Dame Abimbola Fashola turned 60 with neither fanfare nor fuss – just the kind of quiet dignity she has long been known for. In an era where visibility often outshines virtue, Mrs. Fashola chose humility as her legacy. As First Lady of Lagos State, she didn’t parade power – she wielded it gently, in service of others. While others courted headlines, she built havens: cancer screening centers, recreation spaces for women and children, and community programs that left footprints long after the ribbon cuttings faded.
Mrs Fashola is, by all accounts, a woman more interested in impact than optics. Even President Tinubu, no stranger to political flourish, praised her for her “grace, strength and service to humanity,” noting her quiet influence within one of Nigeria’s most prominent political families. Her leadership of the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) was not about ceremony – it was about substance.
Born in Ibadan in 1965, trained as a secretary and later in computer science, Dame Fashola charted her own course. She once worked as a journalist and later with the British Council – until public life came knocking. When her husband, Babatunde Fashola, emerged as Lagos State’s governorship candidate in 2006, she resigned to support him – not as a shadow, but as a steady force.
Their marriage – hers, deeply Christian; his, devoutly Muslim – has stood as a quiet sermon on unity in a nation so often splintered by faith. Together, they raised two children. She never craved the spotlight but always held the room.
Now at 60, Dame Fashola’s story is a reminder that legendary public servants who choose purpose over profile, family over fanfare, and service over spectacle are still around.
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