Iyalode (title)

The Ìyálóde is a high-ranking female chieftain in most of the Yoruba traditional states. The title is currently within the gift of the obas, although Njoku asserted in 2002 that the process of choosing an Ìyálóde in pre-colonial Nigeria was less of a choice by the monarch, and more of the accomplishment and involvement of the woman to be so honoured in economic and political matters.^[1]