Meet the First Female Lawyer in Nigeria – Chief Olufolake Solanke

Chief  Olufolake Solanke nee Odulate SAN, OON, CON, is a Nigerian lawyer, administrator, and social critic. She is the 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, an international service organization that focuses primarily on advancing the status of women. The 43rd International President was also African.

Chief Folake Solanke was born on 29 March 1932 in the family of late Pa. Jacob S. Odulate at Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State in southwestern Nigeria. She attended Ago Oko primary school between 1937 to 1939. From 1940 to 1944, she attended Emo Girls School in Abeokuta. From 1945 to 1949, she attended Methodist Girls’ High School in Lagos. where she took first prizes 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 a grade one certificate. She spent a year at Queen’s College, Lagos before she proceeded to Newcastle University (formerly known as University of Durham), England, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts (2nd Division) degree in Latin and Mathematics 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, Buckinghamshire, 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, Essex, where she taught the same subjects for one year. In 1960, Solanke was admitted into Gray’s Inn, London to read for a degree in law. In 1962, she returned to Nigeria to practice law.

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, Oyo state. Her father died in April 1963. In May 1963,  after she was called to the Bar 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’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

Chief 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 on 21 July 1994 as the 42nd International President, the first non–caucasian, African president of the organization since its establishment in 1919.

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