Akintola, Samuel Ladoke (1910–1966)

Nigerian political leader and journalist. He obtained a degree in law from a UK university, returning to Nigeria in 1949 to become a major political figure of the Yoruba ethnic group. In 1955 he became deputy leader of the Action Group under Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He succeeded Owolowo to become premier of the Western Region in 1959. In 1962 a rift between the two leaders led, in 1964, to Akintola forming a new party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party, which formed an alliance with the ruling party, the Northern People's Congress. He was re-elected to power in 1965 amidst accusations of ballot-rigging and major unrest, and assassinated in 1966 in Nigeria's first military coup.