Did You know Herbert Macaulay ?

Herbert Macaulay

 Herbert Macaulay was born on November 14,1864,his paternal grand father name is Ojo Oriare whose is a native doctor at Ancient Oyo town married his wife named Kilangbe who begotten

Babington Macaulay for him the father of Herbert,
Ojo Oriare and his wife were enslaved a d freed by the British anti slavery squadron and taken to Freetown in Serria-leone where they settle down for a while before returning to Owu,at Abeokuta,it was while they were in Freetown that Ojo and Kilangbe his wife gave birth to Thomas babington macaulay,as a practised then among the free slaves in those days,Babington simply dropped his fathers name and instead adapted to s christian name in Freetown.
    Babington was educated at the C.M.S grammar School and later at Fourah Bay College,A higher institution set up by the CMS for the training of the priests,he was first sent to Abeokuta in 1854 and later ordained as a priest of the church of England in 1857,Shortly after he returned to Owu in Abeokuta as a CMS  priest for missionary works there,but he was in Owu for only a year,returning to Lagos where on June 6,1859 he founded and became the first principal of CMS grammar school Nigeria oldest secondary grammar school,it was a feat many thought impossible,he did not any support from the colonial government which considered the project immature,it was not until 1909,Fifty years after that the British government founded the King College Lagos,the first government owned secondary school in Nigeria,Herbert Macaulay mother was the 2nd daughter of Bishop Ajayi Crowther,She and Babington was married at Abeokuta In 1854,they had four other children before him,and two 
after him,Herbert was fifth of the seven children In the rather large Macaulay family,this was not uncommon in the olden day among the clergy until he was five years old,Herbert was given a kind of nursery education at home by his mother Abigail.But in I869 at five he enrolled at St Paul School Breadfruits to started his primary school education there,he later went to the Christ church school ai ita faji to completed his primary school in 1877,at 13 he entered the Prestigious CMS grammar school then situated at the end of broad street,where the UTC building his standing now,and where his father the Rev.Babington was the principal,he left the school in 1880 and his school record there show that he was brilliant in English,latin,mathematics and logic,he was reputed to be an independent minded student and to have an alert and inquisitive mind,quality which stood him in good stead later in his tumultuous political carrier,his father Babington died in the year 1878,two years before Herbert graduated from the school,had his father been alive when he left school he would almost certainly have like Him to have been trained as a CMS priest in which calling he had an excellency pedigree,but destiny and Providence beckoned him in a different direction in which he became famous.
In September 1881 at only 17,he was appointed clerical assistant and indexer of crown land in the colonial public works department(PWD) in Lagos,this gave him a useful and first hand insight into land ownership in Lagos,and reckless manner in which the colonial government was grabbling land illegally from the native,within three years of his appointment he was promoted to a draughtsman and clerk of crown land grants,he was awarded a colonial government scholarship in 1890 for further studies in England in civil engineering and surveying the first to have been rewarded with the colonial government scholarship,his family antecedent as the grandson of Bishop Crowther were no doubt useful,By 1890 british ruler have extended beyond the colony of Lagos,with British protectorate in the South and the Niger coast,the award of a government scholarship to Herbert later proved to have been a costly mistake in the part of the British government as if equiped later to challenged the colonial rule in Lagos,it exposed him to the genteel British way of life and liberal democracy,he was in Plymouth england for the next three years studying not only civil engineer but architect,surveying including railway surveying,he qualified as a civil engineering in 1893,the first Nigeria to did so,he was also admitted as a member of a Royal institute of British Architec(RIBA) as well as fellow of the royal geographical society(FRGS),his lecturer at Plymouth Mr.Bellamy reported him that he was capable and hardworking student and that his conduct was perfectly satisfactory,Bellamy recommended him to the colonial master in Lagos that after a few years of practical experience in Lagos he should be sent back to Britain for further training in civil engineering but the British ruler denied him the opportunity,it was another fatal mistakes of the colonial government,this was perhaps the begining of  his grievances against the colonial ruler,further training of engineer would eventually earned him a promotion to senior engineering post in the service,but this was not on the plan of the then government which was reluctant to allowed an African in the civil service to rise above the junior rank,Herbert was not the only Africa to which opportunity for further training abroad or advancement in the colonial service where denied,this was why the Yaba Colleges later established by the  British could only offer training to Africa as half doctor and half engineer.
The same treatment was meted out to the legendary Sir Manuwa Samuel in his early medical carrier,he had to acquire additional medical qualification to merit being made a full doctor,later having surviving all the proffesional prejudiced and odd,he rose to became the chief medical adviser to the colonial ruler.