Egbinola Bolarinwa was a teacher and the founder of Alafia Nursery and Primary School in Mokola, Ibadan. Also known as Mrs J. E. Bolarinwa, she took part in the National Council of Women’s Societies. Her work links the growth of a local school with women’s wider role in public life.
Alafia also appears in government records from before Nigeria’s independence. These notices place the school within the world of pupils, entrance tests and routes to further study. Through them, part of its early history comes into view.
Egbinola Bolarinwa’s Work as a Teacher
Historian Olufunke Asake Adeboye included Mrs Bolarinwa in her study of Ibadan’s leading figures between 1893 and 1966. Completed at the University of Ibadan in 1996, the thesis names her as Alafia’s founder. It also describes her as a schoolteacher and an active leader in the National Council of Women’s Societies.
Together, these roles show the range of her public work. Teaching linked her to the classroom, while founding Alafia gave her a place in the city’s school history. Her work with women’s groups added another part to that record.
Adeboye also notes a link to the Oloko family through her mother’s side. However, the brief entry gives few details of her childhood or training. The clearest account of her working life therefore centres on the school she founded and her role in women’s affairs.
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Founding Alafia in Mokola
Alafia took shape in a city where churches, public bodies and local people all helped build schools. In his history of Ibadan, Moshood A. Tomori places Mrs Bolarinwa among the city’s private school founders. He names her as Chief Mrs J. Egbinola Bolarinwa and links her to Alafia Institute in Mokola.
The exact opening year remains unclear. Tomori gives 1947 in one passage of his 2022 book, but 1955 in another. His earlier work also gives 1955. Meanwhile, Oyo State’s school directory records 1955 for Alaafia Institute Primary School, Mokola.
These dates leave an eight-year gap in the school’s early story. Neither account explains whether the years refer to different stages of its growth. For now, the founding year remains open, although her role as founder appears in both Adeboye’s and Tomori’s work.
The School in the Records of 1959
By July 1959, Alafia was appearing in federal school examination notices. The Official Gazette of 30 July listed candidates invited for interview at King’s College, Lagos. One entry gave a school address as Alafia Institute, Ago Ilorin, Mokola, Ibadan.
Later that year, the gazette returned to the same entrance process. Its issue of 22 October printed the King’s College results. Again, Alafia appeared, this time as Alafia Institute School, Mokola, Ibadan, beside a candidate’s name.
These entries place the school in the final years of British colonial rule. They also connect it with a route from local primary study to secondary school in Lagos. The lists do not give Alafia’s total pupil numbers, but they show its name within that wider school network.
Most of all, the notices give a firm point in its early history. Whatever its precise opening date, Alafia was already part of this entrance process in 1959.
Egbinola Bolarinwa and Women’s Public Life
Alongside her school work, Mrs Bolarinwa was active in the National Council of Women’s Societies, often called the NCWS. Adeboye’s account identifies her as a leader within the body. It does not name a specific office or give the dates of her service.
The council dates its founding to 1958. It brought women’s groups together and sought to improve women’s place in national life. As a result, it offered a shared platform for groups whose work could reach beyond one town or profession.
Mrs Bolarinwa’s connection to the council adds breadth to her story. She appears in the record through both education and organised women’s work. However, the council’s wider aims should not all be treated as projects she personally led. Her known role is meaningful without assigning her campaigns that the sources do not name.
Former Pupils and Alafia’s Later Years
Alafia’s name also appears in later accounts of former pupils. For example, a January 2019 report in ThisDay traced part of police officer Godwin Nwobodo’s schooling to Mokola. It stated that he completed primary school at Alafia Institute’s Free Section in 1973.
That account extends the school’s story beyond the colonial period. It also preserves the name of a section within Alafia. Yet the report does not explain when the Free Section began or how it was funded.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State directory lists Alaafia Institute Primary School under Ibadan North. The directory covers schools owned by the state. Its entry is therefore a later public record, rather than proof that Alafia kept the same ownership throughout its history.
Together, these references trace a school whose name remained in use across several decades. They also show why its founding story and later management need to be kept distinct.
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Egbinola Bolarinwa’s Place in Ibadan’s School History
Tomori describes Alafia as Nigeria’s first private nursery and primary school. However, that national claim depends on how the school type is defined. Church schools, schools owned by individuals and schools with both nursery and primary classes have different histories.
Alafia’s place in Ibadan is clearer. Its founder appears in scholarly work, while its pupils’ school address appears in records from 1959. Later accounts also preserve its name in the lives of former pupils.
Seen together, these details give Mrs Bolarinwa a place among the people who helped provide schooling in the city. Her story also shows that women’s public work took several forms. In her case, the record joins teaching, school founding and service through a women’s organisation.
Conclusion
Egbinola Bolarinwa’s place in Ibadan’s history rests on her work as a teacher, Alafia’s founder and a women’s leader. Although the school’s exact founding year remains unsettled, records confirm its presence by 1959. Its later appearances in school lists and former pupils’ biographies carry that story into the years after independence.
Author’s Note
A school’s history lives partly in the records of the children who passed through it. Alafia’s entries in the King’s College notices give Mrs Bolarinwa’s work that human connection. They place a local school within a wider path of learning. Preserving such links helps keep the work of school founders visible alongside the better-known stories of public policy and national institutions.
References
Olufunke Asake Adeboye. The Ibadan Elite, 1893–1966. PhD thesis, Department of History, University of Ibadan, November 1996, p. 85.
Moshood A. Tomori. A New Perspective of Ibadan History: From Origin and Transformation from War Camp to a Megapolis, 1580–2000. October 2022, pp. 337 and 342.
Moshood A. Tomori. A Critical Look at the Urbanization and Development of Ibadan Metropolitan Area: Lessons, Challenges and the Way Forward. 10 August 2018, p. 26.
Federation of Nigeria. Official Gazette, No. 47, Vol. 46, 30 July 1959, pp. 1026–1027, King’s College common-entrance interview notice; Alafia entry on p. 1027.
Federation of Nigeria. Official Gazette, No. 65, Vol. 46, 22 October 1959, pp. 1404–1405, King’s College common-entrance results; Alafia entry on p. 1405.
Oyo State Government. “Educational Institutions Directory”. Entry for Alaafia Institute Primary School, Mokola, Ibadan North; consulted 6 November 2026.
National Council of Women’s Societies. “Why NCWS”. Official account of the council’s origins and purpose; consulted 6 November 2026.
Bennett Oghifo. “Buhari May Pick New IGP from South-east”. ThisDay, 12 January 2019; biographical details of Godwin Nwobodo’s primary education.
