Omoba Abiola Dosunmu of Lagos

The Erelu Kuti of Lagos is the traditional noblewoman charged with the bearing of the ritual essence of Oloye Erelu Kuti I, a seventeenth century Yoruba royal who aided in the consolidation of her homeland, first as the daughter of its paramount king, then as the sister of two of his successors, subsequently as the consort of one of its chiefs, then as a chief in her own right, and finally as its first queen mother. The current Erelu Kuti is Omoba Abiola Dosunmu, a princess of the contemporary kingdom of Lagos. She serves as a ranking chieftess of the realm as the ceremonial queen mother, and reigns as regent of Lagos upon the death of an incumbent monarch until a substantive successor is chosen by the college of kingmakers.