THISDAYonline

In one of his often quoted speeches Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the late Premier of the defunct Western region had the ringing line "what has happened has broken the hearts of many of us". Samuel Ladoke Akintola a.k.a. SLA could as well have been talking about the current mood in his nuclear and political families with the recent demise of his dear wife. Chief (Mrs.) Faderera Abeke Akintola, until her death on Thursday August 1, at the age of 87 was the matriach of the illustrious Akintola clan.

From the eulogies that have poured in most effusively since the announcement of her death it is clear that Faderera Abeke Akintola was graceful, resilient, astute and truly a Trojan. To Afenifere leader Senator Abraham Adesanya, Faderera Akintola was "a pillar of politics". Adesanya described her death as a big loss to the political class, Nigeria as a whole and the Yorubas in particular. Olu Falae, former Secretary to the Federal Government sees Faderera as a rare gem while Dr. Bode Olajumoke sums up the essential Faderera Akintola as a woman of peace who harboured no hatred in her mind. "A natural warrior who was marvelous, tough and very strong in character" was the apt way Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, former Gover-nor of old Oyo State described the deceased.

Faderera Abeke Akintola was born to Chief Daniel Adeyemi Awomolo and Princess Omotola Alake Awomolo, in Lagos on February 21, 1915. Her father was a civil servant, a forest ranger in the West African Forestry Department. Her mother was the daughter of the then Olowu of Owu and a wealthy trader. As an infant she went with her parents to Buea in the Cameroons, where her father had been posted as a forest ranger. At the age of seven, she went to Abeokuta with her father who had now been posted there.

In 1932, she left Abeokuta for Ogbomoso where she enrolled at the Baptist Hospital to train as a nurse. She qualified in 1934 and worked for about a year. In 1935 she resigned her appointment and left for Lagos to stay with some of her maternal relations. On August 8, 1935 she got married to Samuel Ladoke Akintola, her adored elder brother's close friend.

They initially lived in an area of Lagos called "Iron Gate and from there she went to Ogbomoso to have her first child, a daughter named Omodele Ashake on December 21, 1936. She stayed in Ogbomoso for three months and then returned to Lagos. They shared accommodation at "Iron Gate " with the Ogunbiyi family.

During this period her husband was a teacher at Baptist Academy Lagos. On February 19, 1939 she had her second child, this time a son, Abayomi Akintola. He was reputed to have been a very large baby. On September 23, 1941 she had her third child Abimbola Anike, a daughter. After the birth of their fourth child, Ladipo, a son on April 5, 1945 her husband left Nigeria for the UK on a British Council Scholarship to study Public Administration at Oxford University. Faderera Abeke was now saddled with looking after four children. At this junction, her mother's financial support was something Faderera would never forget. It was this that helped them survive.

She moved to Smith Street, Lagos where some of her husband's relations lived and was able with the help from her mother to maintain her family. In 1946, she took up an appo-intment with the Public Relations Office (PRO) of the British Council. This appointment she held until she left to join her husband in the UK in 1947. Such was her industry and frugal management of her resources that she was able to maintain her family and save enough money to pay the fares of herself and her youngest child, Ladipo, to the UK. The quality of her work in the two years that she worked for the British Council was so high that she was still remembered with affection by the officers of that organisation when she returned from the UK in 1950.

Faderera Abeke displayed her bravery and tenacity in the way and manner in which she approached her life in the UK. She had to work to assist in aiding her husband's rapid completion of his course of study but she was also determined to obtain qualifications of her own.

She embarked on a correspondence course leading to the Matriculation Certificate (the then equivalent of the General Certifi-cate of Education (G.C.E.) Such was her determination and application that she obtained admission to the Paris Academy of Art and Fashion Design, which was then and still is one of the leading schools for this type of course in the UK. She was one of the top students in the Diploma graduating class of 1949.

Faderera Akintola had certain admirable characteristics that undoubtedly aided her husband in his politics. She was an excellent home keeper and a very social person. She encouraged her husband to ensure that all vacations were spent either at Ogbomoso, her husband's home town or Igbajo, her own home town. In both places, during those vacation periods, the Akintolas ran an open house with different generations of people going in and out of their home.

In the mid 1950s Faderera became one of the two Nigerian women to be the first female major distributors of Nigeria Breweries. She was also a major distributor of the soft drinks of the Leventis Group of Companies. In the latter case, it was initially of imported drinks and later on of the products of their own bottling plants.

The culmination of the support she gave her husband politically was the historic bill for Nigeria's independence successfully moved by her husband in 1957. She is extremely proud of the supportive role she played in its passage. Her husband used to joke that it was the excellence of her meals that eventually got the various individuals to agree.

The period of the Action Group crisis was a trying period for Faderera, her husband and her children. Their relationship with the Awolowo family had entered a strange transitional phase without open hostility but with a distinctly disturbed aura. Faderera's husband was reluctant to make a clean break as he believed that reason would prevail and that the leadership of the Action Group would ensure that justice would be done.

During this period of uncertainty, Faderera's social graces had ensured that her home became a regular sojourn for local and international visitors. Her children in the UK had made some influential and highly placed friends and these had been invited at various times to spend time at the Akintolas homes in Ibadan and Ogbomoso. Such visitors included President Leopold Senghor of Senegal, who paid official and private visits; President Olympio of Togo and his son, Bonito also paid official and private visits; similarly, Lord Royston, who was a distant relation of Queen Elizabeth II of England.

In 1979, on return to civilian rule, Faderera's son, Abayomi, went into politics but first he had to allay her fears as to his possible fate having regard to her experiences during the first republic. She gave him material and moral support once she appreciated that politics was his chosen profession. He was returned as one of the representatives for Ogbomoso in the Federal House of Representatives. She was very proud of his performance as a nation builder. Abayomi was later made Minister of Finance and he served with distinction. He was later to be succeeded by his sister, Bimbola. Abayomi who holds the prestigious traditional title of Bashorun of Ogbomoso is currently Nigeria's Ambassador to Hungary.

As a pillar of support to her husband, tower of strength to her family, matriach of a distinguished political dynasty and inspiration to all, Faderera Abeke Akintola who will be interned tomorrow at the family compound in Ogbomoso indeed left her indelible footprints on the sands of time.