In a moment of joy, time is on a devil-may-care speed, a motion which defies rational explanation. On the other hand, in a moment of grief when pains sits on one’s heart, time seems to be on reverse mode. One day will be like 10 days, one week like one month, one month like one year and one year like a decade.
To the widow of late former Oyo State Governor, Dr Omololu Olunloyo, the past one year was longer than all previous years. Mrs Aderonke Olunloyo was in a new realm, an isolated space where she closed her eyes and saw her best moments with the ever sparkling husband with whom she shared a number of things in common for uninterupted three decades and five years.
Although she now appears to have come to term with the painful reality that his better half, who was the first Ibadan indigenous holder of a Doctorate (PhD), had separated from her, at least in flesh, forever, it was an herculean task to readjust to a life without one popularly acclaimed as her sparing partner with whom she often entered the intellectual ring and exchanged blows of conflicting views to the amazement of their children who, most times, watched with keen interest and left them in their bout.
While hosting TheTabloid.net at the family Molete residence on the first anniversary of Olunloyo on April 6, 2026, the wife, also and often called Iya Wura, agonised her hubby’s absence and declared she had lost a treasure, a beloved husband, friend and the loving father of her three children, all of whom are, like their mother, not yet fully recovered from the exit of the egg head few days to clock 90 years.
Regardless of the vacum created by Olunloyo’s passing to the glory, the wife is daily comforted by the indelible mark he left on her life, her children and the underprivileged class of the society with whom, according to her, Olunloyo shared the little amount he had during his lifetime. He lived life of a philantropist without attracting public attention, paying school fees of staff children among other gestures. Olunloyo was said to have given late Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi scholarship during his formative years when the future was cloudy.
Olunloyo, the Balogun of Oyo could have been stinkingly wealthy in different currency but he chosed a seemingly isolated path which made him unattractive to and indeed a thorn in the flesh of political elite who could have extended patronage to him being an encyclopedia of Nigerian politics and political development from colonial era through independence and post-independence age when he emerged a brilliant commissioner in a military regime before his 30th birthday.
Not withstanding his strict, spartan life behind the scene, he maintained his contagious smile, his unconditional love and his indiscriminate, kind gestures towards everyone, particularly the needy who found their ways to his door and sought his help. Mrs Olunloyo further attested to the fact that he made sacrifices to keep people happy against all odds and pressure, also noting that he did not joke with or trade his good name as well as his legacy of service to God, country and humanity for a pot of porridge, hence his depature from the world with his steadfstness, integrity, self-respect and honour, the attributes of which his family are very, very proud.
Olunloyo was not born a pauper; he was one of few children from aristocratic lineage apparently fed with the proverbial silver spoon. His Molete residence was built by his father, Mr Horatio Olunloyo who personally designed and supervised its construction in 1948 shortly before he passed away in that historic year. Till date, the 78-year-old structure is an architecture reference, still standing as though built eight years ago.
“Continue to rest in eternal glory until the resurrection day, knowing that your legacy will continue to inspire and uplift us,” the widow signed off in a touching tribute commemorative Olunloyo anniversary.
***Published on April 11, 2026
Leave a Reply