Jeremiah Olatunji Otegbeye (14 July 1925 – 9 October 2009) was a Nigerian politician, trade unionist and medical doctor.EgbaYewa Descendants Association Washington DC U.S.A.

''"Veteran activist, Otegbeye dies at 84"
''Vanguard'', 10 October 2009. Otegbeye hailed from the Yewa community."Otegbeye: Daniel, Oshiomhole, Oni, others pay tribute"
''Vanguard'', 10 October 2009.

Life

Otegbeye was born in

Ilaro Ilaro is a town in Ogun State, Nigeria. Ilaro town houses about 57,850 people. Ilaro is the headquarters of the Yewa South Local government, now known as YEWALAND which replaced the Egbado division of the former Western State, and later became a ...

, where he attended the Christ Church Primary School. Between 1942 and 1947 he studied at the Government College in

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 ...

. In 1948 he began studying medicine at

University College Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 1962 ...

, and went on to complete his education in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In London he was active in the Nigerian Union and the

West African Students' Union The West African Students' Union (WASU), founded in London, England, in 1925 and active into the 1960s,"History o ...

, and was a frequent speaker at the

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

Speakers Corner A Speakers' Corner is an area where public speaking, open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the northeast corner of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park in London, England. Historically there ...

. Upon his return to Nigeria in 1957, Otegbeye participated in the struggle for Nigerian independence. He became active in the Nigerian Youth Congress, founded in 1960.Matusevich,
No Easy Row for a Russian Hoe: Ideology and Pragmatism in Nigerian-Soviet Relations: 1960-1991
', Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2003, pp. 68, 70. He rapidly became the president of the NYC, and under his leadership the movement became more radical. Otegbeye led a youth and students protest against the Anglo-Nigerian Defense Pact on 28 November 1960, during which the House of Representatives was stormed. He was arrested afterwards along with other youth leaders. He was also charged with and convicted for (along with seven colleagues) having led the 15 February 1961 riots that followed the killing of

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June u ...

. Otegbeye founded a private medical practice in

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 ...

in 1960, the Ireti Hospital. In 1963, he founded the

Socialist Workers and Farmers Party of Nigeria Socialist Workers and Farmers Party of Nigeria was a political party in Nigeria. Founded in 1963, its leaders included Dr. Tunji Otegbeye, Eskor Toyo, Wahab Goodluck, Kunle Oyero, Uche Chukwumerije, Bassey and Fatogun. The SWFPN, formed by el ...

(SWAFP), a Marxist-Leninist political party. At the time of the

Biafra 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 ...

, during which relations between the Soviet Union and the Federal Military Government gradually improved, Otegbeye's role in Nigerian politics change as he played the role of a goodwill ambassador in the informal diplomacy between the two states. However, he and S. O. Martins (of the Nigerian-Soviet Friendship Society) were arrested in June 1969 as they returned from having attended the

International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties The International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) is an annual conference attended by communist and workers' parties from several countries. It originated in 1998 when the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) invited communist an ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

.Porter, Bruce D.
The USSR in Third World Conflicts: Soviet Arms and Diplomacy in Local Wars, 1945-1980
', Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 1986, pp. 100-101.Matusevic
(2003)
pp. 115-116. The arrest caused a diplomatic stir, and the Soviet ambassador was recalled twice to Moscow for consultations. The Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Ilichev made a visit to Lagos, after which Otegbeye was released. Otegbeye was again arrested in early 1972, and sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment. Otegbeye was a member of the 1977 Constituent Assembly. He contested the 1979 Ogun state gubernatorial primaries of the

Unity Party of Nigeria The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was a Nigerian political party that was dominant in western Nigeria during the second republic (1978-1983). The party revolved around the political leadership of Obafemi Awolowo, a sometimes polemical politician ...

along with chief Bisi Onabanjo."Otegbeye, Veteran Social Crusader, Dies"
''NewsWatch''. During the ''

perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

'' years, Otegbeye fell out of grace with the Soviet leadership. Likewise, he began to distance himself from Moscow. Otegbeye began moving toward conservative positions and became a leading figure of the Yoruba Council of Elders. During the

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

regime, Otegbeye was active in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). Tunji Otegbeye died in Ilaro in 2009. After his death, many prominent personalities paid tribute to him, including former president

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 ...

and the governors of the Ogun, Edo and Ekiti states."Otegbeye, frontline politician dies at 84"
''The Nation''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otegbeye, Tunji 2009 deaths Yoruba politicians 1925 births Government College, Ibadan alumni University of Ibadan alumni Yoruba physicians 20th-century Nigerian politicians 20th-century Nigerian medical doctors Unity Party of Nigeria politicians