Obafemi Awolowo married Hannah Idowu Dideolu on Boxing Day 1937. Her trading income helped pay for his law studies in London, and Nigeria came to know her by three letters: HID.
Trader and student
Awolowo was a trader, clerk and journalist when he married HID, a successful trader in her own right. Her earnings supported the family while he studied in London, and he qualified as a barrister in 1946.
Premier and prisoner
Awolowo became Premier of the Western Region and introduced free primary education in 1955. In 1962 he was jailed for treasonable felony and served until 1966. HID kept the family and its businesses going, and her firmness in those years made her a public figure.
Mama HID
They had five children. Awolowo died in May 1987 after nearly 50 years of marriage. HID lived on in Ikenne and died in September 2015, two months before her 100th birthday.
