Fourah Bay College

Fourah Bay College (founded in 1827 as the first western-style university in West Africa) is the oldest university college in West Africa. It is located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It is a constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone (from 1966 to 2005) and was formerly affiliated with Durham University (from 1876-1967).

History

Established in 1827 as an Anglican missionary school (by the Church Missionary Society), Fourah Bay College soon became a magnet for Krio and other Africans seeking higher education under the British Empire, especially in the fields of theology and education. It was the first western-style university in West Africa. Under colonialism, Freetown was known as the "Athens of Africa" as an homage to the college.

The first black principal of the university was an African American missionary, Reverend Edward Jones from South Carolina in the United States. Lamina Sankoh was a prominent early academic; Francis Heiser was principal from 1920 to 1922.Abioseh Nicol was the first Sierra Leonean born administrator in 1966.

Notable alumni

• Ernest Bai Koroma
• Alexander Babatunde Akinyele
• Zainab Bangura
• Kojo Botsio
• Henry...... ...
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