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OPINION: Death Of A Queen

Published

3 months ago

June 16, 2025

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By Lasisi Olagunju

“There is a kind of price for life,” says Charles A. Curran, and that price, he says, “moves in the direction of death.” Death blows no trumpet but we all know it is coming. It is the unalterable final part of the process of life. Some of us spend our entire life worrying about death; some simply ignore it; some mortally fear it; some calmly look forward to it. Whichever you and I choose, the final portion is that we all have to die one way or the other. It is destiny at work.

In the afternoon of Thursday last week, I was with the Orangun of Oke Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarin, who lost his wife, Olori Solape Christianah Abolarin, exactly one week today. She was 51 years old.

I knew her; she was my wife’s friend and colleague in the civil service of Osun State. Her death has made us poorer here. If anyone had asked the dead what she thought was next in her life, she would probably have said she looked forward to becoming a permanent secretary. Her diligence at work was preparing her for the top job. For her, death was too far-fetched to consider. She had so much ahead, and a lot in her plate to attend to. But she died. We all mourn her untimely passage.

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“We care, God cures” is a bold inscription on the wall of a popular hospital in Ibadan. A very sensible thing for every person and physician to say is in that message. No matter the degree of care, people die, some young, some old. Probe certain ailments; for women, for instance, probe fibroids: “The exact cause is unknown” is what comes up. Modern medicine and its prophets get confounded now and then despite humanity’s progress across centuries. That is why since the beginning of creation, women anatomy and freak deaths appear together, constantly holding hands. German physician, Eucharius Roesslin (1470-1526) told his readers in 1513 that “very many (are) the perils, dangers, and throngs which chance to women…” Read about him and why he wrote his ‘Der Rosengarten’ (The Rose Garden), later translated to ‘The Birth of Mankind’.

The death of our king’s wife reminds the mindful of a hugely cerebral editor, columnist and Queen of Letters, MEE (May Ellen Ezekiel). Married to Richard Mofe Damijo, MEE died after a fibroid surgery on 23 March, 1996 in the best hospital of her day in Lagos. She was aged 40. The uterine course (and cause) of her transition was identical with this exit in Osun State. The stabbing pains of the whys, till eternity, rack the brain.

Amidst a torrent of personal grief and familial lamentations, Oba Abolarin reeled out the pearls of his companionship with the departed Olori: “Many of the things people praise in me, she was the architect. Everyone who was my person was accepted by her as her person. She was mother to all the boys and girls in our college. She made our home cosy for orphans. She was from Igbeti in Oyo State, she married me and became completely Oke Ila and Osun State …” The king’s men and women in attendance nodded in agreement.

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The grieving oba went on and on punctuating prayers from visitors and friends with tales of the great bond he shared with the departed. Hearing him and looking at the histrionics that accompanied what he was saying reminded me of a passage on intimacy, death, and grief: “…with a person’s death and our experiences of grief comes…the clearest view of what that person and relationship have meant to us in life” (Brian tie Vries in ‘Grief: Intimacy’s Reflection’).

When a loved one dies, everyone periodically pauses and queries their efforts. We’ve all lost persons whose death left us to wonder if we did enough to keep them around. I ask myself till tomorrow if I put in everything I should to keep my parents alive despite their very old age. With the deceased’s immediate younger sister beside him retelling, amid sobs, the last-moment stories, I heard Oba Abolarin asking himself repeatedly what he ought to do which he did not do. “I am a finicky person, so what happened?” He asked no one in particular.

Those who experienced it would swear that a spouse’s death is a life-altering experience. They say it is a tough one. I read in Phyllis R. Silverman’s ‘Widowhood and Preventive Intervention’ that during courtship, people commonly rehearse for marriage, but “no similar rituals prepare the individual for the inevitable termination of the marriage when one of the partners will die.”

Between this husband and his late wife is a 12-year-old prince, Tadeniawo. And I heard Kabiyesi asking how he was going to cope going forward: “I am close to 70. How is a 70-year-old man going to take care of a 12-year-old, all alone? The boy was very close to his mum.” The oba said; then he went on and on even as he struggled to put on the visage of courage.

He has to be strong; he is an oba, husband of the whole town. One of the covenants he had with those who had been on the throne before him is that his hard wood must never shed tears. Ako igi kò gbodò s’oje. He has handled it so well so far. We keep praying for him.

“Death, thou shalt die” comes as a verdict from seventeenth-century English poet, John Donne. In that Holy Sonnet, Donne asks ‘Death’ not to be proud because “One short sleep past, we wake eternally,/ And death shall be no more…”

May Olori Abolarin’s soul rest in perfect peace. May God look after her husband and child and all her other loved ones.

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FG Unveils Revised Curriculum For Basic, Secondary, Technical Education

Published

5 hours ago

August 31, 2025

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Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad

The Federal Government said it completed a comprehensive review of school curricula for basic, senior secondary and technical education aimed to make Nigerian learners “future-ready.”

The Ministry of Education disclosed this in a statement signed on Friday by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade, and made available to newsmen on Sunday.

Folasade said the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad announced the curriculum on behalf of the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Alausa, while speaking in Abuja.

According to the minister, the review was carried out in collaboration with key education stakeholders, including the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, the Universal Basic Education Commission, the National Senior Secondary Education Commission and the National Board for Technical Education.

The new framework is designed to reduce content overload, improve learning outcomes, and ensure Nigerian students are equipped with skills relevant to today’s global demands.

Prof. Ahmad said the exercise went beyond merely trimming subjects, stressing it focused on improving content to promote deeper learning and reduce overload for pupils and students.

“Under the revised structure, pupils in Primary 1–3 will study a minimum of nine and a maximum of 10 subjects; pupils in Primary 4–6 will take 10 to 12 subjects. Junior secondary students may offer 12 to 14 subjects, senior secondary students will take eight to nine subjects, and technical schools will offer nine to 11 subjects,” the statement read.

“The revised curricula will reduce content overload and create more learning time for students,” Prof. Ahmad said, adding that the changes reflect the government’s commitment to delivering quality, practical and relevant education in a rapidly changing world.

The Ministry of Education commended stakeholders for their role in the review and said implementation will be accompanied by strict monitoring to ensure a smooth transition across schools nationwide.

The ministry did not give an exact date for rollout, but said the new curricula will be phased in with oversight from relevant agencies to guarantee effective adoption.

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Over 23,000 People Still Missing In Nigeria — ICRC

Published

6 hours ago

August 31, 2025

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The International Committee of the Red Cross says more than 23,659 people remain missing in Nigeria, leaving 13,595 families in anguish, most of them women struggling with uncertainty and hardship.

Protection of Family Links Team Leader of ICRC in Damaturu, Mr Ishaku Luka, disclosed this on Sunday during activities to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.

He said 68 per cent of those still searching for answers were women, while 59 per cent of those missing were minors at the time of their disappearance.

According to him, Yobe State alone accounts for 2,500 cases, the majority recorded in Gujba Local Government Area.

“Behind every missing person is a family living in pain, uncertainty, and economic difficulty.

“The anguish is compounded by legal, administrative, and psychosocial challenges. These families deserve acknowledgement, care and support,” Luka said.

He explained that the issue of missing persons was one of the most devastating consequences of armed conflicts, disasters, and migration.

He urged parties to conflicts, authorities, and communities to take greater responsibility in preventing disappearances.

Sharing ICRC’s interventions, Luka said by June 30, the organisation had collected 451 new cases in Nigeria, and closed 515 cases.

Luka added that the organisation had facilitated the reunification of seven separated children with their families.

“Every day, worldwide, we help reunite 20 people with their families. Every hour, we help clarify the fate of two missing people. Every minute, we help four separated persons contact their loved ones,” he added.

Head of ICRC Sub-delegation in Damaturu, Mr Rashid Hassan, said families of the missing should not be left alone in their struggles.

“Time does not heal. Acknowledgement, answers and respect do. Families must know that their loved ones are not forgotten and their demands are heard,” Hassan stressed.

He said the ICRC, working with the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS), had provided mental health and psychosocial support, livelihood assistance, and orientation programmes for families of missing persons in Borno and Adamawa states.

Hassan urged authorities to fulfill their obligations by clarifying the fate of missing persons, protecting the dignity of the dead, and addressing the economic and social needs of the affected families.

He also called on society to show solidarity, avoid stigmatisation, and support the resilience of families searching for answers.

Globally, Hassan said, more than 94,000 people were newly registered as missing in 2024, bringing the total to 284,400.

He stressed, however, that the figure represented only a fraction of the real number.

“As we commemorate this day, we renew our commitment to advocate for the rights of the disappeared and to push for continuous efforts in searching for answers.

“No family should live with the torment of uncertainty,” Hassan said.

(NAN)

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Ex-TVC’s ‘Your View Host,’ Afolabi-Brown, Admits Ignorance In Past Criticism Of Peter Obi

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6 hours ago

August 31, 2025

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… narratives how she once considered suicide

Former Your View host, Morayo Afolabi-Brown, has said her past remarks about former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, were made without knowing much about him or his record in office.

The veteran media personality, in an interview with Chude Jideonwo, explained that her comments on the Labour Party presidential candidate at the time were not based on personal familiarity with his record.

“It was because I did not know him. After I made that comment, people called me and said, ‘Morayo, do you realise that when he was governor, he actually served us?’

“So that was him. I said, ‘Oh, I did not know,’” she said.

The broadcaster also opened up about her battle with depression, recalling how she once considered taking her own life.

“I was depressed. It got so bad that I thought I was suicidal. I just left everything behind.

“I remember just walking on the express, hoping a car would hit me. It was that bad,” she revealed.

Afolabi-Brown explained that she decided to step away from Your View after the show’s tenth anniversary, saying she had long harboured the thought of moving on.

“It was when we were 10 years old that I knew it was time to move on to the next thing.

“I’ve been harbouring that thought for a while, but I just didn’t know to what or where, you know.

“But I think last year, I got that light bulb moment,” she said.

Brown further narrated how she was sacked from TVC until her identity became known to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“People now call Asiwaju, ‘Do you know whose child was sacked?’ He said, ‘I’m not aware.’

“He said, ‘This is the Alao Aka-Bashorun’s daughter. That’s when he knew it was me,” she recalled.

On controversies during her career, she revisited the uproar that trailed an on-air interview in which she was accused of calling her husband a pedophile.

According to her, the First Lady’s intervention helped her make peace and publicly apologise.

Her exit from Your View, she noted, marked the end of her 12-year journey on the breakfast show.