G. B. A. Coker
Chief G.B.A Coker |
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He was the Olori Eyo of the Adimu, the highest position in the
Life
A Saro, Coker was born in Lagos as the son of George Baptist Coker.[2] He was a great-great grandchild of Daniel Coker, a freed slave that emigrated to Sierra Leone and was a key figure in the creation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) in 1816, which became the first independent black denomination in the United States. When Coker arrived in Sierra Leone in 1820, he became the first Methodist Missionary from a Western nation. There, Coker founded the West Africa Methodist Church.[3]
Chief G.B.A Coker's siblings included Mr. F.C.O. Coker, a future charted accountant, Lagos Municipal Treasurer and Secretary to the first Lagos State Government; Mrs. Oye Akintola-Williams (Mama MUSON), who later became a professional health nurse, patron of the arts and ardent environmentalist. She was married to Chief Akintola Williams CBE, the first indigenous African chartered accountant and regularly described as the Doyen of Nigerian Accountancy. As brothers-in-law, Chief Coker and Chief Williams worked together on many occasions and Williams was involved in the Coker Commission. G.B.A. Coker's remaining siblings would include Mrs. Hilda Omolola Johnson SRN, SCM, a future founder and matron of Logemo Hospital; Chief H.T.O. Coker SAN, OON, who later became a successful lawyer and who won many cases against the likes of Chief Frederick Rotimi Williams; and Chief (Dr.) F.B.A. Coker, OON, KJW, a future consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, chairman, Victoria Island Consultancy and Hospital Services, and successful businessman. [4] Chief (Dr.) F.B.A. Coker would grow up to be a titan in the Nigerian medical field with an international reputation; his hospital carried out the autopsy of Moshood Abiola and was involved in a number of other high-profile operations. He was also the senior gynaecologist to multiple Nigerian Presidents.
Chief Coker was educated at Olowogbowo Wesleyan Primary School, Lagos from 1924 to 1928 and he then attended
In 1962, during a political crisis in the Western region of Nigeria, Coker was appointed by
Coker was a member of the Methodist Church in Tinubu, Lagos.
References
- ^ "About the Cathedral". Methodist Church Trinity, Tinubu. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ "H.T. Oke Coker buried". Lagosblog. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ISSN 1062-4783.
- ^ Nigeria, Guardian (2015-06-19). "Henry Theodore Okeade Coker (1929-2015)". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
- ^ Diamond, L. J. (1988). Class, ethnicity, and democracy in Nigeria: The failure of the First Republic. Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press. P. 104
- ^ Falola, T., & Genova, A. (2009). Historical dictionary of Nigeria. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. P.82
- ^ Ogundere, J. D. (1994). The Nigerian judge and his court. Ibadan, University Press. P. 93