The name Adegoke is deeply personal to our founder, Jume Akinnagbe. It is a tribute to her maternal grandmother whose maiden name was Adegoke. In Yoruba, “Goke” means “rise, climb up, rise to greatness.”
In the 1950s, Jume’s grandmother defied tradition by insisting her daughters receive an education, even when her husband refused. She supported their schooling by selling peanuts and food in the market. Despite her own lack of education and resources, she ensured her daughters had opportunities she never did.
Adegoke (pronounced add-day-go-kay) is more than a brand name, it's a legacy. Rooted in the Yoruba language of West Africa, “Ade” “crown, royalty” “Goke” means to rise, climb up, come up, or rise to greatness. It represents the spirit of perseverance, determination, and courage that defines our founder, Jume Akinnagbe, and the generations of women who came before her.
HER Story Begins
The name Adegoke honors Jume’s maternal grandmother, a visionary woman whose strength and sacrifice transformed her family’s future for generations. Though she could neither read nor write, she understood that education is the foundation of freedom and refused to let societal expectations dictate her daughters’ destinies.
In the 1960s, in a small Nigerian town, Jume’s grandmother challenged deep-rooted gender norms. When her husband refused to educate their daughters believing schooling was only for boys, she made a radical choice. She was determined to give her daughters the opportunities she never had, education.
To fund their education, she became an entrepreneur selling peanuts, beans and homemade food in the local market. Every coin she earned went toward school fees, uniforms, and books. Her resilience, fueled by love and vision, became the spark that lit the path for generations to come.
The Legacy Continues
Her daughters, including Jume’s mother persevered through hardship, completed their schooling, and later immigrated to the United States. There, they built new lives and careers as nurses, carrying with them their mother’s unbreakable spirit, resilient, hard work, sacrifice and belief in the power of education.
Although she passed away young due to breast cancer, her influence remains unshakable. She instilled in her children and grandchildren the values of self-determination, resilience, integrity and gratitude the same values that guide Adegoke Dispensary and Goke, its signature product line.
Today, her legacy thrives in a new generation of changemakers: entrepreneurs, doctors, nurses, artists, actors, scientists, and innovators all driven by her sacrifice. Not one has wasted the opportunity she created through her courage and sacrifice.
The Strength Within
There is another meaning behind the word Goke. In nautical terms, a goke is the core or heart of a rope the strong, unbreakable center that holds everything together.
That symbolism captures our founder’s spirit and the heart of our brand. We have faced immense challenges and beaten the odds through hard work, sacrifice, devotion, and perseverance. Like the rising sun that brings a new day, the hope lives on that no matter what the odds are against our founder that there is a brighter and better tomorrow, our spirit remains unbroken, binding generations together through faith, courage, and purpose.
“We’ve always been the underdogs. But we rise again and again like the sun with a promise of a brighter and better tomorrow because giving up is not an option.”
— Jume Akinnagbe
