The ancient town of Ejinrin Kingdom pulsed with emotion on Sunday, November 16, 2025, as political giants, industry captains, Nollywood stars, and community dignitaries converged for the 20th anniversary remembrance of Chief Mrs. Fatimo Ayinke Folorunsho Olulade, fondly remembered as a woman whose humanity touched generations.
At the center of the commemoration stood her son, Hon. Ganiyu Olusegun Olulade (Eleniyan), Executive Director, Customer Centricity and Marketing at Galaxy Backbone Limited and former Lagos State House of Assembly member. In an exclusive interview, he retraced the footprints of a mother whose influence, discipline, and compassion “made me who I am today.”
For Eleniyan, his mother left a legacy carved in sacrifice. When he speaks of his mother, his voice carries both reverence and vulnerability.
“My mother was a great woman. She was very hardworking, loyal, committed, highly focused and responsible,” he began, painting a portrait of a matriarch whose shoulders bore the weight of many. “She trained a lot of us, both biological and non-biological children.”
In a polygamous home where she was the first of seven wives, Chief Mrs. Olulade stood out not by position, but by character. “She was very industrious and very accommodating. She can go to any length to defend people. She hates injustice.”
Her sense of justice, however, was often delivered with hard discipline, the discipline her son still carries in his bones.
He recalls the day he picked money off the ground as a boy. “She dealt with me severely when she found out. I still have the scar on my body.” She marched him back to the exact spot to return the money, beating him all the way. That moment, he said, “taught me a lot of lessons. Anything that doesn’t belong to me, I can’t even go near it.”
Politics was not something he ventured into, it was the air he breathed growing up. In the Olulade household, opposing political ideologies did not divide the family; they strengthened its tolerance.
“My dad was a staunch UPN member while my mum was a vibrant NPN member,” he said with a nostalgic laugh. Later, his father moved to SDP and his mother to NRC, turning their home into a meeting point for political heavyweights.
“Political meetings were held severally in our house for different parties. As a young boy, I listened to what both opposing parties discussed.”
Yet, he never betrayed their strategies. “I ensured that I didn’t inform any of them. It was nice,” he said, hinting at where he first learned political loyalty and discretion.
Chief Mrs. Olulade was a mother to more than her own children. She raised over twenty children, many of whom had no links to her by blood. Her son confessed that “I got to secondary school before I could believe she was my mum” because of the equal love and harsh discipline she dispensed.
Her generosity stretched their resources thin. “Some of us that are her biological children suffered economic discomforts,” he recalled, describing how he once patched a torn school trouser with plaster and plucked coconuts from the family land to survive.
Still, he bears no resentment. Only gratitude.
“I appreciate her more than ever, I’m enjoying everything she taught me now.”
To those who questioned the timing of the memorial, saying it was a misplaced priority, Eleniyan offered a candid explanation:
“When she passed on, we were only able to briefly do what we could. Her death came as a shock.”
He had hoped she would live long enough to enjoy his success, especially after her years of sacrifice. Plans to celebrate her in earlier years faltered repeatedly. But he insisted the 20th year was non-negotiable.
“I believe that I owe her a lot. there’s nothing we will do that can be commensurate with what she did for us.”
Even now, he admits,
“I’m still emotional whenever I mention her, I owe her a lot to do.”
“Whenever I mention her name, doors opened for me”
Her reputation extended far beyond family. During his campaign for the Lagos State House of Assembly, he found her legacy opening pathways he had not imagined.
“Whenever I mention her name, it opens doors for me. A lot of leaders were ready to support me mainly because of my mum.”
She had once supported leaders before him, and her goodwill became a bridge for his own ambitions.
One of the most striking stories he shared was about the road construction he facilitated as a lawmaker after former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola directed the then Commissioner for Works, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat to embark on the project.
Years after her burial, the new road path cut directly across her grave. Exhuming her body was painful but what came next left the community stunned.
“To the glory of God, we met her the way she was buried. The clothes she was buried with were intact.”
It was, for him, a divine affirmation of her purity, dignity, and the life she lived. “She would have been proud of me,” a son still seeking his mother’s approval said.
Eleniyan believes deeply that if the dead could look back, his mother would be proud of what he has done for Ejinrin and Epe at large.
Service, he insists, was her greatest value. “For her, what she wants is service to the public and maintaining good name.”
And that is what he strives to uphold, her discipline, his father’s wisdom, and the values passed down through a lifetime of sacrifice.
As dignitaries departed and the kingdom settled into the twilight glow, one thing was unmistakably clear:
This remembrance was not just an event, it was a renewal of a promise.
A promise to keep alive the spirit of a woman who hated injustice, raised children she didn’t birth, welcomed strangers like family, and left a legacy that still opens doors.
For Hon. Ganiyu Olusegun Olulade, the journey continues. “I’ll continue to remember her and do a lot for humanity. That’s what she did throughout her lifetime.”
And in that commitment, the life of Chief Mrs. Fatimo Ayinke Folorunsho Olulade lives on unmistakably and forever.
Photo Credits: Ingenious.
