By DAPO FALADE
Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, has disclosed that politics and other busy schedules made him to miss the opportunity to be with his late mother during her last moments on earth.
He said he had promised to see his mother the weekend after the last governorship election held in Ondo State, but did not pick her calls, thinking that he would see her as arranged.
The governor made this known in his speech at the Service of Songs for the funeral of his late mother, held at the Oyo State Government House Arcade, Agodi, Ibadan, adding that the news of her death was too hard for him to bear.
He, however, said he would forever live to cherish the over 52 years of good relationship he had with his mother and described as a tough woman who ensured that her children had good education.
Makinde said he did not pick the persistent calls of his mother throughout the Wednesday after the Ondo election, but he was shocked when he woke up the following morning, only to be greeted with the news of her passage.
“It is still very hard for me. The relationship that I shared with my mother is like no other one. I spoke with her on Monday immediately after the Ondo State election and I told her that I would see her over the weekend. I left for Port Harcourt on Wednesday morning.
“Throughout Wednesday, she was calling me and I was saying to myself that even if I picked the call, since we were out of town, it won’t make any sense because I guessed why she was calling me; she wanted me to stop by and see her. So, I didn’t pick the call.
“By Thursday morning, they came to wake me up and said they were knocking on my mum’s door and she wouldn’t answer. Maybe about 15 to 20 minutes later, they forced the door open and saw her; she was gone.
“I can only say that it is hard to question God. I thought she should be about 85 but that did not happen. My mum was a tough woman.
“She came to Ibadan with nothing, according to her. She was just looking for a green pasture and Ibadan then happened to be the capital of Western Region. So, she came, just like anyone would come.
“She met my father. I think she came when she was 18. One year later, she was pregnant with my eldest brother. She had him at slightly above 19. So, I started thinking to myself that this woman started early.
“She started working as an interpreter at UCH and later, as a telephone operator. What she won’t take from you is for you not to take your education or studies seriously because, according to her, it would be double jeopardy if she refused to go to school because she was having us and we also refuse to go school.
“It was an experience for me to have spent a little above 52 years of my life with my mother. I will forever cherish that relationship,” he said.
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