Photo Credit: Black Campus magazine / Jide Fashoyin
Herbert Macaulay Memorial Statue located in front of CMS Bookshop is a historical landmark in Lagos Island made of bronze and granite depicting the crafted image of a Nigerian nationalist, architect, journalist, and musician.
This Nigerian legend was born on the 14th of November, 1864 in Lagos and was a grandson of the famous Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther; the first African bishop of the Anglican Church and the first translator of the English Bible to Yoruba language.
His father, Reverend Thomas Babington Macaulay, an early missionary and priest of the Church of England, established the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Grammar School, Lagos, the first secondary school in Lagos.
Before the beginning of the twentieth century, Macaulay was associated with many Lagos socialites and worked as a surveyor. By the end of the 1800s, he had begun to veer from his professional and social activities to become a political activist. He joined the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society.
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In 1908, he exposed European corruption in handling of the railway finances. In another instance, he argued successfully for the chiefs whose land was taken by the colonial government at Privy Council in London which resulted in the payment of compensation to the chiefs.
The NNDP, under the leadership of Herbert Macaulay emerged as the most powerful political group with their candidates victorious in 1923, 1928, and 1933 elections.
In 1944, Macaulay co-founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and became its president. The NCNC was a patriotic organization designed to bring Nigerians of all stripes to demand independence.
Macaulay was barred from running for public office because of legal problems – he was convicted twice by the colonial government in Lagos; the first was for fraud, and the second for sedition.
Before the death of Macaulay in 1946, he earned the title of the father of Nigeria’s nationalism for his anti-colonial struggles.
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