Extraordinary Educational Legacy of  the Fani-Kayode Family

Emmanuel Owabor

Ihere is no other family in the history of Africa in which there are five generations of graduates from Oxbridge-level universities.

From 1893 when Rev. Emmanuel Adelabi Kayode (Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s great grandfather) graduated with honors with a Master of Arts degree in theology from Durham University, to 1922 when Justice Victor Adedapo Kayode (Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s grandfather) graduated from Cambridge University with a law degree, to 1943 when Chief Remi Fani-Kayode (Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s father) graduated from Cambridge University with a law degree, to 1984 when Chief Femi Fani-Kayode himself graduated from Cambridge University with a law degree, no family in Nigeria or indeed Africa and few in the world have had four generations of graduates from these elite institutions from such an early age.

The fifth generation of Oxbridge-level graduates was led by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s eldest daughter, Miss Folake Fani-Kayode, who graduated with a degree from Durham University in 2009 (like her great, great grandfather, Rev. Emmanuel Adelabi Kayode had done, 116 years earlier.

Since then numerous other children of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode have graduated from top British and western Universities.

This represents an extraordinary legacy of first class education from the best Universities the world for five uninterrupted generations.

No other Nigerian or African family has achieved this and very few even in the Western world.

Owabor, a Director of Content Service, is a public policy expert and a public affairs commentator