ISAAC THEOPHILUS AKUNA WALLACE-JOHNSON(1894-1965)TRADE UNIONIST AND NATIONALIST LEADER I.T.A. Wallace-Johnson led the first mass movement of Sierra Leoneans from all walks of life, working untiringly for unity and the rights of the common man. He was born into a poor Krio family in Wilberforce Village and attended mission schools. At the age of eighteen, he entered Government service as a customs clerk, but was soon dismissed for helping to organize the first trade union in Sierra Leone. After serving as a clerk in the Carrier Corps, he joined the merchant marine as a common sailor, later editing a newspaper in London dedicated to promoting the welfare of seamen. In 1931, Wallace-Johnson founded the first labor union in Nigeria, and in 1936 he was jailed in the Gold Coast (Ghana) for publishing a scathing attack on colonialism. He returned to Sierra Leone in 1938 and, within a' year, had organized eight labor unions, a newspaper, and a mass political movement that swept aside all opposition in the City Council elections. His West African Youth League was dedicated to greater popular representation in Government, an expanded civic role for women, improved salaries and conditions for workers, and national unity among all Sierra Leoneans. Wallace-Johnson taunted the colonial authorities by making public certain secret documents showing the Governor's agreement to painfully lower salaries for working people. British officials tried to prosecute Wallace-Johnson, but no local jury would convict him, and at one point, eighteen of Freetown's twenty one lawyers were members of his Youth League. Moreover, Wallace-Johnson was personally popular - a likeable man with an excellent sense of humor, who once told a group of workers. "I am not anything above you: I am at par with you". But the colonial authorities finally jailed Wallace-Johnson in 1939) under an Emergency Act adopted at the outset of World War II. He was ultimately exiled to Sherbro Island, where he spent most of his time telling the local people how to read and write. Wallace- Johnson lived to become one of Sierra Leone's delegates to the London Independence Talks in 1960. He will long be remembered as an ardent patriot and a true man of the people. |
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Message from The New People Management Team
The scrolling images to your right are depictions of the heroes of Sierra Leone, Africa and their bios. We envision the day when Africans and Sierra Leoneans in particular will value and respect the great history of our ancestors enough for us to reach deep down and emulate their triumph in history. |
