Kofo Ademola
| Kofoworola Ademola | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Kofoworola Moore May 21, 1913 Lagos, Nigeria |
| Died | 15 May 2002 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | Nigerian-British |
| Alma mater | Oxford University |
| Occupation | Educator, writer |
| Known for | being the first black African woman graduate of Oxford University, women's education in Nigeria. |
| Spouse(s) |
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Kofoworola, Lady Ademola (May 21, 1913 – May 15, 2002) was a Yoruba Nigerian educationist who was the first president of the National Council of Women Societies in Nigeria, she was head of the women's organization from 1958 to 1964. She was the first black African woman to earn a degree from Oxford University and also an author of children's books.
Ademola was born to the family of Lagos lawyer, Eric Moore and his wife Aida Arabella (née Vaughan). She was a first cousin of Oyinkan Abayomi and a niece of Charlotte Obasa. She spent half of her young life in Lagos and the other half in U.K. Ademola was educated at C.M.S. Girls School, Lagos, Portway College, Reading and St Hugh's College, Oxford. She earned a degree in education and English from Oxford, while at Oxford she wrote a 21-page autobiography at the instance of Margery Perham to douse British stereotypes about Africans, she wrote of her childhod as a mixture of western cultural orientation and African orientation. 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, a civil servant. As the wife of a Yoruba prince, she was entitled to the style Oloori, but as her husband was also a knight, it is as Lady Ademola that she was better 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.
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 Ibadan, she began to cultivate friendship with Elizabeth Adekogbe of the Council of Nigerian Women and Tanimowo Ogunlesi 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 join hands and form a collective organization. In 1958, when the National Council of Women Societies was formed she was chosen was the first president. As president, she became a board member of the International Council of Women.
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