Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo (March 6, 1909 - May 9, 1987) was a politician and leader, a native of Ikenne in Ogun State of Nigeria. He founded many organizations, including Egbe Omo Oduduwa, the Trade Unions Congress of Nigeria and the Action Group political party. After earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Nigeria, he went to the UK where he earned a law degree from London School of Economics. He was the first indigenous Premier of the Western Region under Nigeria's parliamentary system, from 1952 to 1960, and was the official Leader of the Opposition in the federal parliament to the Balewa government from 1960 to 1963. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was a leader who believed that the state should channel Nigeria's resources into education and state-led infrastructure development. Controversially, and at considerable expense, he introduced free primary education for all in the Western Region.

Prior to independence, he was persuaded by prominent members of the Action Group to lead the party as Leader of the Opposition at the Federal Parliament, leaving Samuel Ladoke Akintola as the Western Region Premier. Serious disagreement between the Awolowo and Akintola on how to run the western region led the latter to an alliance with the Tafawa Balewa led NPC federal government. Constitutional crisis in the region led the federal parliament to declare a state of emergency in the west, the elected Western Regional Assembly was thus suspended. Some politicians, mostly of Akintola's group, angered at their exclusion from power, formed a break-away party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), under Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. The Western Regional Assembly was reconstituted after new elections that brought the same NNDP into power. 

Excluded from National government, the position of Awolowo and his party became increasingly precarious. Shortly afterward, in 1964, Awolowo and several others were charged and jailed for conspiring with some Ghanaian authorities under Kwame Nkrumah to overthrow the federal government. The remnants of the Action Group fought the National election of 1965 in alliance with the largely Igbo south-eastern NCNC. Amid accusation of fraud by the opposition, the NPC-NNDP won the election. There were violent riots in some parts of the Western region. Obafemi Awolowo first introduced free health care till the age of 18 in the Western Region and also free and mandatory primary education in Western Nigeria, Although, Awolowo failed to win the 1979 and 1983 presidential election, his polices of Free Health and Education were carried out through out all the states controlled by his party UPN and subsequently all over the country. 

Chief Awolowo is remembered for building the first stadium, Liberty Statium, Ibadan in West Africa, first television station WNTV in Africa, running the best civil service in Africa at the time (in the Western Region), He would also be credited with coining the name 'Naira' for Nigeria's currency (formerly known as the Nigerian Pound) as the Federal Commissioner of Finance under the Military Government of General Yakubu Gowon.

The University of Ife, located in Ife, Nigeria, was re-christened Obafemi Awolowo University as a posthumous honour. His portrait adorns one hundred naira note.