REVIEWING THE SCRIBES OF THE NATION (Herbert Samuel Heelas Macaulay)- NIGERIA

 Herbert Samuel Heelas Macaulay

(1864 - 1946)

The great Nigerian nationalist 

Herbert Samuel Heelas Macaulay was born on 14 November 1864. He was a man with many talents and interests - a civil engineer and surveyor, a politician, an editor and journalist, a civil servant. He also played the violin to a very high standard. 

Acknowledged as the founding father of Nigerian nationalism, he was instrumental in laying the foundation of modern Nigeria. He was also a pan-Africanist who championed the history and concerns of black people throughout the world. 

Herbert Macaulay came from a distinguished lineage - a missionary family with roots in the abolition movement and Sierra Leone colony. Born in Lagos, he was the seventh child of Thomas Babington Macaulay and Abigail Crowther Macaulay, both children of liberated Africans who had been resettled in Sierra Leone. His father founded the famous CMS Grammar School in 1859, and was heavily involved in the establishment of Christian missions, modern industrial development, and the initiation of modern forms of constitutional development. 

Herbert Macaulay's mother came from an even more illustrious family. She was the second daughter of Right Reverend Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first African bishop who achieved world-wide fame in the nineteenth century as a pioneer in the Yoruba and Niger mission fields.

From childhood, young Herbert Macaulay learned the importance of a sound education, patriotism, and, of course, Christian values. After completing his education at his father's school, he entered civil service in September 1881 as a clerical assistant.

In July 1890, he went abroad for further training, later qualifying as the first Nigerian civil engineer. On his return to Lagos, the Colonial government made him a surveyor of Crown lands in Lagos but he was unhappy with the situation at the time, whereby British civil servants enjoyed better conditions and much higher salaries than Africans. He therefore decided to go into private practice as a licensed surveyor and architect in 1898.

Herbert Macaulay turned his focus to journalism and political activism. For almost 20 years, he regularly contributed to the Nigerian Chronicle. In 1927, with his friend Dr. John Akilade Caulcrick, he bought the Lagos Daily News, a paper which was often critical of government policy. On one occasion they published details of a rumour about a plot to assassinate the exiled Oba (King) of Lagos, for which Herbert Macaulay was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. After his release from prison, he became more cautious, but his writing still remained critical. He continued to publish his newspaper until 1938.

Herbert Macaulay found success as an advisor in two important court cases. The first case involved indigenous land rights and the nature of government compensation. Since the 1890s, the colonial government had tried to declare huge tracts of unused land as Crown land. In 1915, the government acquired a large area of 255 acres on the Lagos mainland belonging to the family of Chief Oluwa, one of the White Cap chiefs who belonged to the Idejo or land-owning class in Lagos; and offered the Oluwa family very low compensation. They then decided to sue the government in court for a much higher sum, supported by Herbert Macaulay, who accompanied the chief appellant, Chief Oluwa, to London. On 14 June 1921, the Privy Council ruled in favour of Chief Oluwa: that due compensation should be paid for the appropriation of family land. This was a great victory which enhanced Herbert Macaulay's reputation.

The second case concerned the role of the Eleko of Lagos, the traditional ruler, in an action against the colonial government, which was believed to have undermined customary laws and customs. After a ten-year campaign, the appeal was heard by the Privy Council. Again, the Council found in favour of the appellants. Herbert Macaulay was hailed as the architect of this important victory. 

The pinnacle of his political career, however, was the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP). Founded in 1923, the NNDP was the first well-organized political party in Commonwealth West Africa. Its candidates won all the elective seats in the Nigerian legislature between 1923 and 1938. 

They were part of a thriving coalition of interest groups including political parties, trade unions, literary societies, professional associations, social clubs and ethnic unions.

While on a national tour in May 1946, Herbert Macaulay fell ill with a severe attack of rheumatism and died in Lagos on 7 May, at the age of 80. 

Approximately 200,000 people turned out in the streets to mourn, and all the markets were closed for two days. The funeral of this great statesman was a fitting occasion for the celebration of a life of dedication to public service.

Picture from left to right: A British lord, king George V, Herbert Macaulay carrying the staff of office of Oba Eleko, presented by Queen Victoria. This picture was taken during a garden party at the Royal Botanical Garden. London, during the Oluwa land case. King George V is seen shaking hands with Amodu Tijani Oluwa.