HISTORY: TODAY MARKS THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LATE OBAFEMI AWOLOWO’S 1ST CHILD, SEGUN AWOLOWO WHO DIED IN A CAR CRASH

... As Family, Old Friends Remember Him

On this date in 1963, Segun Snr, the first son of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo GCFR, Nigerian nationalist and statesman lost his life in a car crash. The late Segun Awolowo died at 34 with his wife-to-be, Ghanaian beauty wife, Abbah (known now as Chief Mrs Abbah Folawiyo) heavily pregnant. He was leaving his base in Ibadan for Lagos, to meet up with his mum, the late Mrs Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo - with whom they were meant to later check-up with his dad, who was then serving a term at Ikoyi Prison for treason. The then baby was born (a little over a month after) Olusegun Awolowo Jr. (born 27 September 1963), a prominent lawyer who was the executive director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council from 2013 to 2021.

Late Olusegun Awolowo was born on January 20, 1939. Following the successful completion of his Law Degree in Cambridge, he was called to the English Bar in 1962. He later returned to Nigeria to start his legal career. His death was a big shock to his friends, political and social players, as well as trending socialites.

On July 19, 1963, the West African Pilot ran an editorial titled ‘We Bad Samaritan’. It was authored by Dr. Tai Solarin who argued that Nigerians’ carefree attitude towards accident victims was a contributory factor in Segun’s death. According to the human rights activist; “let us figure out, in a rough estimate, how many vehicles must have driven past during those 100 precious minutes. Some say it was about one hour, 30 minutes. That is 90 minutes. For that hour of the day around 9 am, there must have been a car or a lorry or anything on four wheels after at least every two minutes.” Yoruba musicians also went to the studio to compose songs to console Awolowo.