Fayemi weeps as body of Deputy Governor arrives

GBENRO ADESINA/Ado Ekiti

Hundreds of Ekiti State residents, including top government officials, politicians, senior civil servant, students, traders, artisans and motor cyclists came out en masse, standing on both sides of roads in Ado Ekiti to welcome the body of the late Deputy Governor, Chief Mrs. Olufunmilayo Olayinka popularly referred to as Moremi of Ekiti State.

At the governor’s office, Governor Kayode Fayemi could not hold back tears as he officially received the remains of his deputy at exactly 5:32pm.

The casket left Lagos today after a commendation service at Anglican Church of Ascension Opebi, in a chartered air flight and landed in Akure airport at 3.27pm.

The body was accompanied by the wife of the Ekiti State governor, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, her husband, Mr. Lanre Olayinka and her children.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi and the Chief Judge of the state Justice, Ayo Daramola led other government functionaries to receive the body at the airport.

With tears flowing down his cheeks, Fayemi said, “We thank God for the arrival of our Princess who sacrificed herself for the service of the people. On behalf of the good people of Ekiti State, we cannot thank her enough. She lived a short and eventful life. We thank God for giving her to us; we also thank God for taking her to the world where there would be no more worries. She fought a good battle, our peoples’ deputy governor, our people’s princess, we thank you. We pray God to grant her husband, her children, the entire Famuwagun family and her larger political family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss”.

The funeral procession was led by a Lagos based funeral undertaker’s MIC whose wine coloured Mercedes Benz conveyed the steel casket draped in Nigerian colours.

As at 6.15pm, various groups gathered at Fajuyi ground where candle light procession took off while some women groups also had vigil at her official residence.