Ladapo Ademola
Ladapo Ademola II, (K.B.E), (C.M.G.) was a Nigerian paramount ruler who was the Alake of Abeokuta. He was an Egba native and was the first Yoruba Oba to receive any sort of lengthy political apprenticeship prior to his succession to the throne. He was president and chairman of Egba Divisional Council and as the Alake of Abeokuta, he was considered the leader of the Egbas.
Egbaland is a semi-independent region in Yorubaland. Prior to the ascension of Ladapo Ademola, the people of the region had a somewhat variant relationship with the British who took control of the capital city of Abeokuta in 1893. "Sir Adetokunbo Ademola", [1]
But the Alake was known as a foreward looking ruler, who tried to outlaw child pawning, loved to travel and raised the future Chief Justice of Nigeria: Adetokunbo Ademola. However, the Alake's reign had its share of internal dissension. In the late 1940s, he went on exile but later returned as the Oba of Abeokuta within a few years. Among his antagonists during the period was women leader, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, mother of famed musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.
References
- ↑ The Times, March 2, 1993.