Couple Crush Wednesday: Prof. Yemi and Dolapo Osinbajo – Inspiring pair with no airs.

The first thing that strikes you about these two is their simplicity and the serenity about them.

She is late Papa Obafemi Awolowo’s granddaughter. She is an only daughter, blessed with two brothers.

She is a devout christian (you wouldn’t be mistaken if you call her a prayer warrior), an author (They Call Me Mama) and a charming beautiful soul. She is a mother to many waifs and strays on the streets of Lagos and has a passion for planting them in homes.

She is a front runner on issues related to women. She is a voice to the voiceless. Yeah, she sings too.

He went to Corona Primary School. He became a lecturer at 23 and a professor of Law at 33. Very intimidating.

But there was a time he couldn’t pay his school fees.

“A few years ago,”he says, “as a student in a British University, I couldn’t pay my fees because my cheque had not come from Nigeria. That time, the CBN used to have a lot of trouble with remitting funds and all that, and my fees were about two months late,” he had said.

“So I spoke to the university counsellor, and she said, ‘why don’t you go to a bank and ask for money?’ And I thought, how can I just go to a bank and ask for money, when I don’t have any money at all?

“She said go speak to them, explain to them that you will pay back. So, I went up to the bank, and explained that I will pay back. I met a lady across the counter, I didn’t go into any office, I didn’t speak to the manager, and she looked at the ledger and saw I had no money.

“She said, ‘when are you expecting your money?’ I said maybe another five, six weeks. She said ‘okay’, and she handed me £600 and I paid my fees with the £600 and of course, when my cheque came, I paid it back.”

When Yemi and Dolapo were little they attended the same church in Ikenne with their parents. The Awolowos sat in front, the Osinbajos sat just the next row after them. The Osinbajo boys ‘eyed’ the Awolowo daughters. Yeah, a lil bird told me. And it was Papa Awolowo’s prayer and desire that one of the boys would someday marry one of his girls. Even if he had said it casually or was prophetic about it, fine boy Yemi hooked up with sweet amiable Dolapo. And fifteen years after Papa Awolowo’s ‘prophecy’ the two became one. Let me just leave it there.

It’s the peace around these two, it’s so thick you can actually slice it in little portions like cake and share with people around. 27 years of being together as husband and wife is remarkable. They put on no airs, they have no hair out of place.

I commend the tenacity of your love and devotion to each other. And I gladly would recommend the values and principles you live by. You are role models to many. I am a huge fan.