Abah Folawiyo at 80: Why I didn’t marry Awo’s son despite having his child

Nigerian philanthropist, Abah Folawiyo has given reasons why she never married Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s son, Segun, despite having his child.

In a recent interview with The Nation Newspaper, Madam Folawiyo said Segun Awolowo came from London at the time his father was in jail, that was how she met him and they came together.

“I knew his sister very well. I wasn’t close to the father and the mother, but I knew the sister that followed him. The sister was very close to me and whenever I went to Ikenne, we were all together and we played around. That was when I got pregnant, and two months before I had my son, he died. So we couldn’t do anything. Whatever he wanted to do with me he couldn’t do because he had a big problem on his chest,” she said.

In the interview Madam Folawiyo also talked about why she had her 80th birthday in Ghana rather than Nigeria. She said it was to honour her mother.

“I promised my mum that I would celebrate my 70th birthday in Ghana because I was brought up in Ghana. My mum is from Ghana. All my family members are in Ghana. I said my 70th birthday I would do it in Ghana but I didn’t go. I also couldn’t go for my 75th birthday. My 80th I said no, the party has to be in Ghana to honour my mum, because I have lost her,” she added.

She noted that friends and family are willing to follow her to Ghana for her 80th birthday ceremony. She also said she was raised in Ghana as she had part of her education there, noting that she prefers the standard of education in Ghana to that of Nigeria.

“Because of the way we were taught. The teachers there are really serious in teaching and then they make you understand what they are teaching you. Here too it is the same. I won’t say they don’t teach well. But most of the time, the teachers have one thing or the other, and students go out of their own way. But in Ghana, it is not so. When the teacher is there, no matter how much they pay, she is contented with whatever they do for her and will teach you very well.”

Speaking further Folawiy said “ I love cooking. When you love cooking you have to go to the market to see what you are buying, not sending people to go and buy it for you. I believe very much in that.”

When asked if Madam Folawiyo deliberately choose to be a socialite she responded.

“I am a socialite by my kind of job. I am a dress designer and I make dresses for celebrities and a lot of people. That is why I am a socialite. I am not a socialite as in going to parties and dancing and all that. By the kind of work I do, people get to know me and I know lots of people because I make clothes for them. Up until now, I still make clothes for them.”

On the security situation of the country, Hajia Folawiyo expressed her concerns and wish a quick turn around.

“You have to be going out with your eyes open, not closed. It is really, really bad. We are just praying that God will give us the person that will make this country better like it used to be. That is my prayer. It is really, really bad. Nigeria wasn’t like this before. Maybe one day the rainfall will come and wash all the bad things away and good things will start coming up. We are praying that a good president would emerge to make this country better for all of us.”