Iphigenia Efunjoke Coker

Iphigenia Efunjoke Coker (1924–2019) was a Nigerian educator. From 1963 to 1977 she was Principal of Queen's College, Lagos, the first person of Nigerian descent to hold the position.[1][2]

Life

Iphigenia Efunjoke Coker was born in Lagos on 29 September 1924, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bankole Soluade. She attended St. Mary’s Convent School, St. Theresa’s High School, St. Agnes’s Teacher Training College and Queen's College, Lagos. In the 1940s she taught at St. Teresa’s High School in Lagos and Ibadan and at St. Agnes’s in Lagos.[3]

From 1952 to 1956 she studied at University College Dublin. Returning to Nigeria, she taught at Queen's School, Ede and Government College, Ibadan. In 1962 she became Vice Principal at Queen’s College, and was appointed Principal the following year, succeeding Margaret Gentle. She remained there until retirement in 1977.[3]

In 1979 General Olusegun Obasanjo made Coker a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).[2] In 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Federal University Oye-Ekiti.[3]

She died on 23 December 2019.[1]

References
  1. Femi Adewale, Coker, ex-Queens’ College Principal’s death, big loss to education sector, Freedom Online, 16 January 2020. Accessed 12 January 2021.
  2. First Nigerian principal of Queen’s College Efunjoke Coker dies, The Guardian, 16 January 2020. Accessed 12 January 2021.
  3. Dr. (Mrs.) Iphigenia Efunjoke Coker MFR, DSc, Dawn, 31 January 2020. Accessed 18 January 2021.
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