Chief Isaac Olufusibi Coker (popularly known as “Aderupoko”) – The Pioneer Oluwo of Egbaland (Itesi, Abeokuta)

Chief Isaac Olufusibi Coker (popularly known as “Aderupoko”) – The Pioneer Oluwo of Egbaland (Itesi, Abeokuta)

Chief Isaac Olufusibi Coker was a highly successful agriculturist and merchant. He often overloaded canoes transporting his goods from Lagos to Abeokuta via the Ogun River. Whenever people saw the heavily loaded boats, they would shout, “Ha! A-da-eru-pa-oko!”—a phrase that eventually earned him the nickname “Aderupoko.”

He was installed as the inaugural Oluwo of Itesi, Abeokuta in 1897 and became the first individual to bear the Opa Ase Ogboni (Edan), the sacred staff symbolizing the Ogboni council’s authority, transferred from the old town of Itesi in Abeokuta.

Chief Olufusibi Coker was a notable humanitarian, widely recognized for his charitable spirit and generosity.

Between 1887 and 1892, the Egba leaders offered him the prestigious title of Alake of Abeokuta, but his elder brother, Chief Samuel Sowemimo Coker, declined on his behalf, fearing the high mortality rate historically associated with that office.

During the conflicts of his era, Aderupoko organized and funded his own militia. As a result, the territories between Abeokuta and Ibadan (notably Bakatari) and between Remo and Egbaland (notably Fidiwo) were secured under his control to resist enemy incursions. To this day, these boundary lands remain under the ownership of his descendants.

In 1913, he stood as one of the financial backers for a loan of Thirty Thousand Pounds (£30,000) taken on behalf of Egbaland, which funded the introduction of electricity and the installation of a pipe-borne water system in Abeokuta.

Image and Text Credit: © Jibolu-Taiwo Descendants

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