Editing Obafemi Awolowo (section)

==Early life==
Awolowo was born Jeremiah Obafemi Oyeniyi Awolowo on 6 March 1909 in the [[Remo]] town of [[Ikenne]] (present-day [[Ogun State]] of Nigeria).<ref>''Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation'', R. L. Sklar (2004), Africa World Press; {{ISBN|1-59221-209-3}}</ref><ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web |title=Obafemi Awolowo|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Obafemi-Awolowo |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> He was the only son of David Shopolu Awolowo, a farmer and sawyer, and Mary Efunyela Awolowo.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdqrDwAAQBAJ&dq=The+son+of+a+Yoruba+farmer,+he+was+one+of+the+truly+self-made+men+among+his+contemporaries+in+Nigeria&pg=PA179 |title=The Spirituality of the Igbo People of Nigeria as an Example of Religious Modernization in a Global World |date=18 February 2020 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=9783643911094 |language= |access-date=2022-05-15}}</ref> He had two sisters and one maternal half-sister. Awolowo's father was born to a [[Nigerian chieftaincy|high chief]] and member of the Iwarefa, the leading faction of the traditional [[Osugbo]] group that ruled Ikenne.

In 1896, Awolowo's father became one of the first Ikenne natives to convert to [[Christianity]]. Awolowo's paternal grandmother, Adefule Awolowo, whom Awolowo adored, was a devout worshipper of the [[Ifá]]. Adefule, Awolowo's grandmother, believed that Obafemi was a reincarnation of her father (his great-grandfather). Awolowo's father's conversion to Christianity often went at odds with his family's beliefs. He often challenged worshippers of the god of smallpox, [[Babalú-Ayé|Obaluaye]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latestnigeriannews.com/news/226709/awos-religious-influences.html|title = Awo's religious influences}}</ref> His father ultimately died on April 8, 1920, of smallpox when Obafemi was about eleven years old.<ref name="political">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ijfJhANmGG8C&q=Obafemi+Awolowo+Inner+temple|title=Political Leaders of Contemporary Africa South of the Sahara: A Biographical Dictionary|first=Harvey|last=Glickman|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=1992|isbn=9780313267819}}</ref>

He attended various schools, including [[Baptist Boys' High School|Baptist Boys' High School (BBHS), Abeokuta]]; and then became a teacher in [[Abeokuta]], after which he qualified as a [[shorthand typist]]. Subsequently, he served as a clerk at the [[Wesley College Ibadan]], as well as a correspondent for the ''[[Nigerian Times]]''.<ref>"then British owned"</ref>

Following his education at [[Wesley College, Ibadan]], in 1927, he enrolled at the [[University of London]] as an External Student and graduated with the degree of [[Bachelor of Commerce]] (Hons.).<ref>{{Cite web|title=LIFES AND TIMES OF CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO|url=http://thearenaweekly.myschoolarena.com/2018/01/31/lifes-and-times-of-chief-obafemi-awolowo/|last=Akosa|first=Amala|date=2018-01-31|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref> He went to the [[United Kingdom|UK]] in 1944 to study law at the [[University of London]] and was called to the Bar by the [[Inner Temple|Honorable Society of the Inner Temple]] on 19 November 1946.<ref name="political" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WixiTjxYdkYC&q=Obafemi+Awolowo+Inner+temple&pg=PA198|title=Encyclopedia of African History 3-Volume Set|first=Kevin|last=Shillington|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=9781135456696|page=197}}</ref> In 1949, Awolowo founded the ''[[Nigerian Tribune]]'', a private Nigerian newspaper, which he used to spread nationalist consciousness among Nigerians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/about-us|title=About Us|publisher=Nigerian Tribune|access-date=11 May 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520045355/http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/about-us|archive-date=20 May 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>