Oyinkansola Ajasa, known to history as Lady Oyinkan Abayomi, was born on 6 March 1897 in Lagos, then a city shaped by the meeting of Yoruba authority and British colonial rule. Her father, Sir Kitoye Ajasa, stood among the city’s influential figures, active in law, journalism, and public affairs. From the start, her life unfolded in spaces where education and public service mattered, but her legacy would be built not on inheritance alone, but on steady work and organisation.
Early schooling in Lagos
Her formal education began at the Anglican Girls’ Seminary in Lagos, where she studied from 1903 to 1909. The school offered a disciplined curriculum that combined literacy, religious instruction, and social training expected of girls in colonial society. Music emerged early as a central part of her development, not as decoration, but as a skill with public and professional value.
England and London, turning talent into training
After completing her early schooling, she travelled to England for further education. There, she continued her studies before enrolling for advanced music training in London. By 1917, she was studying at the Royal Academy of Music, where technical discipline and formal assessment shaped her work. She completed her training with a recognised music diploma, returning home equipped to teach and to lead within educational institutions.
In 1920, she returned to Lagos and took up a teaching role at her former school, then known as Anglican Girls’ School. Her return marked an important moment, she was no longer simply a beneficiary of education, but a contributor to it, shaping the learning environment for a new generation of girls.
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Marriage, loss, and renewed public engagement
In 1923, she married Moronfolu Abayomi, a Lagos lawyer. The marriage was brief. Later that same year, he was shot and killed while in court, an event that shocked Lagos society and left her widowed within months. Rather than retreating from public life, she expanded her involvement in education, youth work, and women’s organising.
Seven years later, she married Dr Kofoworola Abayomi, a prominent medical doctor and public figure. When he was knighted in 1954, she became known as Lady Abayomi, a title that accompanied, rather than replaced, her ongoing public work.
Women’s organising and the push for girls’ education
Colonial Lagos offered limited educational pathways for girls beyond the elementary level. In response, educated women formed clubs and associations to press for better opportunities. Oyinkan Abayomi played a leading role in this movement through the British West African Educated Girls’ Club, also known as the West African Educated Girls’ Club, and later through the Ladies Progressive Club.
These organisations mobilised women across social classes, raised funds, and applied sustained pressure for improved educational provision for girls. Their efforts formed part of the wider campaign that led to the opening of Queen’s College, Lagos, in October 1927 as a government secondary school designed to provide advanced education for girls. Oyinkan Abayomi is identified in biographical accounts as one of the early teachers at the school and as a key organiser whose advocacy helped sustain support for the project.
Girl Guiding and leadership development
Alongside her work in schools and women’s clubs, she built a second sphere of influence through the Girl Guides movement. Introduced to Guiding during her years in England, she became active in the Lagos chapter after her return. Over time, her involvement developed into national leadership.
Her rise within the Nigerian Girl Guides reflected a broader shift toward local leadership in civic organisations. In 1949, she became Deputy Commissioner of the Nigerian Girl Guides. In 1951, she was appointed Chief Guide Commissioner, the first Nigerian to hold that position. In 1982, she was elected honorary life president of the movement.
Through Guiding, girls were trained in discipline, service, teamwork, and leadership. Under Nigerian leadership, the movement increasingly reflected local priorities while maintaining its emphasis on character formation and community responsibility.
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Political engagement and women’s voices
Oyinkan Abayomi’s public life also included political activity. She was associated with the Nigerian Youth Movement from 1935, a period when nationalist ideas were gaining momentum. In 1944, she was among those who founded the Nigerian Women’s Party, created to strengthen women’s participation in public life and to advocate for women’s social and political interests.
Her political engagement followed the same pattern as her educational and youth work, building structures, organising women, and pressing for inclusion within systems that often excluded them.
A legacy shaped by institutions
Lady Oyinkan Abayomi’s influence is best understood through the institutions she helped strengthen. Schools that educated girls beyond the elementary level, youth movements that trained girls for leadership, and women’s organisations that demanded space in public life all carry traces of her work. Her efforts contributed to a gradual shift in expectations, showing that girls could be educated seriously and that women could lead national organisations.
She died in 1990, leaving behind a record of service that continues to surface in the history of Nigerian education, women’s organising, and youth development.
Author’s Note
Lady Oyinkan Abayomi’s life shows how lasting change often comes from persistence rather than spectacle. Through classrooms, women’s clubs, and Girl Guiding, she helped expand what Nigerian girls could imagine for themselves, and her legacy lives on in institutions that continue to educate, train, and empower.
References
The Guardian Nigeria, “Lady Oyinkansola Abayomi, An Amazon, trailblazer”, 16 February 2020.
Premium Times Nigeria, “The founding of Queen’s College, Lagos”, Tayo Agunbiade, 16 August 2023.
Premium Times Nigeria, “Lagos high society weddings of the 1920s”, Tayo Agunbiade, 2 August 2023.
Mutiat Titilope Oladejo, “Women, Politics and Social Development in Colonial Yorubaland”.
Archivi.ng, “Oyinkansola Abayomi gave girls classrooms, and gave women a party”.Lady Oyinkan Abayomi and the Quiet Campaign That Changed Girls’ Education in Lagos
