Ayaba Ramat Adeyemi is 80, but she doesn’t look that far gone in age. She will clock 80 in a few days time. She has remained very beautiful. She is one of the most senior Oloori’s of late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi. In his lifetime, this woman was very, very visible and she played very critical roles in the palace….CONTINUE READING
As you read this, Ayaba Chief Ramat Adedayo Adeyemi, popularly called Iya Ilekoto, is preparing for her 80. And she is eagerly awaiting the D-Day, which is 30th June, 2023.
How does she feel? What is on her mind? How does she plan to celebrate or mark her birthday? Whats the plan? How is she missing her husband? These and many more were the question that agitated our minds as we left Lagos for Oyo town to interview this beautiful woman who in her early years was a fashion designer.
She is come a long way with the late Alaafin. She remains the most precious Queen of the late monarch.
When we were ushered into her house in Oyo, we met a stunning mother and grandma. She is still as beautiful as she was several decades ago. She is not only blessed with a good looks, she has a sharp intellect and her power of recall is superb.
Once we sat down with her we asked how she feels turning 80. Mama smiled.
“I feel good. I am happy”, she said. “I am happy that I even clocked 80 on earth.
Alhamdulahi. We have some people who didn’t reach that age. Some are older that that.
That I will be 80 on the 30th of June it’s worth celebrating. I thank God. Alhamdulahi. Mo du pe lo do Olorun. Inu mi dun dada that I am 80”.
How does she plan to celebrate it? “I can’t celebrate it now. I can’t do any party now. I can’t just call a band to play and start dancing.
Noo. I can’t dance. I can’t call a muscian to perform I just lost my husband. Its just 1 year after he died. How can be doing birthday? What kind of birthday is that? If I come out and start dancing it means that I am happy that he is dead or that he is gone. I will have to wait for at least 2 to 3 to 4 years before I can celebrate my birthday. I am still mourning. It is not easy. It has not been easy since he left. That is why I am not celebrating. I have left everything the way it is.
I will just call the Alfas for prayers. They will pray for my husband, the late Alaafin. They will also pray for me to live longer, more years. They will pray that God should bless him where he is. And that God will bless his kids. We would all live longer.
At a time like this when she sits down and looks back how does she feel? What are the things she remembers way back? “I remember a lot. Is it when I met my husband decades ago and he has been treating me well. He has been catering to my needs. He provides for me. Foo, clothing, everything. He does everything I want. Why won’t I keep thanking God.
All I know is that I am missing my husband now. Thats all. Since he passed on, all my children have been taken good care of me. They run around for me. They are there for me. They are doing well.
For example, I wanted to go for Uhmura they said No, I show not go now. They said I should still rest and let my body regain strength and energy, because I remember my husband everyday and each time I remember him.
I always burst out crying. When a woman’s husband dies, if he is not a good husband you will forget him immediately, but if the husband is good, and provides you everything you need, and plays his role effectively, I think we need to continue to celebrate him and pray for him. So, I want to get our Imams to pray for him and me.
If I look back at what he has been able to do, he has done a lot. Part of what he did for me is where we are now. This house. He did that for me. It was during one of my landmarks birthdays that he gave me where I am.
It is so sad that he is not with us today to see me celebrate my 80th birthday. So what do I want to say? Can I be happy like that?
He already told me what he would do for me to mark my 80th birthday. We had planned it together before he died.
But since he is not here to fulfil his promise what can I do about that?
How did Oloori meet Kabiyeesi, years back?
“I did not just meet him. I was not the one who met him. He came to meet me where I am, where I was learning fashion designing. He brought one of his daughter, Nihinlola. So, I now stood up for them from where I was sitting.
So, they dat down and he was waiting to talk to my Oga. My Oga had gone to Apapa to buy flower. When he came he met them and I now told my Oga about them. My husband wasn’t Alaafin then. The daughter also had indigenous tribal marks. My Oga attended to him and his daughter. He then left. I did not know that all the time Kabiyeesi had been going past our shop and he had been seeing me sewing. One day, he asked his daughter to start getting close to me to be playing with me and getting used to me.
When the lady got to know that I am from Oyo, he went to tell her father that this lady you call Dayo, that you talk about is from Oyo town ooo.
And she is the head of those who sew.
Kabiyeesi then told his daughter to keep being close to me, that he likes me. That I am a nice person from what he see. And since I was single and I had no husband, and I wasn’t even thinking about getting married then, I didn’t think much of her action.
She was always playing with me. She was always all over me. He was working at an Insurance office then, in Lagos I was also based in Lagos in Itagarawu, lori ofi ran.
He now asked the girl and I to come and visit him in the Insurance office. He now took both of us to Kingsway.
He bought things for me at Kingsway and I left. I went home.
The next day, his daughter gave me an envelope and said, my Daddy says I should give you. I said what for? What is inside the envelope? She said money, cash. She said her Daddy said I should keep it in case I want to buy some thing. I said I don’t need his money. I have money. My Dad is taking care of me.
So, I don’t need to take the money.
I said so, when I am going home to eat in the afternoon, we would go together. My house is not far from where I work. My shop was at Aroloya. I was living with my Daddy. So when go home to eat I will go with her. We would sit down and eat. I collected that money from her.
Then at some point whenever Nihinlola wanted to plait her hair, she will tell me. I will do it for her. She will also do mine. After a while, Kabiyeesi told her to lure me to their house, that she should tell me to come home to plait her hair for her at home. We don’t go to work on Sunday. I now went. I got there at 12 noon. Nihinlola and others were cooking.
After she finished, I said oya lets do your hair. We now started doing her hair. I asked for her Dad. She said he has gone to work. I said, but he is supposed to have closed at that time, she said he is doing overtime. In the evening, at about 5pm, he arrived.
He met me where I sat plaiting hair. They gave him food. He invited me to join him I declined. I said No I am not eating.
I eat once a day. He kept begging me to come and eat, I said No.
When I realised that it was getting late, it was 7pm, I said I am going home. He said let me see you off. I said No, let Nihinlola see me off. He insisted that Nihinlola should not see me off. He will see me off. So, as we were going he spoke to me that he likes me. He wants to marry me. He wants to take me as a wife. I said haaa. You are older than me. I said okay, I have heard you, let me go and think about it. That was how we started till we decided to marry ourselves”.
When was this? “It is a long time ago. My daughter is 54 now. I lost my 1st child. The 2nd one is now 53 or 54. And we dated ourselves for over a year. Ojo ti lo.
That is how it went. We dated for one and a half years before I gave birth to Aramide.
And she is 54 now. I am 80 now. I was born in the 40s. So, its a long time….CONTINUE READING