Wuraola Esan

Wuraola Esan (1914-1985) was a Nigerian teacher and politician who opened new doors to channel the voice of women in a new and patriarchal political climate. She also combined her modern political pedigree with that of traditional titles by becoming the Iyalode of Ibadan. [Roberta Ann Dunbar. Reviewed Work(s): People and Empires in African History: Essays in Memory of Michael Crowder by J. F. Ade Ajayi; J. D. Y. Peel; Michael Crowder,The Journal of African History, Vol. 34, No. 3, 1993.]

Biography

Early life and education

Wuraola Esan was born in the city of Ibadan to a prominent family. Though, her parents were not western trained, they promoted a western educative course for their children. She attended Idi Aba Baptist Girls School, Abeokuta before proceeding to the United Missionary College to earn a teachers training diploma. From 1930 to 1934, she was a domestic science teacher at a missionary training school in Akure. She later married Mr Victor Esan in 1934 and they briefly lived in Lagos. A few years later she moved back to her hometown of Ibadan. [Kathleen E. Sheldon. Historical Dictionary Of Women In Sub-Saharan Africa, Scarecrow Press, 2005. p 74. ISBN 0810853310]

Political career

Due to a patriarchal system of colonial governance and among many other factors, educational facilities available to women during the colonial era were limited. In 1944, she established the Ibadan People's Girls Grammar School in Molete, [Cheryl Johnson-Odim.For Women and the Nation: Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria, University of Illinois Press, 1997. p 48. ISBN 0252066138] to educate women on different subjects including domestic science. However, her views and subsequent political ideas did not advocate a much more expanded vision of women's place in a broader society. [Karen Tranberg Hansen.African Encounters with Domesticity, Rutgers University Press, 1992. p 133.]

In the 1950s, she entered partisan politics and was a member of women's wing of the Action Group. Though, the women were important instruments to garner votes, few were accorded official power and party wide responsibility. However, she was able to rise through the ranks to become the first female member of the Nigerian National Assembly, as a nominated senator from Ibadan West. She was also a founding member of the National Council of Women Societies.

References