Bode Thomas · Lost history · 7 min · 4 sources
Olabode Thomas was a London-trained barrister, a founder of the Action Group and, by 1951, one of the first Nigerians to hold a central ministry. A Surulere street still carries his name.
In 1953, the legend goes, he stayed seated when the Alaafin of Oyo, Adeyemi II, entered the council — and greeted the king with a sound the elders heard as a bark.
Legend Oral tradition only.
Within days he fell ill. People say he barked until he died, at 34. Where he died — Ijebu-Igbo or Lagos — the sources disagree.
The Alaafin was suspended in 1954. Connected? Oyo still argues about it.