Herbert Macaulay

Herbert Samuel Heelas Macaulay was born on 14 November 1864  in Lagos to Thomas Babington Macaulay, the founder of Lagos Grammar School and Abigail, a daughter of Samuel Ajai Crowther.
At the age of five, Young Herbert was enrolled at ST. paul's Breadfruit School, Lagos.
For a while, he worked as a clerk at the Public Works Department(PWD) and during this period, he developed an interest in building, drawing, and town planning.
In 1890, at the age of 26, he won a government scholarship to study in the United Kingdom, and in 1893, Herbert returned to Nigeria as a qualified Surveyor. His interests included music and reading.
At the beginning of his career, he was appointed Surveyor of Lagos and he played a crucial role in the re-planning of several buildings in Lagos, including the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral.
Interestingly, he was the first Nigerian to buy and use a car.
As a result of his brave and fearless nature, he was popularly called ''Ejongboro'' ''The snake in the street''
Herbert Macaulay founded Nigeria's first political party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party(NNDP) in 1923.
In 1944, the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens(N.CN.C) came into being and Herbert Macaulay was elected its first President, while DR. Nnamdi Azikiwe was elected the party's first General Secretary.

In 1946, the NCNC led by Herbert Macaulay embarked on a nationwide tour, to educate Nigerians on the reasons why it opposed the Richards constitution. In the course of the tour, he took ill at Kaduna and had to return to Lagos. He passed on the same year at the age of 81.
Hebert Macaulay, in his time, was known as a great fighter and was in fact Nigeria's first politician.