Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987)
He was elected Premier of Western Nigeria from 1954 to 1959, after which he became the opposition leader in the Federal House of Representatives. He was arrested in 1962 for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government, imprisoned in 1963 and was freed three years later by General Yakubu Gowon, head of Nigeria's military government, who appointed him the Federal Commissioner for Finance and Deputy Chairman of the Federal Executive Council, a position he resigned in 1971. In 1979, he ran unsuccessfully for president. He died on May 9, 1987
Chief Awolowo's portrait appears on the front of the N100 Note