Ondo state Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) said that his mother, Evangelist Bosede Akeredolu passed on at the right time .
Akeredolu’s mum died last Thursday September 15, 2022, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The governor spoke when he and his wife, Betty Akeredolu, and some of his siblings received a crowded cabinet members of Ondo State, led by the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, at his mother’s Orogun, Ibadan residence. The Oniju Odo of Iju Odo in Ondo State, Oba Festus Olumoyegun; and organised labour in Ondo State, led by Mr. Oluwole Sunday, as well as, the Vice chairmen of local government councils in Ondo State also visited.
Others included former First Lady of Oyo State, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi; Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr. Adebowale Williams, and members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). The list also comprised the Bishop of Ibadan North Diocese, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Right Rev’d Williams Aladekugbe; and Vicar of St Matthias Anglican Church, Orogun, Ibadan, Ven. (Dr.) S.K. Olawoyin.
Speaking, Akeredolu said: “If I had died before my mum, forget it, I won’t see anybody here. Nobody would come. Also, if she has waited till 2026, most of you won’t be here. It is life and that is how life is. So, my mum chose the right time to go, and that is why I am seeing so many of you. So many people have come here. She has chosen a very good time to go,” he told the enlarged cabinet.
The governor who highlighted he has never been a tenant in his life because of the foundation that her mother laid for him and his siblings, praised the late mother, saying: “She was a woman, who lost her husband 40 years and one month ago. Papa died on August 9, 1982, and she died September 15, 2022. It was about 40 years and one month, and they must have met over there now. What they do there, I don’t know.
“As at that time, I was the only graduate among the children. She sponsored other six on her own, struggled and raised them. We are proud to have judges among us, professors among us; so what else? All the children usually gather here first of January of every year. When we come together to meet, we were always very happy.
“We appreciate her for her efforts. The fact that God has taken her at this time, to me, I am convinced, is a product of her prayerful life. When you called her, the first thing you would hear was prayer. When we came here, he would always pray for us. Even, my children are finding a way to mimic her because when you called her, she would always say ‘God bless you’,” he reminisced.
Akeredolu stated that after the celebration of her mother’s life in Ibadan, her remains would be taken to Ondo State for final celebrations. Talking to the people of Ondo State, he said: “I can assure you, we will bring her back to Ondo State. We will have time then to celebrate together. We are going to celebrate her. And God sparing our lives, we are all going to be there.”
The Deputy Governor of the state, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who spoke on behalf of the cabinet members and the Permanent Secretaries, said: “We are here, first of all, to commiserate with you on the loss of Mama, Lady Evangelist Grace Bosede Akeredolu at 90. The second is to also thank God for you, members of your family, your siblings, and the entire Akeredolu family, for surviving your aged mother. We therefore commiserate with you on the loss of Mama, a nonagenarian.
The Oniju Odo of Iju Odo in Ondo State, Oba Festus Olumoyegun, who also paid tributes to the governor’s mother, commended Akeredolu for naming Ondo State University after Dr. Olusegun Agagu, a former governor of the state, and for appointing Agagu’s son as a Commissioner, apart from other laudable projects being executed by the present administration in his kingdom.