"When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure."
The above quote by an unknown author succinctly describes the situation with Mrs. Aderonke Olunloyo, the youngest wife of Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, when we, last week, visited the Molete, Ibadan family house of the former governor of Oyo State, who passed away at 89, a few days to his 90th birthday, on Sunday, 6th of April, 2025.
It's a reality that the man she loves, cherishes and respect and spent 35 good years of her life with has gone forever.
So it was understandable when she politely turned down our interview request initially. Mrs. Ronke Olunloyo, like every other member of the Olunloyo family, is still in a sober mood. Even though the deceased died at a very ripe age and lived a fulfilled and impactful life, his death remains a great loss not only to the family but to the people of Oyo State and Nigeria generally.
It's indeed a exit of an icon. Dr. Omololu Olunloyo wasn't just an ordinary man, he was a renowned scholar, distinguished statesman, and former governor of the Old Oyo State.
He was also the Balogun of Oyo. He was the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs who successfully installed the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi in 1970. For his heroic act, the late monarch conferred on him the title of the Balogun of Oyo.
These, of course, explains why we refused to take a no for an answer from Mrs. Olunloyo. We needed her to at least speak with us because we felt it would be a delight for our readers to really know how the great mathematician, Olunloyo spent his last moments on earth and other things like that.
So City People's Dare Adeniran (08057639079) was lucky to have Mrs. Ronke Olunloyo's audience for a few minutes. And for that few minutes, he got Olunloyo's widow to talk about some interesting aspects of her husband that many people don't know.
Also, in the course of the very brief chat, she couldn't but appreciated all the people who supported her husband and his family.
According to her, the likes of the executive governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde, late former governor Abiola Ajimobi, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Late Ooni Okunade Sijuade, Late Alhaji Yekini Adeojo and several other friends and political associates and several others she didn't want to mention were really supportive in the area of Olunloyo's health and well-being.
She expressed her profound gratitude to Governor Makinde for continuously standing with the family and for helping her to take good care of her husband while he was alive. Mrs. Olunloyo also revealed her husband's unfulfilled dreams and many other interesting things. Read the excerpts of the interview.
How has it been since the death of your husband, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo?
It's been a kind of difficult situation to deal with. No matter how old our loved ones are when they die it's always difficult to let go. But we thank God for a life well lived of Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo. He's a great man. He has left a legacy that would be difficult to surpass in years to come.
Was there any sign he was going to die?
When he had a relapse a few weeks ago I called Baba Obasanjo. And he came down to Ibadan straightaway to see him. There was also time he was very sick with COVID. It was the same Chief Obasanjo I called who came to carry him in Ibadan and took care of him for two months in Abeokuta. I didn't want to bother the governor because they were just coming on board. There was COVID, there was pressure. So Obasanjo took him to Abeokuta for two months and he came back a new person. The man even signed as the next of kin for the operation. Four of them went into the theater, he was the only one who survived it. That's another brother in Obasanjo clan. They were like siblings. My husband wasn't a rich man everybody knows that.
Your late husband lived a moderate, honourable but fulfilled life, tell us some of the things you learnt from his lifestyle?
I'm like him. I don't overstep my bounds. I'm contented with what God has blessed me with. When I chose to live my life like that, I chose to live it. My husband and I had a lot in common. That was why we lasted. I was with him for 35 years. He was my best friend. He taught me a lot, especially in politics but I became his tutor later on because I always had the human angle aspect of politics. I'm a deep thinker just like he was but am more deeper. I can foretell what will happen in Oyo politics in some years to come once I sit down and concentrate.
Dr. Olunloyo was known to be a very disciplined person, was he also
tough? And if yes, how did you cope with him for 35 years?
He's not tough at all. He's the softest of people. If you want to freak him out, his children freak him out. He loves his children. He even treats the older ones like babies. That's Dr. Omololu Olunloyo for you. He loved his children. He loved other people's children. He pays the school fees of his driver's children. Sometimes he asks the servants to bring their children over. If he sees that they are talented he teaches them mathematics, arithmetics. He's never tired. He invests in their education. Nobody who has come across Olunloyo and had worked with him that has not benefitted in that area. There are children he took from outside and sponsored their education even though he's not a rich man. He always finds time to do things for people. My husband is a kind of man that maybe he has 500,000 naira now, he won't tell me, he would just get in the car and go to his family compound and give them money. It's when he comes back and you ask where he has been that he would start saying "people are suffering too much in Nigeria. I don't want my family to suffer. I went to share with them the little that I had." That's Victor Omololu Olunloyo.
Of course, he likes good things but worldly things doesn't freak him. He loves books. In fact he bought a set of books in recent time. My daughter bought some from the United States including Dele Farotimi's book.
What was the last moments with him like?
I was expecting him to come home the next day. The doctor told me so. I took him to the hospital myself. But I had a dream that he died 3 months ago. And I told him.
What was his response?
He said I should pray for him. He doesn't want to die yet. That he wants to see his daughter, Wura and son, Olumide get married. I told him there was nothing he could do, it was time for him to go. Не asked if I was sure, I said yes. I said tidy up what you need to tidy up before the time comes. So he started stooling and I kept taking him to the hospital. Oyo State doctors helped me a lot. They will rally round him. They will take care of him. On Wednesday, he wasn't getting better and he wasn't eating. He wouldn't stay at the government hospital so I took him to private hospital, his consultant's hospital. He was very upset that I brought him to the hospital. But there is no way I could cope. And because I also had the spiritual information about it, I want to make things as comfortable as possible. We kept carrying him to the hospital back and forth. So I decided that he should be in the hospital so that they could monitor him 24 hours. They stopped the stooling. The night before he died he ate rice and "eja osan". He was in good shape. He called all his children, all his friends. The previous day he sent a text message to Mrs. Florence Ajimobi to commiserate with her on the loss of her daughter. Late Senator Abiola Ajimobi and Dr. Olunloyo's mother were relatives.
He gave Ajimobi scholarship to go to school. So they had a very close relationship up to the time that Ajimobi died. But he never stopped calling the wife occasionally to check up on her.
He also called his daughter. He called me and thanked me. He thanked everybody. He even hugged his acupuncturist the week before. He reached out to a lot of people. He called all his sisters.
What will you miss most about him?
His company (sobbing). His companionship. He was a very good man to me and my children. Although he was old. Sometimes you meet people you think will live forever. Olunloyo was one of those people that you can't get enough of. He went through a lot in the course of his career. He was first this, first that, first in everything. But importantly, he was a good father to his children. When people were buying houses, cars, he was training his children. He has a signature tune for everyone of his children. He was an enigma. He was born into a wrong country. Maybe when some other youth are growing up they will appreciate somebody like him. In another country, in another clime, they will give him a knighthood or something great. But here they just don't value their heroes. They don't acknowledge and honor good service. As Jesus said in the Bible, "A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house".
Those who know Olunloyo know what he stood for. They know the kind of man that he is. That's why we have got support from everybody around.
Credit: City People
0 Comments