- The first Nigerian Medical Doctor was a Yoruba man by the name of Nathaniel Thomas King. He attended London University, Edinburgh University and Aberdeen University between 1874 and 1876 and graduated with honors and he started his medical practice in Lagos Nigeria in 1878.
- The first Nigerian to be consecrated as a Bishop was a Yoruba man by the name of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. He was consecrated as a Bishop in 1864.
- The first Nigerian to translate the Holy Bible into Yoruba was a Yoruba man by the name of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. He translated the Bible into Yoruba in 1884.
- The first Nigerian to become a lawyer was a Yoruba man by the name of Sapara Williams who became a lawyer in 1879.
- Justice Olumuyiwa Jibowu, a Yoruba man, was the first Nigerian to be appointed as a Magistrate in 1931 when he was appointed to the Bench and the first Nigerian to be appointed as a High Court Judge in 1942.
- Chief Frederick Alade Rotimi Williams, a Yorubaman who graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge University in 1942, was the first Nigerian to be appointed as a Q.C. and this happened in 1958 and was the first Nigerian to be appointed as a SAN and this happened in 1975.
- Lady Kofoworola Ademola (nee Moore), a Yoruba woman, was the first Nigerian to graduate from Oxford University where she earned a degree in English Literature from St. Hugh's College, Oxford in 1935. She was a pioneering Nigerian educationist and became the first Nigerian graduate teacher at Queens College, Lagos in 1938.
- Agnes Yewande Savage, a Yoruba woman, was the first West African woman to train and qualify in orthodox medicine. She was the first West African woman to receive a University degree in medicine, graduating with first-class honours from the University of Edinburgh in 1929 at the age of 23.
- Professor Oyinade Odutola Olurin, a Yoruba woman, was the first female Professor of Medicine in Nigeria and the first black African Professor of Ophthalmology. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and the Royal College of Surgeons and she graduated from Bristol University in the United Kingdom in 1959 and 1975 respectively.
- Professor Felicia Adetowun Omolara Ogunsheye is a Yoruba woman who is the first female Professor in Nigeria. She graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge University in 1952 and 1956 respectively where she graduated with a BA and an MA in Geography respectively. She was the first Nigerian woman to graduate from Cambridge University and after that she went on to study Library Science at Simmons College, Massachusetts, USA in 1962. She served as the Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of Ibadan.
- Kemi Badenoch MP, a Yoruba woman, is a British Member of Parliament and the first Nigerian to become Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom. She studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, completing a Master of Engineering (MEng) degree in 2003 and she studied law at Birkbeck College, University of London, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 2009.
- The only family in the history of Africa that has produced five generations of uninterrupted Oxbridge-level British University graduates are a Yoruba family by the name of the Fani-Kayode's (FFK's family) who have had University graduates from these top notch Universities in every generation for the last 116 years starting from 1893 through to 2009.
- The first person to build and Pastor a Church in Ile-Ife, Nigeria was a Yoruba Anglican priest by the name of Rev. Emmanuel Adelabi Kayode (the great grandfather of FFK) who graduated from Durham University in 1893 with an MA (Hons.) degree in theology in 1893 and introduced Christianity to ile-Ife in 1897.
- The first Nigerian to come top in the British Bar exams for the whole of the old British Commonwealth was a Yoruba man by the name of Justice Victor Adedapo Kayode, (the grandfather of FFK) who studied law at Selwyn College, Cambridge University and graduated in 1922 and was called to the British Bar at the Inner Temple in 1923. He was the first Nigerian to attend Cambridge University and he was the fourth Nigerian to be made a Magistrate when he was appointed to the Bench in 1940.
- The second Nigerian to come top in the British Bar exams for the whole of the old British Commonwealth was a Yoruba man by the name of Chief Remi Fani-Kayode QC SAN CON (the father of FFK) who studied law at Downing College, Cambridge University, graduated in 1943 and was called to the British Bar at the Inner Temple in 1945. He was the third and the youngest Nigerian lawyer to be appointed as a Q.C. and this happened in 1960 and the third Nigerian lawyer to be appointed as a SAN and this happened in 1977.
- The only two families in the history of Nigeria who had a father and then later a son/daughter that served as Ministers in various Nigerian Governments were the Yoruba Fani-Kayode family and the Yoruba Akinjide family. Chief Remi Fani-Kayode was Deputy Premier of the old Western Region of Nigeria and Regional Minister of Chieftaincy and Local Government affairs from 1964 to 1966, his son Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK) was Minister of Culture and Tourism in 2006 and Minister of Aviation in 2006 to 2007, Chief Richard Akinjide was Minister of Education in 1963 to 1966, Minister of Justice from 1979 to 1983 and his daughter Chief Jumoke Akinjide was Minister of State for the FCT from 2011 to 2015.
(N.B.The only other family that has achieved this in Nigeria are the Nwodo family of Enugu who are Igbo and whose father, Igwe J.U. Nwodo, was Minister of Commerce and later Minister of Local Government in the late 1950's and early 1960's and whose son, Dr. John Nwodo, was Minister of Civil Aviation in 1983 and Minister of Information and Culture in 1998. His younger brother Okwesiliwe Nwodo was Governor of Enugu state from 1992 to 1993).
- The longest prosecution of any politician in the history of Nigeria was that of a Yoruba man by the name of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK) who was subjected to political persecution from successive Governments and was prosecuted for a period of 18 uninterrupted years from 2008 till 2025 in 4 separate criminal cases and was discharged and acquitted in every single one.
- The Minister that faced the longest and most rigorous screening session in the history of the Nigerian Senate was a Yoruba man by the name of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK) who faced a rigorous 2 hour and 53 minute public screening session before the Senate sitting in plenary before he was finally confirmed.
- Professor Ajayi Borrifice, a Yoruba man, was the first Nigerian to launch Africa into Space by launching the first satellite launched in the black world. He became a lecturer at the University of Ibadan in 1975 and Professor of Zoology at the Lagos State University in 1986. He once held administrative positions at the Lagos State University including Head of Department, Dean of Faculty, and Chairman of the Committee of Deans. He was appointed Coordinating Director for Science in the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure in 1992. He worked on biotechnology, Information and Communication Technology and Space Science and Technology which led to establishing the National Biotechnology Development Agency, National Information Technology Development Agency and the National Space Research and Development Agency.
- The first Nigerian to be adopted as a ward and God daughter by a British monarch was a young Yoruba girl by the name of Lisa Forbes Bonneta who was adopted, brought up, educated and trained by Queen Victoria of Great Britain in 1850.
- The second Nigerian to be adopted as a God daughter of a British monarch was Lisa Bonneta's own daughter (after she married a Yoruba man by the name of James Pinson Labolu Davies in St. Nicholas Church, Brighton, England and had a daughter for him) another Yoruba whose name was Victoria Davis and who was once again adopted as Queen Victoria's god daughter in 1862 and named after the Queen.
- The 3 largest, richest and fastest growing Churches on the African continent are owned and headed by Yoruba men. The first is the Redeemed Church of God which is headed and owned by Pastor Enoch Adeboye. The second is Winners Chapel which is headed and owned by Bishop David Oyedepo. The third is Mountain of Fire which is headed and owned by Dr. Daniel Olukoya.
- Yorubaland was the second place that Islam arrived in Nigeria when it came to present day Oyo, Iseyin and Iwo in the 14th century. The first place that it arrived in Nigeria was in present day Borno in the 11th century. Islam did not reach or touch any other oart of Nigeria before these two places.
- Teslim Balogun (Thunder), a Yoruba man, is the first Nigerian to play professional football in Europe.
- The first Nigerian to become Middle and Light Heavyweight boxing champion of the world was Dick Tiger.
- Anthony Femi Joshua, a Yoruba man, is the first Nigerian to become heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
- Israel Adesanya, a Yoruba man, is the first Nigerian to become the middle weight UFC and MMA champion of the world.
- It was a Division of the Nigerian Army known as the 3rd Marine Commando which was made up of 98% Yoruba soldiers and which was led by two Yoruba Commanders respectively by the names of Colonel Benjamin Adekunle and Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo that drove the Biafran forces out of the Mid West and South South regions, liberated the Southern minorities, entered the Eastern region, overwhelmed the Biafran Army and took the surrender of Ojukwu's Biafran forces during the Nigerian civil war in 1970.
- It was a Yoruba man by the name of Colonel Victor Banjo that led the Biafran Army and captured and overwhelmed the South South and Mid Western Region of Nigeria until they were stopped on the border of Yorubaland at Ore in Ondo state and pushed back all the way to Enugu by the Colonel Benjamin Adekunle-led and Yoruba-manned 3rd Marine Commando of the Nigerian Army.
- The first Nigerian to release a music album was a Yoruba man whose name was Canon Josiah Jesse Ransome-Kuti, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Beko Ransome Kuti and Olikoye Ransome-Kuti's great grandfather. He released it in 1878 and his last album was released in August 1921. His works are still kept at the British Museum.
- The first Newspaper in Nigeria was in the Yoruba Language: 'Iwe Irohin fun awon ara Egba ati Yoruba' was published periodically in Abeokuta c.1859
- The Nigerian Tribune published in Ibadan, Nigeria and established in 1949 by Obafemi Awolowo is the oldest running private Nigerian newspaper.
- WNTV Ibadan was the first TV station in Nigeria and Africa. The first broadcast was aired on October 31, 1959. The Government of Yorubaland were visionary enough ensuring their denizens had access to mass audiovisual media before countries like; Egypt: 1960, New Zealand: 1960, Israel: 1966 & South Africa: 1976. The station played a significant role in beaming taped Yoruba traveling theatre productions to households all over the old Western Region.
- Around one third (33%) of the total maritime coastline of Nigeria is situated in the seashore of Yorubaland.
- In 1894, Olayinka Herbert Macaulay, a Yorubaman, became the first trained Nigerian Engineer. He also trained in England as an Architect. He was a Civil Engineer. He later ventured into politics and formed the first political party in Nigeria, Nigeria National Democratic Party, NNDP in 1923 and later the NCNC, the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons. He was also a Journalist and a Surveyor. He is widely considered as the founder of Nigerian Nationalism.
- The first Nigerian woman to qualify and practice law was Stella Thomas, a Yoruba woman who became a lawyer in 1935 and also became the first female Magistrate in Nigeria in 1943.
- The first high rise building in Nigeria was the Cocoa House in Ibadan built by the administration of Chief S.L. Akintola in the old Western Region. It has 25 storeys.
- Dr Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi (nee Akerele) a Yoruba woman, was the first female physician in Nigeria. She became a Medical Doctor in 1910.
- Folake Solanke a Yoruba woman was the first female Senior Advocate in Nigeria.
- The first indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria was a Yorubaman by the name of Sir Adetokunbo Ademola. He was also the longest serving Chief Justice of Nigeria between 1958 and 1972.
- Jamiu Mosobalaje Olaloye Oyawoye from offa, Kwara State was a Yoruba man and is the first Professor of Geology in Nigeria and Africa. He obtained his PhD in 1959.
- The first Nigerian to become a lawyer and a SAN from Northern Nigeria was Alhaji Abdul Ganiyu Folorunsho Abdul Razaq SAN. He was a prominent Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as a Minister of State for Transport in the nation's First Republic from 1963 to 1966. He was the first lawyer from the Northern Region of Nigeria and was called to the bar in 1955. He is the father of Governor Rahman Abdul Razaq who is presently the Governor of Kwara state.
- The Yoruba language and culture is one of the most influential on the African continent and in the Americas.
-
- Chief Akintola Williams, a Yoruba man and the brother of Chief FRA Williams Q.C. SAN, was the first Chartered Accountant in Nigeria who qualified in 1919 and also the first Nigerian to form a private accounting firm, Akintola Williams and Co in 1952.
- Ekundayo Adeyinka Adeyemi from Ekiti state, a Yoruba man, is the first professor of Architecture in Nigeria and Sub Saharan Africa.
- Emmanuel Olatunde Odeku was a Yoruba man who was the first African neurosurgeon trained in the United States who also pioneered neurosurgery in Africa.
- The Western region of Nigeria was the most educationally and economically advanced of Nigeria's regions in the first republic before the civil war. it has the most people in secondary and tertiary institutions, and the largest commodity exchange bourse/stocks.
- Chief Hubert Adedeji Ogunde and Moses Olaiya, both Yoruba men, are regarded as the pioneers and patriarchs of Nigerian theatre and movie industry. Ogunde was an actor, playwright, theatre manager, and musician who founded the first contemporary professional theatrical company in Nigeria, the African Music Research Party, in 1945.
- The Nigerian embassy in London, UK was originally owned and built by the Western Region of Nigeria (Government of Yorubaland).
- The First bank in Nigeria was a Yoruba bank established in Lagos in 1894, 10 years before amalgamation. Its second branch was opened in Calabar in 1912 and it was facilitated by King Jaja of Opobo. It had its first northern branch in Zaria. It was the first bank in Nigeria.
- The Yoruba homeland, based majorly in the Southwestern part of Nigeria, is home to more than 70% of Nigeria's industrial capacity and is also host to the backbone of Nigeria's entertainment industry.
- In 1986, Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, the great grandson of Canon Josiah Jesse Ransome-Kuti became the first African to win a Nobel Laureate in the field of Literature.
- In 1976, Shooting Stars Sports Club 3SC of Ibadan formerly known as WNDC Ibadan (Western Nigeria Development Company), and were later called IICC (Industrial Investment and Credit Corporation) won the African Winners’ Cup thereby becoming the first Nigerian club side to win continental honour for Nigeria.
- The first Nigerian to score a World Cup goal was Rashidi Yekini. He was a Yoruba man from Kwara state. He scored it against Bulgaria at USA ‘94.
- The area of Yorubaland covers approximately 145,000 km² of land. Were it to be an independent country, it would be physically bigger than Greece, Hungary, Serbia, South Korea, Portugal, Ireland, Sierra Leone and many more countries.
- The first university in Nigeria is University of Ibadan. Today, the Southwestern part of Nigeria also has the highest number of private universities in Nigeria.
- The Yoruba are a people with a historical propensity for living in large urban centres. Yoruba cities have always been among the most populous in Africa. Today, around 11.5% of all West Africans are ethnic Yoruba.
- Yorubaland contains more than 30% of all Nigerian cities with over 100,000 people. They have been described as the most Urban African ethnic group by various ethnologists, sociologists and anthropologic writers and researchers.
- CMS Grammar School, Lagos is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria. It was established in 1859 by a Yoruba man called Herbert Babington Macauly.
- The first known primary school in Nigeria was Nursery of the Infant Church established in 1843 in Badagry in Yorubaland. It moved to its permanent site and was renamed St Thomas Primary School in 1845.
_(The author of this piece, Mr. Emmanuel Owabor Emmanuel, is a Director of Content Service, a Public Policy Expert and a Public Affairs commentator of many years. He can be reached via [email protected].)_
Tags
opinion