
Political
Career
Davies was a founding member
of the Lagos Youth Movement in 1934 along with James Churchill Vaughan, Kofo Abayomi, Ernest Sissei Ikoli, and Samuel Akisanya.
He was made Secretary-General. 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.
After returning from studies
abroad along with Nnamdi Azikiwe, Davies spearheaded the efforts
that led to renaming the Lagos Youth Movement the Nigerian Youth Movement when both
individuals became prominent members, contributors and national leaders with
large followings. Davies was the founding Secretary-General of the NYM.
Davies 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 were unsuccessful. Davies was a Federal Minister of
State in the Ministry of Industries from 1963–1966 during
the Nigerian First Republic.
