Chief Akintunde Aduwo (born 12 June 1938) is a retired

Nigerian Navy The Nigerian Navy (NN) is a branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is among the largest navies on the African continent, consisting of several thousand personnel, including those of the Coast Guard. History The Nigerian Navy owes its origin t ...

Vice Admiral who served as Chief of Naval Staff from 1980 to 1983 and as military governor of the

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n Western State from July 1975 to August 1975 during the military regime of General Murtala Muhammed.

Early years

Akin Aduwo was born on 12 June 1938 in Ode-Aye in

Okitipupa Okitipupa is a Local Government Area in Nigeria and part of the Ikale-speaking nation in Ondo State. Okitipupa Local Government headquarters is located in Okitipupa township with a university, Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OS ...

Ondo State Ondo State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to t ...

. He attended Igbobi College, Yaba,

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

(1952–1956). He worked as a clerk, then as a cadet in the Merchant Marines where he obtained British Merchant Navy Sea Training (1958–1960) and studied at the Liverpool College of Technology,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(1961–1962). In November 1962 Aduwo transferred to Nigerian Navy as a sub-lieutenant. He was appointed naval officer-in-charge of the Eastern Naval Patrol, then as a lieutenant took command of NNS ''Aanasa'' in 1964. His other appointments include first commanding officer of NNS ''Dorina'', first Nigerian director of armament supply and commanding officer of NNS ''Nigeria''. During the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

, Lt. Commander Akin Aduwo commanded NNS ''Ogoja''. During the sea battle that led to the fall of Bonny in July 1967, he pursued the NNS ''Ibadan'', which had been hijacked to

Biafra Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...

Senior positions

Muritala Muhammed announced Captain Akin Aduwo's appointment as governor in his maiden speech of 30 July 1975. Aduwo was Military Governor of Western State for just one month, and then was posted to the Nigerian High Commission in India. He was replaced by Colonel David Jemibewon. General

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

said Aduwo had been relieved of his appointment as governor to rescue him from the problem of the West "which had overwhelmed him". Aduwo went for a course at the Indian National Defence College, and in 1977 was promoted commodore and appointed flag officer commanding the Nigerian Naval Flotilla. He held this position until being appointed Chief of the Naval Staff on 15 April 1980 during the

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018), titled Turakin Sokoto from 1962, was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in ...

regime. As Chief of Naval Staff, Aduwo renamed

NNS Beecroft NNS can stand for: * New neoclassical synthesis (economics) * NASCAR Nationwide Series (previous name of the NASCAR Xfinity Series) * Nashville Number System (music) * National Numeracy Strategy (UK education) * Near Net Shape * Nearest neighbo ...

, the naval base in the

Apapa Apapa is a Local Government Area in Lagos, located to the west of Lagos Island. Apapa contains a number of ports and terminals operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), including the major port of Lagos State and Lagos Port Complex (LPC ...

area of

, to NNS ''

Olokun Olokun (Yoruba: Olókun) is an orisha spirit in Yoruba religion. Olokun is believed to be the parent of Aje, the orisha of great wealth and of the bottom of the ocean. Olokun is revered as the ruler of all bodies of water and for the authority ov ...

'' after the ocean goddess, as part of a trend to move from colonial-era names to local Nigerian names.

Later career

After retirement, Aduwo continued to be publicly active. He became a leader of the Yoruba Unity Forum and attended several Yoruba Council of Elders meetings. He had served for several years as an elder of the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

, holding the

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word's ...

titles of the Oloye Obateru of Aye and the Oloye Taarelase of Ile-Ife., Aduwo was a delegate from

at the 2005 National Political Reform Conference. He served on the logistics committee of the conference.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aduwo, Akintunde Nigerian Navy admirals 1938 births Living people Yoruba military personnel People from Ondo State Igbobi College alumni Yoruba politicians Military personnel of the Nigerian Civil War Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Chiefs of Naval Staff (Nigeria)