Chief Folake Solanke CON

 Chief Folake Solanke SAN was born in Abeokuta on Tuesday, the 29th day of March 1932, to the illustrious family of Chief Jacob Sogboyega Odulate of Ikorodu, alias the Blessed Jacob, otherwise known as ALABUKUN. He made his name and fame in Abeokuta as a pharmacist and the inventor and manufacturer of ALABUKUN powder, Mentholine balm, and many other medicinal products. Her mother, Madam Sekumade Odulate, an artisan of repute died young when the Chief was only two years old.

In 1944, because of her spectacular examination results, she was admitted directly into Form 2 instead of Form 1 at the Methodist Girls’ High School, Lagos, where she led her class throughout and obtained the first Grade 1 in the Senior Cambridge School Certificate Examination.

She left for the United Kingdom in January 1951 to study at King’s College, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, now the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, where she obtained her B.A. degree and Diploma in Education with concentrations in Latin and Pure Mathematics.

She taught Latin and Mathematics as a resident teacher in two fee-paying public boarding schools in England, to wit: Pipers Corner School, Great Kingshill, High Wycombe, Bucks, England, and St. Monica’s School, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, England. The Chief got married to Dr. Toriola Feisitan Solanke in London in 1956. He later became a Professor Emeritus of Surgery before he passed away in 2001. “Resquiescat in pace”. Upon her return to Nigeria, she also taught the same subjects at Yejide Girls’ Grammar School, Ibadan, Nigeria.

She returned to England to read law at Gray’s Inn, passed all the Bar examinations in twenty-two (22) months, and was called to the English Bar “in-absentia” in May 1963 at Gray’s Inn, London. She was also enrolled as a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Lagos, the same year and month. She was in pupillage as a learned junior in the law chambers of her brother-in-law, Mr. M.A. Odesanya (later a Lagos High Court Judge) in Lagos and Chief F.R.A. Williams in Ibadan. In 1966, with the overt assistance and encouragement of her husband and under God’s direction, she established her own independent legal practice – “Alabukun Law-Chambers” in honour of her father. In 1972, she was appointed the first female State Commissioner of the Western State of Nigeria and first female Chairman of the Western Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, WNTV/WNBS. In 1981, she was elevated by the Supreme Court of Nigeria to the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the first female lawyer to be so elevated. Notably also, the Chief was elected as the International President of Zonta International in 1992 – the first non-Caucasian so elected.

Chief Folake Solanke SAN has received many titles, awards, and accolades from institutions and associations, including the Nigerian Bar Association and the International Bar Association, which decorated her with the prodigious titles of Distinguished Practitioner in 2004 and Outstanding International Woman Lawyer in 2012, respectively.

In 2021, the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria graciously decorated her with the title of “Matriarch of the Bar” to celebrate her forty years (40) as the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Her autobiography, “Folake Solanke: Reaching for the Stars” was published in 2007 and updated in 2017. The Matriarch has published over one hundred and twenty (120) papers, many of which are contained in her three books of lectures. A role model of national and international recognition, Chief Solanke remains an advocate for the rule of law, women’s rights, and the advancement of fundamental human rights.

She has children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.