Remembering Oba Ladapo Ademola: The Alake of Egba forced into exile by ‘feminists’

Feminism may be gaining so much popularity now, but it is not new in Africa. Nigeria has a long list of several women activists who founded groups and mobilised other women to fight for rights, the list has the likes of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the mother of legendary Afrobeat singer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Margaret Ekpo, a Nigerian women’s rights activist and social mobilizer who was a pioneering female politician and Alimotu Pelewura, a Lagos fish seller who led a massive protest against colonial officials over imposition of tax on women.

If you’re in doubt of what women are capable of doing, the story of a prominent Yoruba monarch who had a taste of the power of women would give you a better understanding.

Oba Oladapo Samuel Ademola (Ademola II) was the Alake of Egbaland from 1920 before he was forced into exile in 1948 by women activists led by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti who staged daily protests at his palace for months.

As the Alake of Egba, he was the paramount ruler of Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun State.

Ademola was an educated monarch with strong business acumen. His 42 years reign as Alake was punctured by his controversy with women in the city which forced him to go into exile for two years.

Trouble started for Oba Ademola when the Abeokuta Women’s Union (a group with a membership of over 20,000 women), led by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and supported by Eniola Soyinka her sister-in law and mother of Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka, campaigned vigorously against the imposition of taxes and price control. The women argued that their economic roles were declining, while their taxes were increasing.

Some of their demands included: “Proposals to replace the flat rate tax on women with taxation on expatriate companies, investment in local initiatives and infrastructure including transportation, sanitation and education and the abolition of the Sole Native Authority (SNA) and its replacement with a representative form of government, including women.”

On 5 October 1946, an AWU delegation met with Oba Ademola but there was still no result. The situation then turned worse when the Alake increased the flat-rate tax on women, an action supported by the British colonial officials.

A relentless AWU began their mass protests in 1947, such as marching outside the king’s palace. In October 1946, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti led a large number of women in a march to the palace to protest the increase. The response from the colonial authorities was brutal. They deployed tear gas and assaulted the women.

The brutality didn’t deter the women, they pressed on and held another demonstration that lasted for two days at the palace where they sang their popular protest song ridiculing the Alake. “Alake, for a long time you have used your penis as mark of authority that you are our husband, today we shall reverse the order and use our vagina to play the role of husband.”

The women were assured that their demands would be addressed, but it turned out to be another empty promise. Rather than meet their demands as promised, the local authorities empowered by the British colonial officers arrested the protesters

In November, 1947, the women closed down local markets and staged a protest at the palace of the Alake, blocking the entrance. Another demonstration was held in December, with the women holding vigils at Ademola’s palace, they didn’t leave until their members who had been arrested were released.

By 1948, the women’s protests compelled Ademola to suspend the taxation of women and by the end of 1948, Ademola went into exile to keep the peace in Abeokuta. He, however, returned in 1950 and died in 1962.

The demand of the women seeking representation in the local administration was also granted as the Sole Native Authority system was changed and four women were included in the new system of administration.

Oba Ademola’s son, Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, became the first indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1958 replacing Sir Stafford Foster Sutton and occupied the office till 1972. The monarch’s grandson Justice Adenekan Ademola was a judge of the Court of Appeal while his great grandson Justice Adeniyi Ademola was also a judge of the Federal High Court.