Christopher Oluwole Rotimi (born 20 February 1935) is a retired

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. History Formation The Nigeria ...

brigadier general, diplomat and politician, he served during the

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

, and was the Governor of Western State while Nigeria was under military rule from 1971 to 1975. Oluwole Rotimi became the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States in 2007.

Early life

Oluwole Rotimi was born February 20, 1935, in

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surroundin ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya 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 G ...

to a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba consti ...

n family. He attended Agooko Methodist School, Lisabi school,

Olowogbowo Olowogbowo is an area in the west of Lagos Island in Lagos, also known as Apongbon. The area is in the central business district. The community was founded after 1851, when freed Yoruba captives and their descendants who had been set ashore in Sie ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

School as well as

Kings College Lagos King's College, Lagos (KCL) is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students on its original site at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only male stu ...

, after which he earned a BA at the

University College Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

. Oluwole Joined the

in 1960 and served as part of the United Nations

Peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare. Within the United ...

Force in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. He rose to become the first African Deputy Quartermaster General and the third non-white Quartermaster General of the Nigerian Army in 1966. During the Nigerian Civil War Oluwole Rotimi provided logistics support for the Federal Government's war efforts. He became the commander of the

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its ...

Garrison between 1969 and 1970.

Governor of Western State

After the war Oluwole Rotimi became the Military Governor of Western State of Nigeria in 1971, under

Yakubu Gowon Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquis ...

in succession to Brigadier Adeyinka Adebayo. During his time as governor, the state had peace and development.

Projects As Governor

* The Cement Factory at Shagamu * The Wire and Cable Factory in Ibadan * The

Ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelai ...

Factory in

* The Wood Processing Factory in Ondo * The

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced fr ...

Mill at Okitipupa.

1975 coup

In 1975, Oluwole Rotimi was removed from office as governor of Western Nigeria after the 1975 coup d'état. The following administration led by General

Murtala Mohammed Murtala Ramat Muhammad (8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian general who led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi military regime and featured prominently during the Nigerian Civil Wa ...

, commissioned a panel to investigate corruption amongst that past governors of the past administration. Oluwole Rotimi, together with

Mobolaji Johnson-Brigadier Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson (9 February 1936 – 30 October 2019) was a Nigerian Army Brigadier who served as Military Administrator of the Federal territory of Lagos from January 1966 to May 1967 during the military regime of General Aguyi-Ironsi ...

(

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 states, it is both the most populous and smallest in area. Bounded to the south by the Bight of Benin and to the west by the international border with Benin ...

Governor) was one of the only two governors exonerated.

Under Obasanjo

In 1999 Gen. Oluwole Rotimi was appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pre ...

as the Head of a Commission of Inquiry for the Investigation of Federal Government Landed Property. Oluwole Rotimi was honored with a National Award of Commander of the

Order of the Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honou ...

(CON) in 2003. In 2005, Oluwole Rotimi was appointed a member of the National Constitutional Review Conference representing his home state-

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the ...

Ambassador

Oluwole Rotimi became the Ambassador to the United States of America in March 2008.Chinese incursion into Nigeria: In whose interest?
Layi Adeloye and Sulaimon Adenekan. Punch. Sunday, January 6, 2008. He was sacked from the post in March 2009 by the President of Nigeria,

Umaru Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who, was the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2 ...

after allegations of insubordination.

References

Max Siollun Max Siollun is a Nigerian historian who specializes on Nigerian history with a particular focus on the Nigerian military and how it has affected Nigeria's socio-political trajectory from the pre-colonial era to the present. Siollun was educated ...

. Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture 1966–1976. Algora Publishing, 2009 pp. 30, 70, 92, 186–187, 223. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotimi, Christopher Oluwole Nigerian generals Nigerian diplomats Yoruba military personnel 1935 births Living people Politicians from Abeokuta King's College, Lagos alumni University of Ibadan alumni Nigerian military governors Ambassadors of Nigeria to the United States Commanders of the Order of the Niger Military personnel of the Nigerian Civil War Yoruba politicians Brigadier generals People from Abeokuta