By Ahmed Sahid Nasralla (De Monk)
As celebrations of International Women’s Day continue after March 8th, Sierra Leonean women and girls can draw a lot of inspiration from their history.
Historically, the country’s women contributed hugely to the political, socio-economic, educational, and civil rights development of the nation.From Madam Lehbu, who became Queen of Upper Gaura in 1891 following the establishment of the Province of Freedom in 1787 (what is now known as Freetown); the Sherbro Queen Yamacouba, who was a signatory to the treaty of 1787 which ceded the land to the British; Madam Yoko, the powerful Queen of Kpaa Mende Seneghum; the contribution of Hannah Benka-Coker to education; Lati Hyde-Forster, the first woman to graduate from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, with a doctor of civil laws degree; the role of Betsy Carew to commerce in the 1830s; Adelaide Casely-Hayford, one of the pioneers of women’s rights in Freetown and who founded the ‘Girls
Chief Olufolake Solanke, SAN: First Female Senior Advocate of Nigeria
A Teacher and a Lawyer, Chief Folake Solanke OON, CON, SAN was born on March 29th, 1932 in Abeokuta. She attended Ago Oko Primary School, Abeokuta from 1937-1939, Emo Girls School, Abeokuta from 1940-1944 and Methodist Girls High School, Yaba Lagos, from 1945-1949, where she consistently took the first prize in English and Mathematics.
With a privileged background, born to the prominent J.S. Odulate (founder of Alabukun Medicine), she travelled to England.
In 1951, she entered the King’s College in the University of Durham, now the University of Newscastle in England where she obtained her BA (2nd Division) in Latin and Mathematics in 1954. In 1955, she received a Diploma Certificate in Education. She taught Latin and Mathematics at Pipers Corner School, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire between 1957 and 1958, and in 1960, Chief Solanke gained admission into Gray’s Inn, London to read for a degree in law. She wa