Nollywood actress Iyabo Ojo has publicly mended fences with fashion designer Toyin Lawani, posting photographs of the two together on 23 September 2026 and telling followers that the years apart taught them what friendship actually looks like. The caption was short, and it was enough to send fans and colleagues into the comments with the kind of relief reserved for a fight everyone had grown tired of watching.
Tagging Lawani’s Tiannah’s Place page, Ojo wrote:
“Life taught us that real friendships aren’t perfect, they are real. We had our moment apart, but real friendship always finds its way back.”
Lawani answered under the post.
“Glad we found our way back.”
That warmth sits on top of a very public freeze. The two had been close before 2022, when tension around Real Housewives of Lagos spilled onto social media. During the Laura Ikeji storm, Ojo questioned what Lawani must have said to make Ikeji furious enough to slap someone three times and referred to her as gbeborun, a Yoruba jab that translates to “gossip.” Lawani, for her part, spoke warmly of Ikeji, a woman widely read as Ojo’s rival, and wrote that her heart was too fragile to carry hate. They unfollowed each other and the silence became the story. Lawani, who used to be among the first to celebrate Ojo’s children, especially Priscilla, stayed quiet on later milestones.
There was a brief thaw months later. They followed each other again. Ojo later recalled showing up for Lawani even while unwell at one of her events. On Ojo’s birthday in December 2022, Lawani praised her and celebrated her relationship with Paul Okoye. The peace did not hold as a public performance. This week’s photographs are the first reunion that feels like a decision.
Colleagues treated it that way. Peggy Ovire wrote that she was so happy to see her queens together. Mercy Aigbe stacked hearts. Bimpe Akintunde said she was so happy seeing it.