Chief Folake Solanke (born 29 March 1932), SAN, CON, is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, administrator and social critic. She is the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria and the first Nigerian female lawyer to wear the silk gown as Senior Counsel. She is the first Commissioner of Western State and is a former Chairperson of the Western Nigeria Television Broadcasting Corporation (WNTBC). She was the 42nd and the first African International President of

Zonta International Zonta International is an international service organization with the mission of Building a Better World for Women and Girls, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 5. Alan Axelrod, ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Frate ...

, an international

service organization A service club or service organization is a voluntary nonprofit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined firstly ...

that focus primarily on advancing the status of women. The 43rd International President was also African.

Early life

Solanke was born on 29 March 1932 in the family of late Pa. J.S Odulate at

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State located at the south western part of Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokut ...

, the capital of

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...

in southwestern Nigeria. From 1937 to 1939, Solanke attended Ago Oko primary school. From 1940 to 1944, she attended Emo Girls School in Abeokuta. From 1945 to 1949, she attended

Methodist Girls' High School Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christian tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significa ...

Lagos, where she took first prize in English and Mathematics consistently. In 1949, Solanke obtained the West African School Certificate, became School Prefect and Games Captain, and at the West Africa School Certificate Examinations she became the first student of the school to obtain grade one certificate. She spent a year at

Queen's College, Lagos Queen's College, Lagos, is a government-owned girls' secondary (high) school with boarding facilities, situated in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Often referred to as the "sister college" of King's College, Lagos, it was founded on October 10, 1927, when ...

before she proceeded to

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

(then

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

), England, where she obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(2nd Division) degree in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

in 1954. In 1955, Solanke received a diploma certificate in education (2nd Division) and joined the faculty of Pipers Corner School, Great Kingshill,

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, where she taught Latin and mathematics for 2 years. In October 1956, she married Toriola Solanke. In 1957, she joined the faculty of

St Monica's High School St Monica's R.C. High School is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school on Bury Old Road in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Heaton Park. It serves pupils mainly from the areas of Prestwich, Whitefield, Greater Ma ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, where she taught the same subjects for one year. In 1960, Solanke was admitted into

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to read for a degree in law. In 1962, she returned to Nigeria to practice law.

Law career

Upon her return to Nigeria in August 1962, Solanke began her law career at the chamber of late Honourable Justice Michael Adeyinka Odesanya (rtd), while teaching Latin and Mathematics at Yejide Girls Grammar School in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

, Oyo. Her father died in April 1963. In May 1963, after she was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in absentia, she moved to the law office of Chief Frederick Rotimi Williams as junior counsel. In 1972, Solanke was appointed the first Commissioner of Western State and chairperson of the Western Nigeria Television Broadcasting Corporation (WNTBC). In 1981, Solanke became the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria and the first Nigerian female lawyer to wear the silk gown. Solanke rose through the ranks of Zonta International, first serving as the District Governor for Africa and then as International Vice-President. In 1988, 1990, and 1994, Solanke ran for election to the International Presidency of the organization (she did not run in 1992). She lost the first two times, but won the third time, being elected in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

on 21 July 1994 as the 42nd International President, the first non–caucasian, African president of the organization since its establishment in 1919. Solanke's autobiography, ''Reaching for the stars'' was published in 2007. The book described her as a "Lady of many firsts" and how she rose to prominence in the legal profession.

Awards

Solanke has received numerous awards, including the National honour of the Commander of the Order of Niger. In 1981, Solanke was conferred with a traditional title of "Yeyemofin of Ife" by the late

Olubuse II Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade Order of the Federal Republic, CFR (1 January 1930 – 28 July 2015) was the fiftieth Nigerian traditional rulers, traditional ruler or List of rulers of Ife, ''Ooni'' of Ife from 1980 to his death in 2015, taking ...

, the 50th Ooni of Ife, following her conferment with Senior Advocate of Nigeria. In 2012, Solanke received the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA in 2018 had a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associati ...

's Outstanding International Woman Lawyer Award at the Association's 5th World Women Lawyers’ Conference held in

, in recognition of her professional excellence and immense contribution to the advancement of women within the legal profession. Also in 2012, Solanke released her second book, ''A Compendium of Selected Lectures and Papers, Volume 1''. On 17 January 2015 Solanke was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by '' The Sun Newspaper'' at a ceremony held at

Eko Hotels and Suites Eko Hotels and Suites is a five-star conference centre hotel in Lagos. History Established in 1977 as ''Èkó Holiday Inn'' and built on Victoria Island, it is the largest hotel in Nigeria. It was designed by architect Oluwole Olumuyiwa in co ...

, Victoria Island, Lagos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solanke, Folake 1932 births Living people Yoruba women lawyers Yoruba lawyers People from Abeokuta Commanders of the Order of the Niger 20th-century Nigerian lawyers 21st-century Nigerian lawyers Queen's College, Lagos alumni Alumni of Newcastle University Methodist Girls' High School alumni Senior advocates of Nigeria History of women in Nigeria 20th-century Nigerian women lawyers 21st-century Nigerian women lawyers Zonta International people

Early life

Law career

Awards

See also

References