Archives of Ola and Kehinde Oni

Archives of Ola and Kehinde Oni

The private archive of Comrade Ola Oni: prominent marxist activist and economist from the University of Ibadan. His archives document the left political movement in Nigeria as well as the history of Trade Union and Women Union from the 1960s to the 1990s in South-West Nigeria (Ibadan).

The documents and materials in the archive include the followings: personal documents certificates, diaries, letters – personal, to the press, official, lecture notes, interviews – in the press, tape, video, pictures, complementary cards, leaflets, posters, press statements, articles in newspaper and journals, contributions in books co-authored with others, books written by him and co-authored with others, organizational files containing activities of the various organization he participated and led by him, business file, etc.

The history of the documents and other materials existing in the form of private archive of Comrade Ola Oni could be traced to him as a leader of a political tendency that is to serve as piston to the entire working people that the group he led is to serve as its intellectual harm. The records were being kept for various reasons that include safekeeping as reference materials that could be useful for members or non-members for the purpose of research and as well as the property of the organization he was leading like any form of the organisation’s properties that were to be looked after with utmost care.

The encouragement towards formalizing such idea became crystalised after Comrade Ola Oni’s death by his son Oladapo Ola Oni when the family was contacted for materials that would be useful in writing Ola Oni’s biography. So the biographer depended on the family’s support and cooperation in this regard, but Oladapo Ola Oni was the one charged with the responsibilities in sorting out materials needed for the project.

At other times when a Research Centre in the name of Comrade Ola Oni, financed by a sitting governor of The State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, was instituted the same Oladapo Ola Oni was also the one to provide the Centre with the materials used to take off with the general support of the family and Ola Oni political associates.
There has been preponderance of interests in Comrade Ola Oni personality and his politics by both associates and well wishers, for the respect people have for him for his altruism and selflessness in the service of humanity. The archival project being instituted by IFRA in the name of Comrade Ola Oni aims to collect all his writings together with other materials associated with him and these are to be classified in the best way possible for easy accessibility for people that may want to make use of the archive.

Abundant materials have been accumulated for this purpose, nevertheless, the process is in the continuum as more are being expected from other sources especially his other associates and followers.

Comrade Ola Oni represents a political tendency for social change in Nigeria’s political environment and internationally. He had a contagious influence on generations of political and labour activists. Not a few people would love to know more about him and what he represents. The archive will therefore be useful for researchers in this regard.
Also, as Comrade Ola Oni’s activities added value to the social, political and economic development of Nigeria in many ways, his materials would be useful in the understanding the social construct of the society where he spent most of his life. So those who are interested in various areas of knowledge related to Nigeria would have the materials in the archive very useful as source of collecting data.

Comrade Ola Oni is best noted for his versatility as a person in diverse areas. The materials collected on him are as broad in reflecting such versatility and diverse nature of his life.

Abiodun Olamosu, November 2021

The files have been kept by Ola Oni and his family since their creation.

Between July and October 2021, Emeka Ugwu liaised with the family to understand the content of the archives. Emeka Ugwu subsequently created metadata in order to elaborate the first inventory of Ola Oni 's archives.

In October 2021, a team of archivists from Nigeria thematically arranged all the documents (Eke Nkemka Amadi, Zonal director of National Archives of Nigeria, Kaduna; Yusuf Sarki,
Zonal director of National Archives of Nigeria, Enugu; Abdullahi Mohammed, Yusufu Bala Usman Institute; Otigbu Ogochukwu Austine, National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan; Ayoade Peter, National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan; Olushola Babalola, IFRA-Nigeria; Ogechukwu Cynthia Okafor, archivist; R O Adunola, Librarian Jadeas Trust, Ibadan. The work was undertaken under the supervision of Camille Tatger (French Ministry of Environment).

Between December 2021 and May 2022, Precious Aderiyike digitised the documents.

• Nigeria (Geographic subregion)
• West Africa (Geographic subregion)
• Africa (Geographic subregion)