My Marriage Was a Fairytale – There’s No Man like Steady
How I Lost My Only Daughter While Away in England
Bejewelled by grace and age; robust in thoughts and looks, Mrs. Funke Arthur- Worrey, fondly known as Aunty Funke, is a paragon of exquisite delight. Vivacious and adventurous, she has traversed at least 20 countries and still willing to explore. Welcoming this reporter into her Victoria Island, Lagos home, dressed in sky blue lace with matching accessories, she radiates with resplendence. Born on April 23, 1927, into the Ogunmade Davies of Olowoogbowo on Lagos Island, Mama Worrey does not worry about old age. After her primary education in Nigeria, she travelled to England where she was trained as a secretary. She also had a diploma in fashion designing from the Paris Academy of Fashion Design in London and later acquired a diploma in Social Studies from Ohio University, Columbia, Ohio, United States of America. Her charitable gesture has not gone unnoticed as she is well-known in the circles of charity organisations and service clubs in the country. As she nears the unique age of 90, she shares with Funke Olaode her childhood exploits, how she fell in love, the thrills and hurt in her heart
Reminiscing on Lagos of old She has lived a good life traversing the world. At about 90 years of age, she is still ready to explore. Chief (Mrs.) Olufunke Arthur Worrey, popularly known as Aunty Funke, was born into the royal family of Ogunmade Onile Gbale Chieftancy House, Isale-Eko, in Lagos, on April 23, 1927. “Lagos of old was very small then and we lived a communal life. In fact, the radius of Lagos then was Yaba and Obalende. As girls, we were restricted to the Lagos Island and were only allowed to go and watch the carnival at Campus Square. Yaba was a no-go area then as we had to take special permission before we could be allowed to visit the place. By the time I was born my father was working for the cocoa industry as an examiner and he used to travel to Akure, Ondo and Benin officially to inspect cocoa.
“I was a special child and was spoilt by my parents. My mother had many children but lost them. One of my siblings was the late foremost lawyer, Chief. H.O Davies (QC.) He was a brilliant lawyer who defended (Jomo) Kenyatta (of Kenya) in those days. Right now only three of us are alive out of 14 children. On my father’s side I have one left and have only one sibling from my mother. It was a privileged beginning for us which put us on our toes to toe the path of honour. We were always conscious of who were. We played pranks but we don’t want to upset our parents. The family name is very important and we fought to protect it. My mother was a trader and shortly before she died she went into partnership with a friend and they were buying fairly used army camouflage uniform, shoes, helmets at Apapa during the colonial era. I remember the people in the village used those helmets as pots because they were very good.”
My ambition was to be a secretary
“I started school at the age of six in 1933, at Olowoogbowo Methodist School. At that time I was reluctant to go to school as I was always lying to my mother that I had headache and my mother would ask me to stay back. She was over-protective of me having lost so many children to death. It was an excuse not to go to school and my elder brother would fight her. Eventually, I completed my Standard Six in 1939 shortly before the Second World War broke out. From day one, I wanted to be a secretary because anywhere you went in those days you would see them in big stores such as Mandilas, Kingsway, L&K and so on smartly dressed and I fell in love with them.
“I gained admission to Methodist Girls School in Yaba but could not go further because I took ill. My brother later sent me to England in the early ‘40s where I attended private school and trained as a secretary. I later did a diploma in fashion designing from the Paris Academy of Fashion Design in London. Later, I acquired a diploma in Social Studies from Ohio University, Columbia, Ohio, United States of America. I worked briefly with Bata Shoe Company before I travelled to England. When I came back I met my husband who kept encouraging me to do more.”
Meeting my husband Steady Arthur Worrey
It has been nine years since she lost her husband. But like an endless love from a fairy-tale storybook, her eyes always light up at the mention of his name.
“He came from England to work in Nigeria when we met. His father took him and his two older brothers to England at the age of four to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the First. Their father didn’t come back after the coronation because he met an English woman, married her and she promised to raise the boys. He schooled there and eventually became an English boy. His older brothers got married but my husband was restless that he wanted to go back to Nigeria. His father and my brother, H.O Davies, were very close and after his father died he adopted my brother as a father. When he got to Nigeria for the first time he got a teaching job at Birnin-Kebbi in the old Sokoto State. Before starting the job in the North he stayed with my brother in Lagos. I have been hearing about him before he arrived in our house at Barclay Street. All of us lined up to welcome him. When he got to me he asked what my name was and I said Funke. He told my brother right there that ‘Funke is going to be my wife’.