Iyalode Chief (Mrs.) Esther Bisoye Tejuoso was brutally killed by heedless assassins on September 19, 1996, at her home, few months after celebrating her 80th birthday. The head of St. James’ African Church in Idiape, Abeokuta, is Mrs. Esther Bisoye Tejuoso, mother of His Majesty Oba, Dr. Adedapo Adewale Tejuoso, Osile of Oke Ona, Karunwi III. Egba Yeye Oba Oke-Ona. At the time of her coronation, the late Simbiat Atinuke Abiola, the wife of Chief M.K.O. Abiola, was the Otun Iyalode, and she was the third Iyalode of Egbaland. The first Iyalode of Egba land was Madame Efunporoye Tinubu, and the second was Madame Jojolola.
Iyalode Bisoye Tejuosho was born on 22nd June 1916 into an Egba royal dynasty, her grandpa was Oba Karunwi, Osile of Oke-Ona, Abeokuta. Prior to enrolling in Idi Aba Teacher’s Training College in Abeokuta, she attended Igbein Primary School. She married Joseph Somoye Tejuoso, a teacher, when she was eighteen years old, and later went to Zaria with him to work. Tejuoso prospered in Zaria by selling food with people from southern Nigeria; she transported commodities from Zaria to Lagos via the railway. She joined the United African Company as an agent in the early 1950s, and later on, Vono Industries was added to her list of suppliers. During this time, she achieved great fortune and bought properties across the nation. Early in the 1960s, she was a prominent Vono mattress salesperson on Broad Street when a Norwegian businessman asked her to join him in a foam production project.
When Nigerian Polyurethane Ltd. began manufacturing Cool Foams under its own brand in 1964, the collaboration really took off. In 1982, she received the Order of the Niger (OON) in recognition of her contributions to Nigeria’s economic growth. A philanthropist and a highly likeable person, Chief (Mrs.) Esther Bisoye Tejuoso made a substantial contribution to the advancement of education and was a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary International Club.
She chose to construct her own factory in 1970 after arguing with her business partners about a foam and carpet manufacturing venture. She is regarded as a trailblazing woman who achieved success and financial freedom. At the age of 80, she was killed on September 19, 1996, in the midst of the Egbaland obaship conflict. Nigerian officials have not yet been able to solve her murder.
