Arthur Prest

Arthur Prest
Born 1906
Died 1976
Nationality Nigeria
Occupation Politician
Children Anthony Prest

Chief Arthur Edward Prest (February 10, 1906 – September 26, 1976) was an Itsekiri politician of mixed heritage from the Warri division of southern Nigeria.

Life

At the Commonwealth Institute with Mr. Kenneth Bradley, C. M. G., (centre) Director of the Institute, and Chief Arthur Prest,(right) Acting High Commissioner for the Federation of Nigeria

Prest was born in February 1906. He was an officer of the Nigerian police force prior to his nomination as a representative of the Warri district in the Western Regional House of Assembly.[1]

In 1950 he and Anthony Enahoro founded the Mid-West Party. Enahoro had already started the Mid-West Press and he published the Nigerian newspaper from 1950 to 1953. The Mid-West Party became part of the Action Group in 1951.[2]

Prest was later made regional minister at Ibadan, he was subsequently appointed federal minister for communications in 1952. He left the Action Group in 1957.

In 1960 he and his wife Mabel had a son [3]

In 1971, he was involved in a prominent court case. Then, he challenged the Itsekiri Communal Lands Trust which wanted to use the purported overlord rights of the Olu of Warri over lands in Warri. The overlord rights would have given the trust indirect ownership of all lands including overriding the rights of ownership of landlords. However, the communal lands trust lost the case.[4]

Prest died in 1976. His son Chief Anthony Tosan Prest is a businessperson based in Lagos.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Abner Cohen, Urban Ethnicity. Routledge, 2004. ISBN 0-415-32982-5
  2. ↑ Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong; Mr. Steven J. Niven (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  3. ↑ Lagos businessman Tony Prest opens hotel, CityPeopleNG.com, Retrieved 24 February 2016
  4. ↑ Peter Palmer Ekeh, Warri City and British Colonial Rule in Western Niger Delta. Urhobo Historical Society. 2005. p 290. ISBN 978-064-924-7
  5. ↑ Tony Prest, Intellifin.com, Retrieved 24 February 2016

Further information

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