AKINLOLU FAWEHINMI HISTORICAL CORNER

OJELADE:N MARTINIANO ELISEU DO BOMFIM

Martiniano Eliseu do Bomfim whose  Yoruba name was Òjélàdé, was born in Bahia, Brazil in 1859. 

He was the son of African parents who were able to buy their freedom before the birth of their son on October 16 1859.

His father, originally a slave from the Egba, a Yoruba sub-group, was freed in Brazil in 1842. 

 In 1875, at the age of 16, Martiniano traveled with his father, Eliseu do Bomfim, an import/export trader of Yoruba goods, from Salvador, Bahia to Lagos, Yorubaland, for education and apprenticeship. He attended the Church Missionary Society Alápákó Fàájì School in Lagos for nearly 11 years, becoming fluent in English and Yoruba. 

 He also learned Ifá, the Yoruba divination system, and became a Babalawo. Additionally, he received training as a bricklayer and house painter. 

 Returning to Bahia in 1886, he worked as an English teacher for affluent Afro-Brazilians. Martiniano passed away on November 1, 1943, in Salvador, Bahia aged 84.

Dr. Akinlolu Fawehinmi writes from Lagos, Nigeria