/24-7PressRelease/ - February 29, 2008 -- At the peak of his memorable political career and evergreen legal practice, Otunba Theophilis Owolabi Shobowale Benson, known affectionately as T.O.S., was as dashing as he was popular. Even in death, he looms large, an unforgettable hero with a trailing cloud of glory. The first Federal Minister of Information, Culture and Broadcasting of Independent Nigeria took a bow from the stage of life in his Ikoyi, Lagos, home on February 13, 2008, seven months after his 90th Birthday. The first eulogy will be in the Lagos courthouse today, and others will lead up to the burial on February 29 in Ikorudu, the village outside of Lagos where he was born,.
The Otunba comes across in the epic drama of life as a rare breed in the Nigerian political jungle; a nationalist of note who did not hide his disgust for politics of tribalism and sectionalism; a respected lawyer who practiced law with gusto, he was not only a SAN but also a life member of the Body of Benchers and the oldest living qualified lawyer in Nigeria, both in age and practice having put in 60 meritorious years in the legal profession.
Otunba T.O.S. Benson was born on Monday, July 23, 1917, a prince of the Lasunwon Royal Family of Ikorodu, a prominent town in Lagos State, Nigeria. His father, Shobowale Benson was a successful business man who married Madam Poroye Shobowale Benson, an equally successful business woman, who was respectfully and admiringly acknowledged in her days as a rare breed queen that gave birth to six kings.
Young T.O.S. cut his first academic teeth at Madariola Private School located in the heart of Balogun Compound at Itumeko in Ikorodu. In 1924 at the age of six, he was admitted into Holy Trinity School Ebute-Ero for his primary education and then moved on to the prestigious CMS Grammar School, Lagos, reputed to be the oldest Secondary School in Nigeria. In 1943, he left the shores of Nigeria for the United Kingdom to study Law. He was called to the Bar at the Lincoln's Inn, London, on January 27, 1947, and was enrolled as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on his return to Nigeria in September 1947.
Before he returned to Nigeria to serve his fatherland, he had, as a University undergraduate in London, started his political career by identifying with the National Council of Nigerian Citizen (NCNC), a party he believed had a truly national character in Nigeria. He joined the party on his return to Nigeria in 1947, a decision that effectively marked the beginning of his memorable and fulfilling journey to the center stage of Nigerian politics.
In 1948, a year after his return to the country, T.O.S. Benson had his baptism of fire as lawyer when he rendered his legal services gratis to his party in a sedition case against the Zikist who had called for a revolution in a publication, which was about to launched in Tom Jones Hall. At the occasion, the security agents of the colonial administration swooped on Zikists in the hall and arrested all of them including Chief Anthony Enahoro, who was to chair the occasion as a temporary chairman.
Lagos at that time could boast of outstanding lawyers, but in this particular case none of them would stick out their neck to appear in defense of the arrested nationalists. The few who showed interest in the case asked for skyrocketing legal fees, which was beyond the reach of the arrested men. T.O.S. Benson, the young and brilliant lawyer stood out to be counted on the side of the young nationalists at this point in the nation's political history. He triumphed in the epic legal battle winning the case and securing the release of the detained nationalists in the landmark judgment that shot him into national prominence in the field of politics and law. The legal feat not only buoyed Benson's popularity but also earned him the title "Seditious Benson." Within three years after his return to the country, Benson had successfully built a solid foundation upon which he erected his political career. He established himself as first among equals and a force to reckon with.
1950 would remain an unforgettable year in the political history of Otunba T.O.S. Benson. It was the year he came out to contest for election to the Lagos Town Council on the platform of the NCNC. He won his seat and emerged as the First Deputy Mayor of the City of Lagos, a post he held for two years before the Mayoral system of local government was abolished. In 1951, Benson was elected into the Legislative Council as the representative of Lagos in the Western House of Assembly.
By 1953, his parliamentary career had blossomed, as he was elevated to the post of the leader of opposition in the Western House of Assembly, after the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe returned to the East to become the Premier of the Eastern Region. In 1954 T.O.S. Benson moved further up the political ladder. His electoral victory of 1959 as the representative of Lagos in the Federal Parliament brought T.O.S. Benson to the center of Nigeria politics. In the Independent Coalition Government of the Northern People's Congress (NPC) the Council of Nigerian Citizens, (NCNC) he was appointed the first Nigerian to serve as the Federal Minister of Information, Culture and Broadcasting.
One good measure of T.O.S. Benson's personage is relevance. He was among the first generation of Nigerian nationalists and politicians that constituted the team of delegates to the Nigerian Constitutional Conference Sessions held in London in 1953, 1957, 1958 and 1960. The deliberations gave birth to Nigeria's independence and Benson accompanied Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to New York to formalize the historic admission of Nigeria as the 99th member of the United Nations.
Otunba T.O.S. Benson was also one of the five men of history who started the movement for the creation of Lagos State, which became a reality in 1967. He lived the life devoted to pursuit of set goals; selfless service to the fatherland in the course of which Otunba T.O.S. Benson has successfully built bridges across tribes and geographical locations across the country. Indeed, he was the authentic embodiment of Nigeria Inc. where South meets North and East meets West in a harmonious relationship.
He was a man, who in his life time met many world leaders, which included statesmen and monarchs such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Queen Elizabeth II of England, Emperor Haile Sellasie of Ethiopia, President John F. Kennedy of the United States of America, Prime Minister Nehru of India, Premier Nikita Khrushchev of Russia, King Hussein of Morocco and President William Tubman of Liberia.
Otunba Benson was also a family man. He leaves behind his wife of 46 years, Opral Benson, as well as children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was indeed an embodiment of Nigeria's historical evolution who bequeathed an enduring legacy of purposeful life, notable political activism and enviable legal practice. These are sweet memories of a man who came, saw and left his imprints as an all round achiever.
For Photos or More Information, Contact Carolyn McClair at (212) 721-3341
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