The news of the murder of Mrs. Funke Olakunri, the 58-year-old mother of two girls and second daughter of National Leader of Pan-Yoruba Socio-Political group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, by suspected herdsmen, was received across the country and beyond with rude shock.
She was shot along Benin/Ore/Sagamu Expressway, last Friday. Ironically, she was travelling to Lagos for the birthday of her grandchild when life was snuffed out of her by the killers said to be no fewer than 20. No doubt, the sad incident dealt a big blow on the family of the nonagenarian Yoruba leader, the entire Akure Kingdom and Nigeria. It was a painful loss and indeed, a trying period for the 93-year-old politician who years back, lost a daughter, Bunmi, to the cruel arms of death.
Speaking about his daughter, the father of the deceased, Pa Fasoranti, bemoaned what he would miss about his daughter. “Her warmth, her openness, she was friendly with everybody and she was a go-getter. She was good on her job. She was very good. She was not interested in public affairs but she was very keen on the issue of peace,” he said.
What she meant to me – Widower
Speaking on the kind of person his wife, said: “I had a very good and beautiful wife. She was a neatness freak, kind, generous, loving, caring and selfless. My happiness is that she left a very good legacy behind because she touched so many lives irrespective of your religion – Christians, Muslims, easterners, northerners. In short, she was Nigerian personified, she will never discriminate, very hardworking woman who was very loyal to her bosses.
“She abhorred corruption; she would never touch anything dirty, she was mindful of her background. The Olakunris are well known in Nigeria, so also the Fasorantis, so it was as if she was carrying two burdens and she tried as much as possible to make sure that the names of the two families were never tarnished.
“I don’t know how to cook, I don’t know how to boil water, I don’t know how to buy things, she did everything for me. She was my mother, my sister, my confidant. What can I say? They took her away but those who did it, those who are complicit through their action or inaction, will never know peace. Since the incident happened, it has been my prayer is that those who participated or those who through their action or inaction are complicit, will never know peace.”
On her unfulfilled dreams
“Her major unfulfilled dream is her inability to bury her dad. That had always been her prayer. All the time that we were together, she was praying that God should give her long life to bury her father; it’s a dream unfulfilled. My wife was a survivor, she survived a big accident, she survived cancer, and she beat diabetes. Why I said she beat diabetes, there was a time her blood count was between 400 and 500. I am happy for her because she was able to see her grandchildren, she just came back from the USA where she went to celebrate the first birthday of her granddaughter and I am happy that she saw and held her grandchildren. Her unfulfilled dream was to see Nigeria of her dream but can we see the Nigeria of our dream in our time? That is the question that concerns all Nigerians.”
Her role in the family
“Her role can never be played or her position be filled. She had this presence to change the atmosphere of a gathering the moment she entered it. She was restless, she would not take any second position, she was like a commander-in-chief on the battlefield. Her presence was electrifying; she was a good manager of people. She knew how to build relationships and nurture them, the qualities are numerous, I cannot remember all.”
Speaking on how the deceased related with her father while alive, the husband said: “She looked like her father, as you can see. She loved her father to death. It was always ‘my father, my father.’ I must tell you the relationship cannot be quantified, she loved him.
Source: VANGUARD
