Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kuti and the Abẹ́òkúta tax revolt, HID Awólọ́wọ̀, Wúràọlá Ẹsan, Fọláké Ṣólánkẹ́, Bọ́lá Kuforiji-Olubi, the Ìyálóde and Ìyálọ́jà offices in the modern state, and the Yoruba women who were first in law, medicine and the university.
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Yoruba society give women institutional political power before colonial rule, comot am under colonial rule, and use the twentieth century take back parts of am through new ways. The single event wey teach person pass na the Abẹ́òkúta women revolt of 1946 to 1949, because wetin the women demand no be new right, but to bring back the representation wey Ìyálóde office don dey give before. Beside that political side, another side dey: the Yoruba women wey be the first Nigerian women inside medicine, law, university and boardroom, wey most of dem come out from the same mission-school system wey produce the male nationalists.
This file cover the political organisers, the title-holders, and the people wey be first inside different professions. Scholars dey well covered inside the scholars files.
Ransome-Kuti na the most important Nigerian woman of the twentieth century and one of the very few African political figures of her generation wey get real international standing.
Dem born am as Frances Abigail Olúfúnmiláyọ̀ Thomas for Abẹ́òkúta on 25 October 1900 . Her papa na returnee from Sierra Leone recaptive family; the family na Anglican and dem go mission school. Na she be the first female student wey enter Abẹ́òkúta Grammar School, and she study for Wincham Hall School for Girls for Cheshire from 1919 to 1922 . She drop her English first name Frances for the 1940s as deliberate political action. She marry Reverend Israel Olúdọ̀tun Ransome-Kuti, wey be educator and first president of Nigerian Union of Teachers, for 1925 . She dey among the first Nigerian women wey drive motor.
She start with the Abẹ́òkúta Ladies Club, wey be group of educated Christian women, and change am. Wetin turn things around na when she meet market women wey come meet am for literacy classes and tell am wetin dey happen for market: how colonial officials dey seize rice and other food items anyhow, and flat tax wey dem put on top women traders without any representation to follow am. For 1946 dem change the club to Abẹ́òkúta Women's Union, open am for market women and dey run am in Yoruba, with dues wey low reach wetin traders fit pay .
The alliance of the Union na the main point. E join traders, wey get the old market authority and population, with the mission-educated women, wey get literacy, English and organisation skills. Members reach tens of thousands.
The campaign fight against the Aláké of Ẹ̀gbáland, Ademọlá II, and the Sole Native Authority structure wey colonial government dey use tax women. For November 1947, about ten thousand women march go the palace, camp for outside for days, and dey sing songs wey dey mock dem . More protests follow for December 1947 and April 1948, wey demand make dem cancel the flat tax on women and make the Aláké step down from throne . Dem suspend the tax for 1948. Ademọlá II step down on 3 January 1949 and go exile for three years . Dem appoint four women, including Ransome-Kuti, join the new council wey dem form.
E make sense to explain the shape of wetin dem demand again. Ẹ̀gbá women bin get formal representation through the Ìyálóde and the market title hierarchy. Indirect rule follow only male chiefs deal and comot the women side, while e continue to tax women. The revolt target exactly that comot wey dem comot am.
She start Nigerian Women's Union and later Federation of Nigerian Women's Societies, wey claim say e get hundreds of thousands of members by the 1950s and fight for universal adult suffrage . She be member of NCNC and later join different other parties, and she always dey for the left side pass the main nationalist leadership.
Dem elect am as vice-president of Women's International Democratic Federation for 1953, she travel go Soviet Union, China and Eastern Europe, and she be president of the Nigerian branch of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom from 1963 . Nigerian government seize her passport for 1956 because of her communist connections. She receive Lenin Peace Prize for 1970 and dem make am Member of the Order of the Niger for 1965 .
On 18 February 1977 soldiers attack Kalakuta Republic, the Lagos compound of her son the musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, after continuous public attacks wey Fela dey do against the military government. Dem throw Ransome-Kuti, wey be seventy-six years old that time, comot from upstairs window. She no ever recover and she die on 13 April 1978 . Fela carry her coffin go Dodan Barracks gate and write Coffin for Head of State and Unknown Soldier, wey the second song take name from the official panel report wey say na unknown soldier destroy the compound.
Her children include Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, doctor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti wey lead Nigeria primary health care and early AIDS programmes as Minister of Health and get international recognition for both of dem, and doctor and human rights activist Beko Ransome-Kuti .
Dem dey usually describe HID Awólọ́wọ̀ as politician wife, but that description reduce the value of her business career wey sponsor political movement and the period wey she stand in fully for her husband inside politics.
Dem born am as Hannah Ìdòwú Dídẹ́olú Adélànà for Ìkẹnnẹ́ on 25 November 1915 and she marry Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ for 1937 . She do trade before, during and after her husband political career; she become the first Nigerian distributor for Nigerian Tobacco Company for 1957 and one of the pioneer people wey dey import lace and textiles . That money wey she dey make from trade na wetin carry the family while her husband dey study law for London, and e sponsor big part of im early political work, wey be the financial foundation of political career wey people dey usually talk about without mentioning where the money come from.
Na im coordinate the women wing of the Action Group and campaign across the whole country . During the time wey dem put am for prison from 1963 go reach 1966, na im hold the party structure for Western region together and stand for election wit clear agreement say im go comot from the seat give am once dem release am . Im hold the title Yeye Oòduà of Yorubaland . Im die on 19 September 2015 and dem bury am for Ìkẹnnẹ́ on 25 November 2015, exactly hundred years after dem born am . Im granddaughter Dolapo marry Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria from 2015 go reach 2023 .
Ẹsan na the first woman wey sit down for Nigerian National Assembly, and the combination wey im represent, modern lawmaker and traditional title-holder, na something wey common well well wit Yoruba people.
Dem born am for March 1909 for Calabar inside one Ìbàdàn family, the Ojo-badan line; im papa na First World War veteran wey dey for line to inherit Ìbàdàn chieftaincy title, and im mama na trader wey people know as Ìyá Gbogbo, mama of all . Im go school for Sacred Heart convent school for Ìbàdàn, for Baptist Girls College Idi Aba for Abẹ́òkúta, and im get teacher diploma for United Missionary College, Molete, Ìbàdàn . Im teach domestic science for Àkúrẹ́ from 1930 to 1934.
Im main career na for education. The number of female students wey dey register for school for western region be around twenty per cent for 1945, and for 1944 im start im own schools to change that matter, and later im set up People's Girls Grammar School for Ìbàdàn .
Im join the women wing of Action Group and for 1960 Western Region nominate am enter Senate, wey make am the first woman member for Nigerian National Assembly . Im still be Ìyálóde of Ìbàdàn, wey mean say im hold senior Yoruba women chieftaincy at the same time wey im dey federal legislative seat .
Ṣólánkẹ́ na the first woman for Nigeria wey dem make Senior Advocate of Nigeria, wey be the country level of to take silk.
Dem born am on 29 March 1932 . Im study Latin and mathematics for wetin dem dey call King's College for University of Durham, for Newcastle, graduate for 1954, then im study law and dem call am to bar for Gray's Inn for 1960 . Im start to practice law for Nigeria for 1962, dem appoint am as the first woman Commissioner for Western State for 1972, and im serve as chairman of Western Nigeria Television Broadcasting Corporation . Dem give am the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria for 1981, wey make am the first woman and first Nigerian woman to wear the silk gown .
For 1994 dem elect am as International President of Zonta International, the first African and the first non-white person wey hold that office . Im still dey alive .
Kuforiji-Olubi na the first Nigerian woman to lead multinational company for Nigeria and the first woman to chair Nigerian bank.
Dem born am on 28 September 1936 and im become school headmistress at nineteen years for 1955 before im get honours degree in economics from University of London for 1963, and im qualify as chartered accountant for Nigeria and United Kingdom . Na im be the twenty-fifth president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the first woman president of the institute . Na im be the first Nigerian woman wey become chief executive of multinational company for Nigeria, and im be chairman of United Bank for Africa from 1984 go reach 1990 . Im serve as Minister of Commerce and Industry for Ernest Ṣónẹ́kan's Interim National Government for 1993 . Dem give am Member of the Order of the Niger for 1979 and im die for Lagos on 3 December 2016 .
The Ìyálóde and the Ìyálọ́jà na the two senior women office dem inside Yoruba town government, and the two still remain till today, wey make Yorubaland special: plenty West African women title system dem no survive colonial government without damage.
Ìyálóde, wey come from ìyá ní ilé òde, wey mean "mama wey dey in charge of outside", na chieftaincy title for whole town wey dey oversee women matter, wey historically get seat for council and power to settle dispute among women, and for nineteenth century e get strong military and financial power . Ẹfúnṣetán Aníwúrà, the second Ìyálóde of Ìbàdàn, wey die on 30 June 1874, dey among the richest people for nineteenth-century Yorubaland, big trader and slave owner wey get im own armed fighters . Madam Efúnrọyẹ Tinúbú hold that kind same power for Lagos and later as Ìyálóde of the Ẹ̀gbá. We don treat their nineteenth-century career for earlier file dem; wetin matter here na say dem no cancel the office wey dem hold, and say women like Wúràọlá Ẹsan hold am while dem still dey sit down for modern legislature.
Ìyálọ́jà, "mama of the market", na the head of market women association dem, wey get authority over price dispute, space allocation for market, levy dem and discipline . For modern Lagos, that office get big political weight because the market association dem big, get discipline and dem fit easily mobilize dem, wey make the Ìyálọ́jà real actor for election matter instead of just ceremonial title. Abíbátù Mọ̀gàjí hold that Lagos office for many decades until im die for 2013; dem install Fọláṣadé Tinúbú-Ojo as Ìyálọ́jà General of Lagos on 29 October 2013, and im don use the position for public health advocacy among market women alongside the political role wey the office already get . How that office and national politics take link together na something wey people dey talk openly for Nigeria.
The main point na say Yoruba women political authority come from how dem control trade. Where that control continue, the office continue, and the modern Ìyálọ́jà na direct continuation of precolonial institution, no be say na something dem come revive later.
| Name | Dates | First |
|---|---|---|
| Stella Jane Thomas | 1906 to 1974 | First woman lawyer for West Africa; study law for Oxford, dem call am go bar for 1933; first woman magistrate for Nigeria, 1943. Na Yoruba Nigerian wey come from Sierra Leone Krio descent |
| Elizabeth Abímbọ́lá Awóliyì | 1910 to 1971 | First woman wey practice medicine for Nigeria; qualify for 1938; first West African woman to hold the Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin; second president of the National Council of Women's Societies from 1964 |
| Kòfoworọlá Adémọlá | 1913 to 2002 | First Black African woman wey collect degree for University of Oxford, St Hugh's College, 1935; educationist and pesin wey fight for girls education; wife of Sir Adétòkunbọ̀ Adémọlá, Chief Justice of Nigeria |
| Adétóún Ògúnṣeye | 1926 to 2021 | First Nigerian woman wey reach professor level for library studies and first woman dean of faculty for University of Ìbàdàn |
| Bọ́lánlé Awé | 1933 to 2023 | First woman wey dem appoint as academic staff for Nigerian university, for history for Ìbàdàn, and Nigeria first woman professor of history. Dem talk about am well for the scholars file |
| Fọláké Ṣólánkẹ́ | dem born am 1932 | First woman Senior Advocate of Nigeria, 1981 |
| Bọ́lá Kuforiji-Olubi | 1936 to 2016 | First Nigerian woman chief executive of multinational company for Nigeria; first woman chairman of Nigerian bank |
Two women dey always show for Nigerian lists of firsts and dem no be Yoruba. Agnes Yewande Savage, wey qualify for medicine for Edinburgh for 1929 and na first West African woman to qualify for orthodox medicine, dem born am for Edinburgh to Gold Coast papa and Scottish mama, and na Ghanaian first im properly be . Grace Alele-Williams, the first Nigerian woman to get doctorate and first woman vice-chancellor of Nigerian university, for Benin for 1985, come from Warri and na Itsekiri background im get, no be Yoruba.
Ladi Kwali, the potter wey im photo dey twenty naira note, dey always enter Nigerian roll-call of women achievers. Na Gwari pesin she be, wey dem also dey write as Gbagyi, dem born am around 1925 for Kwali for Northern Region and im die on 12 August 1984, and she no be Yoruba . Im work belong to northern Nigerian ceramic tradition wey totally different from Yoruba pottery, and na only to make people no confuse am na im make we put am here.
Dora Akunyili, Director-General of NAFDAC from 2001 to 2008, na Igbo, dem born am on 14 July 1954 for Makurdi to family wey come from Nanka for Anambra State, and dis corpus no cover am .
Two names wey dem dey sometimes mention for lists of pioneer Yoruba women, Olúfúnmiláyọ̀ Adékọ́ya and Tinúọlá Dedeko, we no fit match dem to any verifiable biography for accessible sources when we dey prepare dis file. We put dia names here make researcher fit pick dem up later, and we no make any claim about dem.
Herbert Macaulay, Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀, Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá and Adégòkè Adélabú, the men who built Nigerian party politics out of Lagos and the Western Region between 1923 and 1966.
The Ìbàdàn school of history, Ṣàbúrí Bíọ́bákú and Bọ́lánlé Awé, Tóyìn Fálọlá, Ayọ̀ Bámgbóṣé and Adébóyè Bàbálọlá on Yoruba language and oral poetry, Rowland Abíọ́dún and Babátúndé Lawal on art, and Akínwùnmí Ògúndìran on archaeology.
Cultural nationalism and the African church movement, the Abẹ́òkúta women's revolt, Awólọ́wọ̀ and the Western Region, the Yoruba in the Nigerian federation, and the present revival of interest in traditional knowledge.
Biography, political mobilization, and anti-colonial organizing of Chief Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kuti, examining the Abeokuta Women's Union, Cold War surveillance, and the documented record versus state denial.
An examination of the life, methodology, institutional leadership, and historiographical contributions of Bọ́lańlé Awẹ́, pioneer of Yoruba oral history and African gender studies.
The most powerful women in nineteenth-century Yorubaland, both of them large-scale slave traders, one killed by the ruler she had armed and the other exiled by a British consul, and the political office that made their power constitutional.