Bob Hearts Abishola star Folake Olowofoyeku wearing multi-layered coral beads during her traditional chieftaincy conferment ceremony in Osun State.
If you know Folake Olowofoyeku from your television screen, you know her as Abishola, the sharp, warm, and fiercely principled Nigerian nurse at the centre of the CBS sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola. But back home in Nigeria, she has just been given a title that reflects who she is beyond the screen. The Nigerian-American actress has been conferred with two chieftaincy titles in her ancestral hometown of Imo, Ilesa, Osun State, making her a titled chief in the community her family has always called home.
She was installed as Yeye Oba (“Mother of the King”) and Yeye Atayese (“Mother Who Reforms the World”). Olowofoyeku shared footage of the dual chieftaincy conferment on her Instagram and TikTok pages on 28 July 2026. Dressed in white traditional attire adorned with coral beads and golden regalia, she underwent customary rites including the placement of sacred chieftaincy leaves into her crown and the traditional gun-shooting ceremony to mark her new standing. With both of her late parents having held chieftaincy titles, she now carries on their family legacy.
Actress Folake Olowofoyeku pictured in full traditional attire following her chieftaincy coronation as Yeye Oba and Yeye Atayese in her hometown of Ilesa, Osun State.
For anyone who has followed Olowofoyeku’s journey, this moment feels entirely fitting. Born on 26 October 1983 in Lagos, she is the youngest of 20 children of lawyer and politician Babatunji Olowofoyeku and his wife Felicia. She attended Igbinedion Education Centre in Benin City and Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in Lagos before relocating to the United States at 18, where she earned a degree in theatre from the City College of New York.
After early roles in Death Race 2050, Transparent, Modern Family, and 30 Rock, she landed her breakout role in 2019 as the lead in Bob Hearts Abishola. Co-created by Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky, Al Higgins, and Gina Yashere, the CBS comedy brought her international acclaim and a 2021 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series across its five-season run.
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