LATE SEGUN AGAGU’S WIDOW, FUNKE, CELEBRATES LOW KEY 70TH BIRTHDAY

There is nothing gorgeous about being draped in the finery that constricts the heart and soul. Olufunke Agagu, the widow of the late former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, understands this priceless fact hence her predilection for modesty and unabashed humility. When Olufunke Agagu, the former First Lady of Ondo State clocked 70, last weekend, she did not roll out the drums as such. It was a family affair! Gone, for her, were the years of letting expensive cognacs and

champagnes flow like a rivulet; or setting sail on a yacht for different territorial waters with stops in the beautiful cities of the world with her husband, Agagu. Alas, her husband is no more. She settled for a low- key birthday with members of her family in their Ikoyi, Lagos, home. For her, it was a day to exult and exalt God for coming thus far in life. Who wouldn’t? Funke has survived several tempests that would have sunk a whole clan. Curiously, however, the misfortune that befell the former First Lady of Ondo State, is the type that assumes folkloric proportions ages after. Her husband, the brilliant geologist, former deputy governor, former minister of Aviation, and later, Power and Steel and exGovernor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, died after a brief illness in September 2013. But that is not the real tragedy. On October 3rd, the Associated Aviation Flight 361 conveying his corpse to Akure, the Ondo State capital, for state burial with 13 passengers and 7 crew members, crashed on take- off from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, killing, among other passengers, Ebony Caskets owner, Tunji Okunsanya, and his son as well as Commissioner for Culture and

Tourism in Ondo State, Deji Falae. Years after, everybody is bracing up to the reality of the tragedy, whatever seemed like a scene from a movie then must now have dawned on everyone involved. For Olufunke too, life must go on. The bespectacled, soft- spoken woman is gradually learning to smile again. And she has so much to smile for indeed. Her son, Feyi, who was aboard the ill- fated plane, not only survived the crash, he is now nearing full recovery. So is her son- in- law who also survived the crash. So, there’s so much for the Agagu matriarch to live for. Not surprisingly, a family source said Funke has been telling everyone now that for the rest of her life, she would serve the Lord Almighty.

to retrieve his hat from the political ring; rather than jostle for political office and power, Marwa has decided to tow the path of honour by retiring to the bench to contribute his quota to national development, as an elder statesman.

The former military administrator of Lagos State may henceforth participate in politics only as a member of an inestimable think- tank. Unlike many military men, whose enduring images are those of brutality and rigidity, Marwa was well loved by the majority of Lagosians during his time as the state’s numero uno. Operation Sweep, which