Olayinka Herbert Samuel Heelas Badmus Macaulay // ⓘ (14 November 1864 – 7 May 1946) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, surveyor, engineer, architect, journalist, and musician.

[10] After going to a Christian missionary school, he took a job as a clerical assistant and indexer at the Department of Public Works, Lagos.

Other authors such as Patrick Dele-Cole have noted the abuse of office allegations (leveled by his British superiors) and pursuit of private gain controversy that clouded Macaulay's resignation as surveyor of Crown Grants.

[20] While Macaulay never remarried in the Church,[20] he had liaisons including Ms. da Souza who returned to Lagos, her ancestral home, from Brazil and lived into her 90s, with whom he had a number of children,[19] as well as companionships which bore no children (Stella Davies Coker, daughter of J. P. L. Davies and Sarah Forbes Bonetta, lived with Macaulay from 1909 until her death in 1916.

[22][23] Though from a family of devout Anglicans, Macaulay embraced indigenous African religious traditions, was superstitious, and dabbled in the practice of magic.

[25] Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, Macaulay associated with many Lagos socialites, worked as a private surveyor and had a moderate outlook about colonialism.

Behind all three lived the real Lagosians, the masses of indigenous Yoruba people, disliked and generally ignored by their privileged neighbours.

In 1908 he exposed European corruption in the handling of railway finances and in 1919 he argued successfully for the chiefs whose land had been taken by the colonial government in front of the Privy Council in London.

In 1909, he came out publicly against the prohibition of spirits into Nigeria which he felt will ultimately lead to reduced government revenues and thereafter increased taxation.

Macaulay supported the House of Docemo in its opposition to the water rate and colonial acquisition of Lagos lands.

Amodu Tijani Oluwa, a traditional chief, had challenged the compulsory acquisition without compensation of his family land in Apapa.

Oluwa's case was supported by the Ilu Committee and the Oba who were interested in the protection of their family lands in Lagos.

[27] In London, Macaulay presented himself as Oluwa's private secretary and as a representative of the Oba and in the capacity he made statements which the colonial authorities felt were inimical to their interests.

In 1920, the Eleko, Eshungbayi was ostracized by the British because he refused to disavow allegations against the colonial authorities made by Macaulay in London.

To further his political activities, Macaulay co-founded the Nigerian Daily News, a platform he used to write opinion pieces such as Justitia Fiat: The Moral Obligation of the British Government to the House of Docemo.

[28] His political opinions divided many Lagos elites as he used the Daily News to publicly vilify his opponents and former friends such as Henry Carr.

[29] In October 1938, the more radical Nigerian Youth Movement fought and won elections for the Lagos Town Council, ending the dominance of Macaulay and his National Democratic Party.

After going into private practice as a surveyor and architect, Macaulay faced some financial difficulty and misappropriated funds from an estate he served as executor for.

Other incidents include the acting Chief Justice fining Macaulay £100 despite the five assessors in the court returning a not guilty verdict.

According to Cole "the will of the testatrix was read in public at the request of Macaulay and the loan he obtained in order to clear the debts of the testatrix was explained to the beneficiaries of the will (Macaulay's niece was the principal beneficiary and she certainly did not engage Irving to prosecute the case), yet he was convicted of 'intent to defraud'".

[35] The level of the strife between both men was so caustic that in 1924, Macaulay published a malicious account titled "Henry Carr Must Go".

[45][46] A biopic titled The Herbert Macaulay Affair which covered about 3 decades of his life was made by Nigerian filmmaker, Imoh Umoren and released in 2019.