Time for a Grateful Nation to Honour a Deserving Citizen
Preparations have begun to mark the 70th birthday of Erelu Abiola Dosumu, the Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos. As Samuel Ajayi writes, she has done so much for her country beyond what the public knows
She stepped out of her living room taking a seat at the see-through roofed penthouse of her four-storey building. Age is taking its toll on Her Royal Highness, Erelu Sherifat Abiola Dosumu, but the grace of her beauty and the elegance of her blue blood remain evergreen.
As ‘Septugenarianism’ Beckons
In July, Erelu will be 70. Her father, a banker with the then International Bank of West Africa, IBWA, hardly knew he had given birth to a star when she was born. Even when she was taken to Kano, in northern Nigeria, to stay with her maternal grandmother, the star continued to shine.
Age is taking its toll and the raw energy to chase businesses here and there seems to be going down. But Erelu is far from being tired. She says her energies have been devoted more to helping the society than to amassing wealth for herself.
“My life in the last 30 years has been deeper than this,” Erelu says with a mien that shows she does not enjoy negative narratives of her being an addicted socialite. “You have been coming here for the past 17 years or thereabout. What do you see? Perhaps, we have a society that does not give credit to hard-working women.”
Life of Service away from the Klieg Lights
Perhaps, it is this hard work that has not been noticed well enough and appreciated by a judgmental society. Erelu, without mincing words, deserves recognition by a country she has given so much to.
May be it might be trite to name some of those areas where Erelu has intervened to stabilise a floundering ship of the Nigerian state.
While many may not know, Erelu was saved by the whiskers from being clamped into jail in 1995 when she was named a NADECO member and possible financier. She was always in touch with then chief of general staff, General Oladipo Diya, and the discussion was always on the plight of the Yoruba in the General Sani Abacha regime. Erelu was deeply worried that MKO Abiola and General Olusegun Obasanjo were in jail.
“My efforts to get these prominent Yoruba sons out of jail nearly sent me to jail myself,” Erelu had said “I could not just stand it. General Diya too was very worried but what could he do? I wanted to use my closeness to the diplomatic community to ensure these men regained their freedom and what did I get? An invitation from Colonel Frank Omenka that I was planning to overthrow the government. Nothing could be funnier.”
Even the return of democracy would not prevent her from pursuing what she felt was for the good of the society. In 2002, Erelu said she felt uncomfortable with the way things were going between the executive and legislative arms of government in the country. The fallout was the planned impeachment of the then president, Obasanjo.
She said, I gathered few other women across the country and we booked appointment with the then Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba. The meetings were fruitful as they told us their grouse with the president and we also met the president. I can tell you our efforts contributed immensely to resolving the impasse.”
Preserving Traditional Values
It did not end there. Erelu also played prominent roles to reconcile Yoruba monarchs who were at loggerheads. Erelu had approached the then governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who gave her a vehicle with which she and her team were moving from one traditional ruler in the South-West to the other. This led to a meeting between the late Ooni of Ife, Okunade Sijuade, and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
Taking it to the national stage, Erelu set up the Natural Rulers and Eminent Persons for Good Governance and Peace and she was able to get the likes of the late Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Maccido, late prominent businessman, Iyanda Folawiyo, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Achebe, and so on to buy into it.
The aim of the group was to promote peaceful co-existence between the nation’s diverse ethnic nationalities. The group traveled to places like Kaduna, Sokoto, Onitsha, Warri, Oshogbo, Ile-Ife and so on.
“We were well received everywhere we went to. It was a fruitful exercise and I am very happy that while the larger public might not know, these interventions yielded positive results, she said.
An Amazon Worthy of National Honours
Perhaps, it is high time her fatherland bestowed her with a national honour. A long-time associate of the Erelu told THISDAY that there were those who never contributed 10 per cent of what Erelu had contributed but were awarded national honours.
“People might not know this, but as far back as 1967, she and her husband, the late Major Elegbede, pushed for the creation of Lagos State.
“When students of Lagos State University, LASU, were home for over nine months, she used her NGO to appeal to the government and ASSU leaders and the strike was called off.
In the same vein, when a prominent Yoruba businessman was having issues with an operating licence, Erelu did a lot of work behind the scene to help him. I think this woman deserves more due than the society has given her,” the friend said.