Foundation Calls Ernest Ikoli Deep Thinker, Liberator, Urges World Leaders to Emulate Late Nationalist’s Virtues
Nigerian educationist, journalist and politician, Chief Ernest Sesei Ikoli, has been applauded for bringing about understanding among the different ethnic groups in Nigeria.
He was also praised for shaping the content of Nigerian formative politics and laying the organizational foundation for Nigeria’s independence movement.
“Chief Ernest Ikoli was committed to the unity of the people, believing that it was the effective way of fighting the colonial masters”
A statement issued by the Ernest Ikoli Foundation on “The Life and Times of Ernest Sesei Ikoli” praised the pioneer of African nationalism, scholar and a major figure in Lagos society for playing a prominent role in the struggle for the country’s independence.
Signed by the Vice Chairman of Ernest Ikoli Foundation, Chief Anthony George Ikoli, SAN, the foundation lauded Ernest Ikoli for taking the fight for self-determination to the institutional level by representing Lagos in the colonial Legislative Council in 1941 and continuing service in 1942 and 1946.
“In 1941, Dr. Kofo Abayomi resigned his seat in the Nigerian Legislative Council to travel abroad for studies. The NYM Central Committee (which included leaders like H.O. Davies and Obafemi Awolowo) selected Ernest Ikoli as the official party candidate. Supported by NYM’s official organ, the Daily Service, Ernest Ikoli won the election and took the Legislative Council seat. He was elected President of the NYM in 1943 and re-elected to the Legislative Council in 1946. There, he advocated for open government, improved working conditions, and broader representation for Nigerians”
The statement described the editor of The Lagos Weekly Record, African Messenger, Daily Times of Nigeria, Nigerian Daily Mail, Telegraph and The Daily Service as one of the most intelligent Nigerian politicians in the colonial days.
A man of untiring energy and crusader against man’s inhumanity to man, Ernest Sesei Ikoli was associated with agitation and representation to the colonial government in those days.
Particularly, the foundation offered praise to Ikoli for fighting against the unfair treatment of black people globally and unifying educated Nigerians across diverse ethnic lines to collectively demand self-governance and educational reforms.
“Chief Ernest Ikoli worked for the greater glory of Nigeria, instilled in blacks the feeling of relevance, played an active part in the foundation of Daily Times, brought about far-reaching social and political progress and demonstrated an ability to withstand adversity and to move”
The statement recollected Ernest Ikoli’s resignation from King’s College over an incident involving European racial arrogance and how a European master spoke harshly to Ikoli, which he considered an insult to himself and his race.
It stressed on moral leadership, strong work ethics, fairness, courage, thoroughness, kindness and humility.
The foremost political leader, Chairman of the Rediffusion Service and public relations adviser to the Nigeria Railway Corporation went to Bonny Primary School and then to King’s College in Lagos, where he was one of the foundation students on its opening in 1909. He became assistant Mathematics teacher in 1913.
A patriot, liberator of the people, example of steadfastness in the common cause and son of an illustrious merchant who traded on the coast of South-East Nigeria, Ernest Sesei Ikoli was born on March 25, 1893, at Brass. His mother was among the first women from the Niger Delta to receive Western education.
He worked at the Lagos Weekly Record before establishing the African Messenger in 1921, which became prominent for caustic editorials challenging colonial policy.
In 1926, he became the first African editor of the Daily Times of Nigeria and later edited The Daily Service, positioning the press as a critical vehicle for public debate and anti-colonial discourse.
Ikoli served as the Nigerian organizing secretary for Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), injecting radical Pan-African ideas into mainstream Nigerian political thought. He also served as the president of the Nigerian Youth Movement; Secretary of the People’s Union led by Dr. J.K. Randle, and co-founded the Union of Young Nigerians in 1923. In 1951, he collaborated with other front-line leaders to found the Action Group.
The icon of integrity died October 21, 1960; three weeks after Nigeria became independent of Britain.
