John Augustus Otunba Payne (1839 – 1906) was a Nigerian sheriff, administrator and diarist who was a prominent personality in Lagos during the nineteenth century.
[1] He produced an annual West African and Lagos Almanac which published some historical notes.
He was also the convener of a forum called the Society for the Propagation of Religious Education.
Payne was born in 1839; his father was from a royal house in Ijebu Ode.
He was a close friend of James Johnson and was a layman and warden at Christ Church Cathedral, Lagos.