Charlotte Olajumoke Obasa (''née'' Blaize; January 7, 1874 – December 23, 1953) was a Nigerian socialite and philanthropist. She was the daughter of the merchant R. B. Blaize and the wife of the physician

Orisadipe Obasa Orisadipe Obasa, M.D. (January 1863 – 15 April 1940) was a Nigerian doctor and prince who played a significant role in the politics of Lagos in the first decades of the 20th century. Early years Orisadipe Obasa was born in January 1863 in Fr ...

Life

Saro Saro may refer to: Places * Saro, Cantabria, a municipality in Spain *Särö, a locality situated in Halland County, Sweden *Saro, Mali, a village in the Ségou Region of Mali *Saro, the ancient name for the Korean kingdom of Silla and its capit ...

, Obasa was born as one of the children of

Richard Beale Blaize Richard Beale Blaize (November 22, 1845 – September 21, 1904) was a Nigerian-Sierra Leonean businessman, newspaper publisher, financier, and black nationalist of Sierra Leonean and Nigerian heritage. Early life Richard Olamilege Blaize was bor ...

, a wealthy and politically active businessman, and his wife Emily Cole Blaize. Her formative years were spent in Lagos, where her father published the nationalist newspapers ''The Lagos Times and Gold Coast Colony Advertiser'' and ''The Lagos Weekly Times''. She was very well educated, first at what is today the Anglican Girls' School in Lagos, then at an institution in England. In 1902, she married the Saro prince

. Her father gave the couple a new house as a wedding present; it eventually came to be called Babafunmi House as a result. Obasa and her husband went on to have five children together. An aunt of Kofo, Lady Ademola, Obasa was an entrepreneur and philanthropist who championed women's rights and education. In 1907 the Lagos School for Girls, later called the Wesleyan Girls' High School, was opened through her efforts in a property she lent the school. In 1913 she founded the first motor transport company in Lagos, the ''Anfani'' bus service, and had three trucks, three taxis and six buses in operation by 1915. Obasa also served as a prominent esotericist. In 1914, she co-founded the

Reformed Ogboni Fraternity The Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, also known as the R.O.F, is an international fraternal organization. It is commonly described by initiates as a syncretic blend of the Ogboni system of Yorubaland and various external elements. History The Reforme ...

. She was recognized as its first ''Iya Abiye'', or lady master, in the same year. She died in 1953.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obasa, Charlotte Nigerian philanthropists Nigerian princesses 1874 births 1953 deaths Yoruba princesses Princesses by marriage Founders of Nigerian schools and colleges Saro people Yoruba women philanthropists Nigerian company founders Yoruba women in business Nigerian socialites People of colonial Nigeria History of women in Lagos Businesspeople from Lagos Esotericists