Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

Joseph Kosoniola Randle MVO MBE (28 July 1909 – December 1956) was a Nigerian businessman and socialite from

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. He was Chef de Mission of the Nigerian Olympic team to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and was connected to various public activities in Lagos. Randle was a social crusader and philanthropist who started the Nigerian arm of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society, a member of the Lagos Town Council (though his politics discouraged extreme nationalism) and was a sportsman who was a trustee of a proposed National Stadium.

Life

Randle was born on 28 July 1909; his father was

John Randle John Anthony Randle (born December 12, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for eleven seasons for the Minnesota Vikings and three seasons for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football Leagu ...

, a Saro medical doctor, and his mother came from the Aguda side of Lagos. He was educated at

CMS Grammar School, Lagos The CMS Grammar School in Bariga, a suburb of Lagos in Lagos State, is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria, founded on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society. For decades it was the main source of African clergymen and administrators in ...

and

King's College, Lagos King's College, Lagos (KCL) is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only boys as pupils, although prior to ...

. In college, he loved playing football cricket and was a member and first captain of Zik's Athletic club. He was born to a well-to-do father, but when his father died, much of his estate was left elsewhere for philanthropic purposes. At the time of his father's death, Randle was in the senior year of King's College and his dream of attending a university became financially infeasible. He worked for a brief period as a junior clerk with the treasury department, in the same office with

Adeniji Adele Oba (ruler), Oba Sir Musendiku Buraimoh Adeniji Adele II, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, KBE (13 November 1893 – 12 July 1964) was the Oba of Lagos, Oba (King) of Lagos from 1 October 1949 to 12 July 1964. Life Adele was ...

. Randle later moved to

Ilesha Ilesa () is a historic city located in Osun State, southwest Nigeria; it is also the name of the capital of a historic state-kingdom(also known as Ijesha) centred around that town as the capital . The state is ruled by a monarch bearing the ti ...

to try his luck in gold mining. He was not successful in the mining business and returned to Lagos and engaged in trade, contract and business promotion where he earned some income. He held the

chieftaincy A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Af ...

title of the Lisa of Lagos. It was given to him by Oba

. He was also a founding member and later chairman of the Island club. A sports enthusiast, he was vice president of the Nigerian Olympic and British Empire and Commonwealth Games Association and a trustee of the proposed National Stadium. Randle was the Chef de Mission of the Nigerian Olympic team to the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was awarded the medal of the Victorian Order. He took ill on his flight from Melbourne, and later died at Lagos General Hospital in December 1956. He was chairman of the Lagos Race Club in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randle, J.K. Businesspeople from Lagos 1909 births 1956 deaths Nigerian philanthropists King's College, Lagos alumni 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople J.K. CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni People from colonial Nigeria 20th-century philanthropists Nigerian socialites Yoruba businesspeople