J.E. Casely Hayford

Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford was a towering pioneer of West African nationalism, Pan-Africanism, and constitutional jurisprudence.

Called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1896, Casely Hayford authored influential works including 'Gold Coast Native Institutions' and the early Pan-African novel 'Ethiopia Unbound' (1911), which advocated African cultural identity and female higher education.

In 1920, he founded the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA), creating the first transnational political organization uniting activists from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Gambia to demand legislative representation.