Funke Awolowo And Dolapo Osinbajo- A Tale Of Two Awolowo Grand Daughters

Funke Awolowo is the only daughter of her father, Olusegun Awolowo who died tragically at the age of 24 in 1963. Dolapo Osinbajo is the only daughter of her mother, Ayodele Soyode who died in 2011.

Both women are granddaughters of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his jewel of inestimable value, Yeye Oodua Hid Awolowo. The Awolowos are famous, wealthy and well connected that one would assume that any child born into this illustrious family would have a secured future in every sphere of life.

While Dolapo has enjoyed all the privileges, perks and trappings of being an Awolowo grandchild, the same cannot be said of her older cousin, Funke. The genesis of how their lives have turned out so differently lies at the bosom of their formidable grandmother, Yeye Hid. She bestowed and lavished boundless grace and favour on Dolapo.

Yeye Hid became a grandmother for the first time when Funke was born some days before her 47th birthday. As a loving wife and mother that she was, she must have relished becoming a grandmother. Whatever grandmotherly joy and pride she had, was shattered when her first son, Olusegun, Funke’s father died when she was eight months old.

In 1967, the Awolowos organised the most lavish wedding of the decade for their second daughter, Ayodele. The bride had 90 bridesmaids. Dolapo was born three months after the wedding and her grandmother was in London as soon as she was informed of her birth, to felicitate with her daughter and welcome her sixth grandchild.

Dolapo grew up to study law at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye. She got married when she was 22 on her grandmother’s 74th birthday. Funke graduated from the University of Wolverhampton with a B.A(Hons) when she was 26. At 55, she is unmarried and the mother of two sons.

Dolapo is happily married and a mother of three. Last weekend, her first daughter got married to the third son of the billionaire oil mogul, Bola Shagaya.

Yeye Hid is a woman of great hospitality and generosity who accommodated the excesses and weaknesses of her younger son and first grandson but that grace was never extended to Funke.

In 2002,Funke instituted a court case against her grandmother and others out of frustration as she did not know what else to do or who would speak up for her. She was prevailed upon to withdraw the case, apologise to her grandmother, uncle and aunts. She apologised as advised but her situation did not change.


In 2011, Mr Sam Omatseye wrote one of the most devastating articles about the Awolowos in the Nation, a newspaper largely owned by the Asiwaju. To say that Yeye Hid was angry was an understatement. She was enraged and made her feelings about the article public. In private, curses were flying all over the place like drones, the Awoists were up in arms and many alleged that Mr Omatseye was doing the Asiwaju’s dirty work.


There are no permanent friends or foes in politics. The same Asiwaju who was a pariah among the Awoists in 2011 would be instrumental to the emergence of Dolapo’s husband, Prof Yemi Osinbajo as the running mate to General Buhari’s presidential candidature in 2015.

Yeye Hid blessed and supported Dolapo’s husband’s political ambitions and he became the Vice President after the 2015 elections. As the wife of the Vice President, Dolapo became the second lady of the country.


To be the only daughter of your rich, famous and powerful grandmother’s favourite child is one of life’s ultimate blessings. To lose your golden father before your first birthday and then blacklisted by your family is one of life’s greatest injustices. These circumstances have shaped both women’s lives.

When Yeye Hid transitioned to greater glory, Funke released her grandmother’s last public photograph affirming that they have finally resolved their differences.


Dolapo has set up a pet project, Project Ayodele under the auspices of the Ayodele Foundation, a foundation established with her brothers to immortalise the memory of their late mother. The project is making a significant impact in the lives of women and youths across the country associated with it.


Funke is intelligent and educated to be a part of her family’s philanthropic, political and business interests if the reconciliation with her grandmother was genuine. Yeye hid’s daughters who are God fearing and advocates of social justice would carry out the last wishes of their venerable mother in regards to their niece.



Dolapo would become a grandmother rather sooner than later, she would be a fantastic and wonderful grandmother. A granny, any grandchild of hers would be delighted and blessed to have as a grandparent as she would treat all her grandchildren equally and fairly because it is the right thing to do in the sight of God and man.


Who knows what the future holds for Funke, one can only hope that her latter years are happier and more fulfilling than her younger years. No one would doubt that Dolapo would still be in a celebratory mood as par the success of her gorgeous daughter’s wedding. As for Funke, happy as she would be for her younger cousin and her good fortune in life, she would only be human to hope that one day too, the family would gather to celebrate with her, her wedding, a son’s wedding, a landmark birthday celebration or something else.


Whatever that celebration would be and whenever it would happen, hopefully, her paternal relations ,the Segun-Awolowos, Oyedirans, Oluwole-Awolowos, Soyodes and Dosunmus would rally round to rejoice with her to the delight of her grandparents who would look at each other in heaven and say ”we had a wonderful marriage and life but our greatest and everlasting legacy is a very much united family”. 

They will raise a glass to toast their Olufunke who would finally get to enjoy the honour and recognition of her special status, the first grandchild of Nigeria’s most phenomenal couple..

By Ola Abejide.