Efunroye Tinubu

Common card · No. 203110

Efunroye Tinubu (c. 1810 – 1887), born Ẹfúnpọ̀róyè Ọ̀ṣuntinúbú, was a powerful Yoruba female aristocrat, merchant, and slave trader in pre-colonial and colonial Nigeria. She was a politically and economically influential figure in Lagos during the reigns of Obas (monarchs) Adele, Dosunmu, Oluwole, and Akitoye, helping the latter two Obas gain political power. She married Oba Adele and used his connections to establish a successful trade network with European merchants in tailor, tobacco, salt, cotton, palm oil, coconut oil, and firearms. She allegedly owned over 360 personal slaves. Following British victory in the Reduction of Lagos, the British removed Oba Kosoko from his throne and replaced him with Akitoye, who was backed by Tinubu. The British had Akitoye sign the 1852 Treaty Between Great Britain and Lagos, which required Lagosians to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. However, Tinubu covertly persisted in operating the slave trade with Brazilian and European merchants, in violation...

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