Cornelius Olaleye Taiwo (27 October 1910 – 8 April 2014) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

educator and lawyer.

Early life and education

Taiwo was born on 27 October 1910, at Oru-Ijebu in

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to 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 ...

, to Isaac and Lydia Taiwo. He started school shortly after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and attended St. Luke's School, a CMS school of St. Luke's Church. Oru, Ijebu in 1921. He proceeded to St Andrews College, Oyo, and later attended Yaba Higher College, Lagos. He attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and earned a D. Litt degree in 1982. He also earned an M.A Degree in Mathematics from

Trinity College, Cambridge University Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. T ...

, a Barrister-at-Law degree of the Middle Temple Inn's Court and Hon. LL.D. (Cape Coast).

Academic career

Taiwo commenced his teaching career as the headmaster of Sagun United School, Oru-Ijebu, a government-assisted institution in 1932. He was the first African Principal of

Edo College Edo College is a secondary grammar school in Benin City, Nigeria, the oldest in the Mid-Western Region. It was established in February, 1937 and started as the Benin Middle School with forms, I, II and III. In April 1937, the school, with a total ...

, Benin City and became Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Natural Resources in the former Regional government of Western Nigeria; He was called to the Bar at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

(Inn of Court), London on 4 February 1964, and enrolled as Barrister-at-Law and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on 3 July 1964. Taiwo worked with the Western Nigerian Government between 1960 and 1966 when he served variously as Administrative Officer, Inspector of Education and ultimately as Permanent Secretary, to the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

where he spent 11 years, private legal practice and authorship of books. He became the first Emeritus Professor of Education and Provost of the

. He was also appointed as Pro Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the

University of Ilorin University of Ilorin, also known as Unilorin, is a federal government-owned university in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. It was established by a decree of the federal military government in August, 1975. The establishment aimed to implement one o ...

on 1 September 1990 and became a Solicitor and Advocate of the

Supreme Court of Nigeria The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...

. He taught in many other universities including University of Lagos before retiring from active service.

Personal life

Taiwo was a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

who hailed from the Olumota ruling house of the Oba Oloru of Oru, Ijebu, thus making him an

Omoba Oba means ″ruler″ in the Yoruba language, Yoruba and Bini languages of West Africa. Kings in Yorubaland, a region which is in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, make use of it as a pre-nominal honorific. Examples of Yoruba beare ...

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 ...

. He married Susan Olufowoke Keleko on 25 December 1941, at St. James Church,

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

. They had six children. He died at the age of 103 in 2014.

Honours

*Baba Ijo (Father of the congregation), a

chieftaincy A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as ...

title, of St. Luke's Church, Oru, Ijebu since 1973. *Fellow of Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration *Fellow of Nigerian Academy of Education *Lord LUPEN; NAPE's highest award (the Lord of all Luminaries of Professional Educators of Nigeria, 1989) *Inducted into the International Educators' Hall of Fame

Selected publications

He wrote several books, papers and articles. Noted ones include: * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taiwo, Cornelius Olaleye 1910 births 2014 deaths Nigerian centenarians Nigerian Christians Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of London Yoruba educators Yoruba legal professionals Yoruba academics University of Lagos faculty People from Ogun State Yoruba princes University of Ilorin faculty Nigerian schoolteachers 20th-century Nigerian lawyers 20th-century Nigerian educators People of colonial Nigeria Yaba Higher College alumni Nigerian princes Heads of schools in Nigeria Men centenarians