Dear All:
A beautiful one is gone, silenced so quickly so soon by a wicked disease.
Sun re o, Funmi.
Bolaji Aluko
"I Just Wanted to Hear Your Voice"
Moremi Ajasoro. Afi ikoko ide bu omi lamu. Afi Kankan fadaka soge lawujo egbe. Moremi ti ewure ile mi o gbodo pa. Moremi obirin ogun.
That is the cognomen I made up for Mrs. Funmi Olayinka, the Moremi of Ekiti. She loved it when I recited it to her, especially if it was over the phone. She would say "E ma ki mi lo, mo ndahun", "Keep singing my praises, I am attentive." I first met Mrs. Funmi Olayinka in February 2007.
My husband waded into the so-called murky waters of politics in 2005 as a Gubernatorial Candidate for the then AD, later Action Congress in Ekiti State. When he told me that he had been approached by some party elders and peers, persuading him to run for office, I was initially very reluctant even when he got some of the elders to speak with me. I however decided later that it was time people from our generation put themselves forward for service instead of expecting that there would always be someone else to fix our leadership crisis, which is not unique to Nigeria but is a problem for most African countries. I knew that whatever the outcome, the presence of someone like Dr. Kayode Fayemi in the race of Governorship of Ekiti State at that time would raise the bar and send a strong message that there were indeed visionary, capable and competent people around who had fresh ideas for the future of the State and the country as a whole....
For those who were wondering how she got the nickname "Moremi" from, it was from Chief Jide Awe, the ACN Party Chairman, who started introducing her as "the Moremi" of Ekiti during the rerun campaign of 2009. Since that time, Ekiti people, particularly the women, latched on to the name......
Moremi Ajasoro. Afi ikoko ide bu omi lamu. Afi Kankan fadaka soge lawujo egbe. Moremi ti ewure ile mi o gbodo pa.
Moremi obirin ogun. Sun re o.
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi
April 2013
For the full tribute, please read the attached PDF file.
To read a little more about the historical - or mythical - Moremi Ajasoro, please see (for example):
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