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First Nigerian to Become Commissioned British Army Officer

Posted by Timige, On 1 Jan, 2021 | Updated On 1 Jan, 2021 No Comments »

first-Nigerian-Richard-Gabrielle-Akiwande-Savage — Richard Gabriel Akiwande Savage is the first Nigerian to receive a British Army officer commission. He is also the first in West Africa

Richard Gabriel Akiwande Savage is the first Nigerian to receive a British Army officer commission.

He was born in 15 Buccluech Place in 1903 to a Nigerian father Richard Akineande Savage Senior and a Scottish mother Maggie S Bowie.

He went on to graduate from Edinburgh’s medical school in 1926 and qualified in 1927, becoming a “forgotten pioneer of African medical history”, and the first West African to receive a British Army officer’s commission.

An “immensely caring man…of mixed Scottish and Gold Coast ancestry”, Richard Savage Jnr went on to live in Accra after WWII, but retired to Scotland “having found Africa vexing” (Keazor, 2014).

Source: Nigeria World Today

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