THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 31st October 1957

Olu Awoonor-Gordon, Pan Africanist historian, lecturer, journalist and political activist, was born in Lagos, Nigeria, to a Nigerian mother and Sierra Leonean father.

Awoonor-Gordon spent his early childhood in England returning to Nigeria around the age of 10. In 1975 he moved to Sierra Leone enrolling as an undergraduate at Fourah Bay College (FBC). It was here that his political activism took off. Whilst studying for his degree, Awoonor-Gordon was Vice-Chair of the Union of Journalists and a member of the Student' Representative Council.

Along with Cleo Hanciles and others Awoonor-Gordon was also a founding member of the Pan African Union (PANAFU) Sierra Leone, launched at FBC in 1982. Through PANAFU study groups students were introduced to Pan Africanist thought and organisation as a solution to the woes of not only Sierra Leone, but the entire African continent.

Awoonor-Gordon left Sierra Leone on completion of his degree to study for a Masters at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He returned to FBC to take up a lectureship in modern history. He utilised his position to inspire and ignite the flame of justice in the hearts and minds of his students, reminding them constantly of their duty to use their education to develop and build a fair and just Africa.

In 1985 Awoonor-Gordon was dismissed from his position at FBC, along with Hanciles and Jimmy Kandeh, both fellow lecturers, for allegedly inciting students to protest against the government. Undeterred by this injustice Awoonor-Gordon openly criticised the principal of FBC for inviting security forces onto campus to quell student protests.

Awoonor-Gordon left Sierra Leone to study for a doctorate in Canada but returned after two years frustrated at being out of Africa. Back in Sierra Leone he turned his hand to journalism as a vehicle for promoting his Pan African philosophy, writing for "The Tablet" and "For Di People" newspapers before launching his own satirical journal "Peep."

Awoonor-Gordon also threw himself in earnest into building PANAFU, developing it beyond the university to become an organisation rooted in the people. He helped to launch the women's wing of PANAFU in the early nineties and establish a pre-school for children from families of modest means.

During his time out of Africa Awoonor-Gordon came into contact with and joined the All African Peoples Revolutionary Party (AAPRP) becoming a member of the AAPRP leadership body alongside Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael) who resided in neighbouring Guinea. Awoonor-Gordon and Ture became a good friend to Ture engaging in regular political discourse by letter. There is no doubt that Awoonor-Gordon's on the ground experience, knowledge and understanding of Africa helped shape and sharpen the political ideology and activity of the AAPRP.

Awoonor-Gordon's fervent pro-people and anti-corruption stance continually put him on a collision course with successive governments in Sierra Leone and he was arrested and detained on numerous occasions. His commitment to Pan Africanism saw him continue to speak out through the barrel of his pen, even during the civil war years, despite the risk to his life and liberty. Indeed one commentator remarked that Awoonor-Gordon returned to Sierra Leone from visiting his family in London, at the height of the war when many people sought to escape the country.

Described as Sierra Leone's "Greatest Philosopher" Awoonor-Gordon has left a legacy for generations to come. The greatest honour that those of us he has left behind can pay to him is to continue to walk in his footsteps in the pursuit of the freedom, fairness and justice for ordinary Africans that he so yearned.

The following is a clip of Olu Awoonor-Gordon speaking to students at a university in London about Sierra Leone history: