Ogunbikun Adeniyi

Nigerian educator who established West Africa's first girls' boarding school system

Ogunbikun Adeniyi (1908-1968) was a Yoruba educator who defied cultural norms to create educational opportunities for girls in colonial Nigeria. Born into a polygamous family in Ibadan, she secretly learned to read while serving as a housemaid, later becoming the first woman from her region to earn a teaching certificate from the University College Ibadan in 1932. Her vision materialized in 1945 with the founding of Oba's Girls Academy, Nigeria's first boarding school for girls from rural areas.

Adeniyi's innovative curriculum combined traditional Yoruba studies with modern subjects like engineering and agriculture. By 1955, her network of 12 schools educated over 1,500 students annually, including future leaders like Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka's mother. She pioneered scholarships funded through partnerships with local markets, ensuring no girl was excluded due to poverty.

Her advocacy led to the 1958 Women's Education Act, mandating primary education for girls in Western Nigeria. The Ogunbikun Foundation continues her work today, operating tech labs in schools across Oyo State. Recent studies like this UNESCO report credit her with raising female literacy rates from 3% to 28% in her region during her lifetime. Though overshadowed by contemporaries like Nnamdi Azikiwe, her schools produced 14 of Nigeria's first female university graduates.