Chief Olufolake Solanke (first female lawyer to be conferred with Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)

Chief  Olufolake  Solanke  became the first female lawyer to be conferred with Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in March 1981.

In 1972, She was appointed commissioner, Western State of Nigeria. Chairman, Western Government broadcasting corporation television and radio network service. On the international scene, Chief  Solanke became a source of pride not only for Nigeria and the Nigerian woman, but also for Africa and the black world as a whole. On July 21, 1994 she became the 42nd president of Zonta International.  This made her the first non–Caucasian to be elected and to hold the position of Zonta International President since Zonta was founded in 1919. As it happened in the case of the conferment with the honour of SAN, Chief Solanke opened the gate for African contestants as the next President for Zonta International after her turned out to be an African.
Chief Solanke, born in Abeokuta, Ogun State on March 29, 1932,  her father was the well known J.S Odulate, founder/ proprietor of Alabukun medicine store in Abeokuta. Her mother, Madam Sekumade Odulate, died when Chief Solanke was just two years old and she recalls that although her father was a polygamist, her step-mothers were very caring and displayed much love to her.
Chief Solanke attended Ago-Oko Primary School, Abeokuta from 1937-1939, Emo Girls School, Abeokuta from 1940-1944 and Methodist Girls High School (MGHS), Yaba, Lagos State from 1945-1949. Her formative years did indeed point to a bright future as her natural brilliance and talents were copiously displayed through out her career in MGHS, she consistently took the first prize in English and Mathematics. In 1949, she became games captain and at the West Africa School Certificate Examinations (WASCE) which held that year, she became the first student of the school to obtain grade one.
In 1950, she did a one-year higher course at the Queens’ College, then in Onikan, Lagos before proceeding to England for her post-basic education. In 1951, she entered the King’s College in the University of Durham, now the University of Newscastle, in England, where she obtained her B.A (2nd Division), Latin and mathematics in 1954. Diploma in Education (2nd Division) in 1955, thus setting for herself a teaching career. She joined Pipers Corner School, Great Kingshill, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England,  where she taught Latin and mathematics from 1955-1957. Later she moved to St. Monica’s School, England to teach the same subjects from 1957-1958.  In 1960, she was admitted into Gray’s Inn London for her professional training and was called to bar in 1962.
Upon returning to Nigeria  from England in 1962, Chief Solanke joined the chambers of M.A. Odesanya, now Honourable Justice Odesanya, Lagos, from August  1962  to May 1963 from where she moved to the chambers of Chief F.R.A. Williams in Ibadan, Oyo State as junior council in 1963. Following her conferment with SAN in 1981, Chief Solanke was installed as the Yeyemofin of Ife by the Ooni  of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade. She has held many positions in various institutions and associations covering a wide spectrum of activities. Her papers and publications number over 70 also covering fast areas including law, women’s rights, Zonta and Christian topics. Married to late Emeritus Professor Toriola Solanke, they are blessed with three children: Dr (Mrs) Oluyemi Koya is both a medical doctor and a lawyer, B.A Solanke, an engineer and Miss Olushola Solanke, a mathematician and MBA London Business School degree holder.
Chief Olufolake Solanke, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yeyemofin of Ife, former president of Zonta, brilliant, hardworking and focused. She is truly an inspiration to everyone man or woman.