Category: History

  • Alimotu Pelewura

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    Alimotu Pelewura was an activist trader of pre-colonial Nigeria, who, though illiterate, led women successfully in their struggle against unjust taxation and for suffrage. Pelewura was born in the last decade of the 19th Century to a Muslim family. During the Second World War, she organized demonstrations against British policy of monopoly in the distribution…

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  • Alex Taylor E.J.

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    Alex Taylor was a Lagos lawyer, cheered in his lifetime as the “cork of the Nigerian Bar”. Alex Taylor was born 13 April 1876 and had his elementary education at Port Novo, proceeding to Lagos to study at Wesleyan Boys High School before he was sent by his parents to C.M.S. school in Sierra Leone…

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  • Gbadebo I

    Gbadebo I, original name, Tegumada Ademola was the sixth Alake of Egba land who ruled from 1892 to 1920. Alake Gbadebo was born in 1854. His father, Okukenu, was the first Alake after the Egba migration to Abeokuta. Gbadebo’s sovereignty was interrupted in 1914 with the termination of the Egba Unity Government, which educated elites…

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  • Akinsanya Samuel

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    Akinsanya Samuel was the nationalist during Awolowo’s era who acceded to the throne of his town as the Odemo of Isara. Born 1 August 1898 in Isara, Akinsanya was educated at the Anglican school in his hometown, and thereafter worked as a shorthand typist and writer. In his mid-twenties, Akinsanya collaborated with youngsters such as…

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  • Maja House

    Maja House, located at 2 Garber Square, was the residence of Mrs. Dr. Maja Akintola. This pink painted Brazilian style house is one of the better-preserved, now more conspicuous as a result of slum-clearance. The symmetry at the front elevation gives a special importance to the entrance, which is decorated by protruding pilasters. The vertical…

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  • Akarigbo Oyebajo

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    Akarigbo Oyebajo was the first educated ruler in Ijebu. Born in 1866, he ascended the throne in late 1891, just a year before the British conquest of Ijebu which brought him to prominence. The Lagos colonial governor, McCallum’s disdain of the proliferation of king titles in Akarigbo’s domain led to his being recognized as the…

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  • Akande Harry

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    Harry Akande is a businessman and one time presidential aspirant born 1943 in Ibadan. As a child, Harry showed himself to be brilliant in academics and in sports. Being a staunch fan of the famous American singer, Harry Belafonte, Ayoade Akande took to the name ‘Harry,’ and is fondly called so. After the Olivet Heights…

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  • Ajisafe Kayode Ajayi

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    Ajisafe Kayode Ajayi was an historian and poet born in 1875 as Emmanuel Olympus Moore. The patriotic zeal and cultural renaissance in him prompted the change of his name to a fully African one in 1921. A.K. Ajisafe is the author of The Laws and Customs of the Yoruba People published in 1924. As one…

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  • Ajanlapa

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    Ajanlapa was the brave warrior whose self-sacrificing, patriotic act incidentally overturned the war waged by Lajomo, king of Nupe land in favor of Ajiboyede, Alaafin of Oyo’s army. Oyo warriors were retreating but Nupe soldiers went particularly after the Alaafin. When it became clear the king would be killed, Ajanlapa hastily exchanged dress with his…

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  • Molada

    Molada is an historical figure of Ijebu; the Awujale’s son who committed adultery with his father’s wife and was consequently banished from the town. Although the Awujale ruled him to be executed, the council members of the King’s court prevailed on him to order a less severe punishment. Molada was ruled not to settle near…

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