Chief Akintunde Aduwo (born 12 June 1938) is a retired

Nigerian Navy The Nigerian Navy (NN) is the Navy, naval branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Nigerian armed forces. With more than 70 warships, it is categorised as the fourth strongest navy in Africa (after South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco). It is co ...

Vice Admiral who served as Chief of Naval Staff from 1980 to 1983 and as military governor of the

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n Western State from July 1975 to August 1975 during the military regime of General

Murtala Muhammed Murtala Ramat Muhammed (; 8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian military officer and the fourth head of state of Nigeria. He led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the military regime of Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi a ...

Early years

Akin Aduwo was born on 12 June 1938 in Ode-Aye in

Okitipupa Okitipupa is in Nigeria and part of the Yoruba tribe, Ikale-speaking nation in Ondo State. Okitipupa Government headquarter is located in Okitipupa Major town with a university, Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Olusegun Agag ...

Ondo State Ondo () is a States of Nigeria, state in Points of the compass, southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State (Nigeria), Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast fo ...

. He attended Igbobi College, Yaba,

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

(1952–1956). He worked as a clerk, then as a cadet in the Merchant Marines where he obtained British Merchant Navy Sea Training (1958–1960) and studied at the Liverpool College of Technology,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(1961–1962). In November 1962 Aduwo transferred to Nigerian Navy as a sub-lieutenant. He was appointed naval officer-in-charge of the Eastern Naval Patrol, then as a lieutenant took command of NNS ''Aanasa'' in 1964. His other appointments include first commanding officer of NNS ''Dorina'', first Nigerian director of armament supply and commanding officer of NNS ''Nigeria''. During the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

, Lt. Commander Akin Aduwo commanded NNS ''Ogoja''. During the sea battle that led to the fall of Bonny in July 1967, he pursued the NNS ''Ibadan'', which had been hijacked to

Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...

Senior positions

Muritala Muhammed announced Captain Akin Aduwo's appointment as governor in his maiden speech of 30 July 1975. Aduwo was Military Governor of Western State for just one month, and then was posted to the Nigerian High Commission in India. He was replaced by Colonel David Jemibewon. General

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

said Aduwo had been relieved of his appointment as governor to rescue him from the problem of the West "which had overwhelmed him". Aduwo went for a course at the Indian National Defence College, and in 1977 was promoted commodore and appointed flag officer commanding the Nigerian Naval Flotilla. He held this position until being appointed Chief of the Naval Staff on 15 April 1980 during the

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (; 25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018) was a Nigerian politician who was the first democratically elected president of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by Military Head of State of Nigeria, military head of sta ...

regime. As Chief of Naval Staff, Aduwo renamed NNS Beecroft, the naval base in the

Apapa Apapa is a Local Government Area in Lagos, Nigeria located to the west of Lagos Island. Apapa contains a number of ports and terminals operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), including the major port of Lagos State and Lagos Port Co ...

area of

, to NNS '' Olokun'' after the ocean goddess, as part of a trend to move from colonial-era names to local Nigerian names.

Later career

After retirement, Aduwo continued to be publicly active. He became a leader of the Yoruba Unity Forum and attended several Yoruba Council of Elders meetings. He had served for several years as an elder of the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people ( ; , , ) are a West African ethnic group who inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, which are collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute more than 50 million people in Africa, are over a million outsid ...

, holding the

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

titles of the Oloye Obateru of Aye and the Oloye Taarelase of Ile-Ife. Aduwo was a delegate from

at the 2005 National Political Reform Conference. He served on the logistics committee of the conference.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aduwo, Akintunde Nigerian Navy admirals 1938 births Living people Yoruba military personnel People from Ondo State Igbobi College alumni Yoruba politicians Military personnel of the Nigerian Civil War Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Chiefs of Naval Staff (Nigeria) National Defence College, India alumni