Shadows of the Watchman: The Women Behind Obasanjo’s Legacy
…..A husband of 8 mothers, 21 children
In the pages of his memoir My Watch, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo laid bare many truths about his life, but not all. He listed his 21 children by name, a sprawling testament to his vigor and complexity.
Yet the mothers remained unnamed shadows, ghosts in the margins of history.
It fell to intrepid reporters at ENCOMIUM Weekly to illuminate those hidden chapters, unearthing a tapestry of love, betrayal, tragedy, and power that spanned decades, from army barracks to the corridors of Aso Rock.
It began in 1963, under the gray skies of South East London. On June 22, at Camberwell Green Registry, a 21-year-old Oluremi married the ambitious young officer Olusegun Obasanjo. Their union bore fruit abundantly: six children who would carry the family name into prominence.
First came Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, sharp-witted and trailblazing; then Busola, Olusegun Jr., the eldest son; Olugbenga; Enitan; and finally Damilola in 1982. Oluremi stood as the cornerstone, but cracks formed early.
In her own book, Bitter Sweet: My Life with Obasanjo, she chronicled the storms, infidelities that chased her from their Ikoyi home, philandering that tested her resolve. Obasanjo’s path veered into new arms amid military duties.
Stella Obasanjo entered his life, becoming First Lady during his presidency. Their bond produced one son, Olumuyiwa, born in 1977.
Tragedy struck on October 23, 2005, in Spain: a botched tummy tuck claimed her life, leaving a void that whispers said the old general filled swiftly.
Enter Taiwo Obasanjo, twin sister of politician Kenny Martins, once Chairman of the Police Equipment Fund. She bore two children, including Esther Olubunmi, who wed in August 2010.
Taiwo reverted to her maiden name, Martins, after a public scandal with Godwin Daboh distanced her from Obasanjo’s orbit.
Darkness shrouded Lynda Obasanjo, née Soares. This woman gifted him two children—names lost to time—before armed robbers gunned her down in broad daylight on February 14, 1987, at age 45.
Her cousin, Priscilla Soares, later rose to MD of Nicon under Obasanjo’s influence, a quiet nod to the past.
Other mothers flickered in and out: Mabel Okosode Obasanjo, whose children and numbers remain enigmas; Titilayo Obasanjo, bearer of one or more heirs; and the mysterious woman who birthed Col. Adebayo Obasanjo. Oluremi’s memoir revealed her as a divorced mother of two, introduced by an aunt from Arigbajo, Ogun State, during one of the general’s marital tempests.
From humbler origins came Kofoworola Mojisola Obasanjo, who married British Baptist minister Peter Kenneth Blackshire in 2002.
She shared a mother with Tunde Baiyewu, the Nigerian-descended singer of Lighthouse Family fame.
Widowed, her mother relocated to Nigeria, crossed paths with the army officer Obasanjo, and Kofo was born.
In his later years, Bola Obasanjo claimed the role of resident wife at his Hilltop mansion in Abeokuta.
Formerly London-based, she relocated to Nigeria, bearing Funsho Obasanjo—a child who symbolized stability amid the swirl. Yet children were not the full story.
Other women wove through his life without issue, fueling Oluremi’s marital woes.
Mowo Sofowora, a lace merchant older than the lieutenant colonel, ignited passions as early as 1973.
Labo Salako, widow of Obasanjo’s London classmate Captain Salako (killed in a 1972 Argungu crash), moved into their Ikoyi home on the couple’s invitation.
What began as solace turned torrid; Labo penned a letter urging divorce, which Oluremi photocopied and circulated, sparking her exodus.
Lamide Adegbenro, wife of Ogun State’s former Agriculture Commissioner Niyi Adegbenro and Obasanjo kinswoman, drew ire too.
Oluremi named her a mistress; later, during Atiku Abubakar’s feud with Obasanjo, whispers surfaced of gifts—a Peugeot 607 and $110,000 wired to her NatWest account in 2003 via Otunba Fasawe.
Mrs. Alo, ex-Vice Principal of Queens College Yaba, overlapped scandalously. When student Iyabo spotted her in a swimsuit at the Ota Farm pool, fury nearly erupted—averted only by her mother’s hand.
Alo endures, now on the board of Obasanjo’s Bells Comprehensive School.
After Stella’s death, a Lagos Princess in white apparel seized the moment, nearly claiming first lady status. Rumors swirled until daughter Funke declared her unwelcome.
The children united, pressing their father to formalize Bola’s place—thus Mama Funsho arrived from London, waving off the rival.
Obasanjo’s life, like Nigeria itself, brimmed with contradictions: a watchman who guarded the nation twice, yet whose private watchtower hid 21 lights from at least eight mothers, plus dalliances untold.
In My Watch, he named the children but spared the women. ENCOMIUM’s revelations filled the voids, painting not judgment, but the raw humanity of a titan—lover, father, philanderer, president.
