Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Esther Bisoye Tejuoso (1916 – 19 September 1996) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

businesswoman from

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surrounding are ...

. She was born into the family of an

Egba Egba may refer to: *Egba people, a clan of the Yoruba people living in western Nigeria * EGBA, the European Gaming and Betting Association *Egba United Government, a late 19th century political entity of the Egba people that was located in what is ...

farmer who was also a

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

in Abeokuta. She herself held the

chieftaincy A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as ...

of the Iyalode, a fact which made her very prominent in Egba affairs.

Life

Tejuosho was born into an Egba royal family, her grandfather was Oba Karunwi, Osile of Oke-Ona, Abeokuta. She studied at Igbein Primary School, Abeokuta before attending Idi Aba Teacher's Training College, Abeokuta. At 18 years old, she married a teacher, Joseph Somoye Tejuoso and later accompanied him to

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

, where he was working. At Zaria, Tejuoso thrived in trading foodstuff with southern Nigerians; she used the railway to transport goods from Zaria to Lagos. In the early 1950s, she became an agent for the

United African Company The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It was formed in 1879 as the ''United African Company '' and renamed to ''National African Company'' in 1881 and to ''Royal Niger Co ...

, and in later years, added Vono industries to her list of suppliers. She became very successful during this period and acquired real estate in various parts of the country. In the early 1960s, she was a major dealer of Vono mattresses in Broad St and was approached by a Norwegian businessman for a partnership in a foam manufacturing venture. The partnership took off in 1964 when Nigerian Polyurethane Ltd started producing its own brand of Cool Foams.

Career and death

In 1970, after disagreeing with her partners in a

foam Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid. A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the reg ...

and carpet manufacturing venture, she decided to build her own factory. She got a loan from the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank and established, Teju Industries, a firm specialized in foam manufacturing. Over the years, she ventured out to other businesses. She is remembered as a pioneering woman who attained the summit of financial independence and success. She was murdered on 19 September 1996 at age 80 amid controversy over the obaship of Egbaland. To date, her murder has not been solved by Nigerian authorities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tejuoso, Bisoye 1916 births 1996 murders in Nigeria 1996 deaths 20th-century Nigerian businesswomen Businesspeople from Abeokuta Female murder victims Nigerian commodities traders People murdered in Nigeria Bisoye Unsolved murders in Nigeria Violence against women in Nigeria Yoruba royalty Yoruba women in business

Life

Career and death

See also

References