In this post, Platinumtimes.ng archives the life story, biography, family and career of Femi Fani-Kayode.
David Oluwafemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode popularly known as Femi Fani-Kayode is a Nigerian politician, essayist, poet and lawyer. He was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and he was the Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June 2006.
Profile Summary
Full name: David Oluwafemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode
Date of birth: 16th October,1960
State of origin: Osun State, Nigeria
Education: University of London
Marital status: Married
Tribe: Yoruba
Career: Lawyer, Essayist, Poet, Politician
Political Party: All Progressive Congress (APC)
Religion: Christianity
Biography
Femi Fani-Kayode was born to Chief Victor Babaremilekun Adetokunboh Fani-Kayode and to Chief (Mrs) Adia Adunni Fani-Kayode on 16th October,1960 in Lagos State even though he is from Osun State.
His grandfather, Rev. Emmanuel Adedapo Kayode, was among the first Nigerians to study in England. He became an Anglican priest after earning an MA from the University of Durham.Victor Adedapo Kayode, his grandpa, studied law at Cambridge University and went on to practice law and serve as a judge.
Femi Fani-Kayode started his education at Brighton College, Brighton and continued to Holmewood House School in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, South-East England.
He went to Holmewood House School in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, South-East England.
He then enrolled in Harrow School in Harrow on the Hill, United Kingdom, and Kelly College in Tavistock, UK, where he completed the rest of his public school education.
Femi Fani-Kayode went to the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies where he graduated with an LL.B law degree in 1983, he attended Cambridge University.
After graduating from Cambridge, Femi Fani- Kayode enrolled at the Nigerian Law School before being called to bar in 1985.
While under the guidance of Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams of Ghana, Femi Fani-Kayode became a Pentecostal Christian, he decided to go back to school to study theology at the Christian Action Faith Bible Seminary in Accra, Ghana, and had a diploma in theology in 1995.
Family
Femi Fani-Kayode has been Married to four women respectively.
In 1987, he married his first wife, Saratu “Baby” Atta but the marriage lasted for just three years and they were divorced by 1990. They had a daughter named Oluwafolake.
In 1991 he married his second wife, Yemisi Olasunbo Adeniji in 1991 but it lasted for four years and they were divorced 1995. They had three daughters whose names are Oluwatemitope, Oluwatobiloba and Oluwatuminu.
In 1997 he married the third wife, Regina-Hanson Amonoo and they both had a daughter named Oluwaremilekun.
In 2014 Femi Fani-Kayode took a fourth wife, Precious Chikwendu, a beauty queen and the winner of the Miss United Nations (world) beauty pageant 2014, got married and this union gave him four boys.whose names are;
Joshua Oluwafemi Emmanuel Lotanna Aragorn Fani-Kayode( first son),
Ragnar, Alexander, Okunade, Olusegun, Ikenna Fani-Kayode,
Aiden, Daniel, Olumide, Jidenna, Benaniah Fani-Kayode,
Liam, Michael, Oluwanifemi, Tobenna, Jehu Fani-Kayode.
Femi Fani-Kayode’s older brother, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, was a renowned and influential artist and photographer who founded the Association of Black Photographers (Autograph) and who died in 1989.
His father,Victor Babaremilekun Adetokunboh Fani-Kayode was a renowned lawyer and politician in Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also a Cambridge student.
Career
After being called to the bar in 1985, Femi Fani-Kayode worked in Chief Rotimi Williams’ law firm for some years; he then moved and started working at his dad’s law firm, Fani-Kayode and Sowemimo.
While working with his father, he worked with high-ranked lawyers, Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN). In 1989, he was promoted to a senior partner after having an early career in the law firm.
Political career
He started his political career in 1989 under the platform of in the Nigerian National Congress (NNC). The same year, he was chosen as the NNC’s national youth leader.
He was appointed Chief Press Secretary to Chief Tom Ikimi in 1990 and Special Assistant to Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, the former head of the Nigerian Security Organization, in 1991.
Chief Tom Ikimi was the first national chairman of the National Republican Convention (NRC).
He then joined the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) abroad, working closely with people like the Oxford University-educated lawyer Chief Tunde Edu and others to fight Abacha.
In 2001, he returned to Nigeria and met President Olusegun Obasanjo and joined the President’s presidential campaign staff at the start of 2003 in preparation for the 2003 presidential election. Femi Fani-Kayode was named the first-ever Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after President Obasanjo won that election.
He was named the Honorable Minister of Culture and Tourism in 2006.
He was appointed the Honourable Minister of Aviation in 2006 following a small cabinet move. Femi Fani-Kayode returned to the private sector, and his legal business after President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration ended on May 29, 2007.
Networth
He currently has an estimated networth of about $1 million.