About the Igbo and Sierra Leone: What You Should Know.



1. The first president of Sierra Leone was an Igbo by the name of Christopher Okoro Cole. Before then, Okoro served as the Governor-General of Sierra Leone. His ascendancy into the presidential seat took place on April of 1971.

2. In April of 1992, an Igbo by the name of Captain Yahya Kanu became Military Head of State of Sierra Leone.

3. In 1857, an ex-slave of Igbo extraction, Simon Jonas, wrote the first manuscript written in Igbo language, ‘Isoama-Ibo Primer’. This was done in Sierra Leone for emancipated slaves from Igboland in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Igbo dialect spoken in Sierra Leone is called Isoama/Isuama-Igbo. Ex-Lagos slave, Samuel Crowther, published it as a book. Both Jonas and Crowther stayed together in Lagos before being shipped to Sierra Leone.


The First President of Sierra Leone was an Igbo man known as Christopher Okoro Cole [1921-1990]. He had another First to his name: First Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States. Okoro Cole was Chief Justice of Sierra Leone in 1970.

He was the country’s last Governor General in 1971 before he became President on March 19,1971.



The jurist acted as Chief Justice of the Gambia in 1962. We shall come to the Gambia shortly.




The Fifth President of Liberia, Edward James Roye, [February 3, 1841-February 11,1872] was Igbo. He was born in Newark, Ohio, United States to a wealthy father. Roye relocated to Liberia in 1846 and within a short time, became Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was also the Fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, from 1865-1868. Nigerian judges have continued to follow the footsteps of these great men by presiding over the Supreme Courts of other nations. From Liberia, to Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Uganda, Botswana and Seychelles.

1. The first president of Sierra Leone was an Igbo by the name of Christopher Okoro Cole. Before then, Okoro served as the Governor-General of Sierra Leone. His ascendancy into the presidential seat took place on April of 1971.

2. In April of 1992, an Igbo by the name of Captain Yahya Kanu became Military Head of State of Sierra Leone.

This reminds me so much of Nigeria History.