Oba Sir Isaac Babalola Akinyele, KBE (18 April 1882 – 30 May 1964[1]) was the first educated Olubadan (non-hereditary traditional ruler) of Ibadan,and the second Christian to ascend the throne.
Josiah was one of the early converts under the auspices of David Hinderer, the German leader of the Church Mission Society (CMS) and his team of six missionaries that first brought Christianity to Ibadan in 1851.
Since the Pax Britannica of 1893, the Ibadan had started to settle down to civil life occasioning cocoa farming; introduced by the CMS around 1890, and other agricultural and business enterprises.
Isaac Akinyele worked for a time as a civil servant, entering government services in the junior ranks to which Nigerians were confined in those days, becoming a customs inspector for the Ibadan District Council in 1903.
His brother Alexander Akinyele, was the first patron of IPU, and it was his peace-loving nature that influenced the Union in devising an easy, peaceful and non-divisive Olubadan (non-hereditary traditional ruler) succession plan regarded as the most non-contentious in Yorubaland.
For example, when he was appointed Balogun, one of the city's highest positions which corresponds roughly with the European Duke and which entails the holding of a ceremonial staff of office which is to be anointed weekly with sheep's blood.
Throughout the entire political crisis, Isaac Akinyele who along with some members of the House of Chiefs was a minister without portfolio in the government remained aloof, placing himself at the disposal of any peace initiative for which Ibadan was a venue on several occasions.