Oloori Kofoworola "Kofo" Aina Ademola, Lady Ademola

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, MFR, OFR (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Moore; 21 May 1913 – 15 May 2002) was a Nigerian educationist who was the president of the National Council of Women Societies in Nigeria and was the head of the women's organization from 1958 to 1964. She was the first black

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

woman to earn a degree from Oxford University, studying at

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, and also an author of children's books. She was the first president of the National Council of Women Societies in Nigeria, the first Nigerian graduate teacher in Queen's College, the first female member and later chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the United Bank for Africa, and a member of the Nigerian Scholarship Board.

Life

Kofo Ademola was born on May 21, 1913, to the family of the Lagos lawyer Omoba Eric Olawolu Moore, a member 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 ...

royal family who was educated at Lagos Grammar School,

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and

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in England, and his wife Aida Arabella (née Vaughan), who herself belonged to a family that was descended from Scipio Vaughan (through whom she also had Native American ancestry). She was a first cousin of Oyinkan, Lady Abayomi and a niece of Oloori

Charlotte Obasa 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. Life A Saro, Obasa ...

. She spent half of her young life in Lagos and the other half in the U.K. Ademola was educated at C.M.S. Girls School, Lagos; Vassar College, New York; and Portway College, Reading. From 1931 to 1935 she studied at

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

, where she earned a degree in education and English. Whilst at St Hugh's she wrote a 21-page autobiography at the insistence of

Margery Perham Dame Margery Freda Perham (6 September 1895 – 19 February 1982) was a British historian of, and writer on, African affairs.The Times, 22 February 1982, page 10. She was known especially for the intellectual force of her arguments in favour of Br ...

to challenge British stereotypes about Africans, she wrote of her childhood as a mixture of western cultural orientation and African orientation. She did not report overt racism while in Britain, but expressed annoyance at "being regarded as a 'curio' or some weird specimen of Nature’s product, not as an ordinary human being" and at "ineffectual remarks about our 'amazing cleverness' at being able to speak English and at being able to wear English clothes". Ademola returned to Nigeria in 1935 and took up appointment as a teacher at Queens College. While in Lagos she participated in some women organizations such as YWCA. In 1939, she married

Adetokunbo Ademola Omoba Sir Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola GCON KBE PC SAN (1 February 1906 – 29 January 1993) was a Nigerian jurist who was the Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1958 to 1972. He was appointed as Chief Justice on 1 April 1958, replacing Sir Staff ...

, a civil servant. They had five children. As the wife of a Yoruba prince, she was entitled to the style of ''Oloori'' - and as the daughter of one, she was herself an ''Omoba'' as well - but due to the fact that her husband was also a knight, it is as Lady Ademola that she was best known. Her husband's work took the family to Warri and later to Ibadan, and Ademola established links with the women organizations in both towns. An authorized biography of Kofoworola Aina Ademola, Gbemi Rosiji's ''Portrait of a Pioneer'', was published in 1996.

Career

While in Warri with her husband, Ademola was a member of a women's literary circle and was a teacher at Warri College. When she moved to Ibadan, she began to cultivate friendship with

Elizabeth Adekogbe Chief Elizabeth Adekogbe (1919 – 1968) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, women's rights leader and traditional aristocrat. She was the leader of the Ibadan-based Women's Movement of Nigeria. In 1954, the movement changed its name to Niger ...

of the Council of Nigerian Women and

Tanimowo Ogunlesi Tanimowo Ogunlesi (1908–2002) was a Nigerian women's rights activist and the leader of the Women's Improvement League. She was one of the leading women activists of her era and co-founded the National Council of Women Societies, the country's le ...

of the Women's Improvement Society. She was a member of the latter and was a bridge linking both organizations and a few others to form a collective organization. In 1958, when the National Council of Women Societies was formed she was chosen as the first president. As president, she became a board member of the International Council of Women. Ademola was also a social worker, teacher and educator, she co-founded two schools: the Girls Secondary Modern School in Lagos and New Era Girls' Secondary School, Lagos. She was a director of the board of trustees of the United Bank for Africa and secretary of the Western Region Scholarship Board. She also wrote children's books, many of them based in West African folklore, including ''Greedy Wife and the Magic Spoon'', ''Ojeje Trader and the Magic Pebbles'', ''Tutu and the Magic Gourds'', and ''Tortoise and the Clever Ant'', all part of the "Mudhut Book" series.

Recognition

She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1959, receiving the award from

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's government awarded her the honor of membership of the Order of the Federal Republic. Lady Ademola also held the chieftaincy titles of the Mojibade of Ake and the Lika of Ijemo.

References

Sources

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External links

Presidents - National Council of Women's Societies, Nigeria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ademola, Kofo 1913 births 2002 deaths Nigerian educational theorists Nigerian schoolteachers Yoruba women educators People from Lagos 20th-century Nigerian educators History of women in Lagos 20th-century Nigerian writers English people of Nigerian descent Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Founders of Nigerian schools and colleges Nigerian children's writers Nigerian women children's writers Yoruba children's writers Yoruba women writers English people of Yoruba descent Black British history Nigerian recipients of British titles People of colonial Nigeria Ajasa family Alakija family

Kofo KOFO (1220 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Country music format. Licensed to Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais ...

Educators from Lagos Nigerian women educators Vaughan family (Lagos) Nigerian people of Native American descent Nigerian people of Cherokee descent Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Order of the Federal Republic Vassar College alumni 20th-century Nigerian women writers Nigerian social workers 20th-century women educators Yoruba princesses Nigerian princesses St Anne's School, Ibadan alumni