Ladapo Ademola
| Ladapo Ademola | |
|---|---|
| Alake | |
| Reign | 1920–1962 |
| Coronation | 24 September 1920 |
| Predecessor | Oba Gbadebo I |
| Successor | Oba Adesina Samuel Gbadebo II |
| Born | Abeokuta |
| Died | December 27, 1962 |
| Burial | December 31, 1962 |
| Issue | Adetokunbo Ademola |
| Father | Ademola I |
| Mother | Hannah Adeyombo Ademola |
Ladapo Samuel Ademola (1872–1962) also known as Ademola II was the Alake of Abeokuta from 1920 to 1962. Before he was crowned Alake, Ademola was involved in the affairs of the Egba United Government. As a member of the Egba council, he was a leading participant in negotiations with the Lagos State colonial government in 1889 for the rights to construct railway tracks passing through Egbaland. In 1904, he traveled with Alake Gbadebo to U.K where they were received by King Edward VII. He succeeded Oba Gbadebo in 1920 with overwhelming votes from the Egba council.
One of the earliest Nigerian traditional rulers to own a car, he was known to have driven a speed record of over 30 miles from Abeokuta to Ibadan when he traveled to receive the Prince of Wales at Ibadan before the Prince returned to Lagos after a Durbar at Ibadan. Under his headship, the Egba Native Authority continued infrastructural works in Abeokuta started by Gbadebo including road construction and provision of improved electric and water supply in Abeokuta. He was forced to live outside of Abeokuta in 1948 due to tax related demonstrations led by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a member of the regional House of Assembly but later returned to Abeokuta in 1950.
He was appointed president of the Western House of Chiefs in 1960.
Ademola was born to the royal house of Alake Ademola I. After the death of his father, Ademola I in 1877, he was taken to Lagos to be raised by his aunt. He was educated at the Ake School, Abeokuta and in Lagos, he attended Breadfruit School, Lagos and Forsythe school. After leaving secondary school, he tried his hand in trading and then printing. He trained as a printer under J. Bagan Benjamin in 1888 and later joined John Payne Jackson of the Lagos Weekly Record. In 1890, he was head printer of Jackson's Weekly Record. While in Lagos, he made acquaintances with personalities such as George W. Johnson, a prominent Egba native and advisor to the Alake Gbadebo I, Balogun Majekodunmi, an Ogboni member and Richard Beale Blaize.
In the late 1800s Egba Kingdom was an independent entity under the guidance of a triumvirate, the Alake, the Ogbonis and the Egba United Board of Management. However, the leading chiefs wanted to enhance cooperation between Abeokuta and colonial Lagos. Ademola who had spent the larger part of his life in Lagos became a broker in the development of relationship between Egba chiefs and Governor Henry McCallum. He also played a leading role in negotiations between Lagos and Abeokuta for the passage of railway through Egba country. Ademola was an adviser to McCallum to create the Egba United Government as a replacement for the triumvirate. The new government system consisted of the Alake as head, the three other Egba Obas as members, and the chiefs who held the title of Seriki, Olori Parakoyi, Apena, and Balogun of Christians. In 1901, he was the agent of the Egba United Government in Lagos, however he soon had a falling out with some of its members. Ademola then took to farming as an occupation but the government system which he had supported in Abeokuta gained little popularity among the residents partly because of a new poll tax.
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