' What happened to me 30years ago'

She is hilarious. No  dull moment  with her .Not many people know her real name  as she is only  known as E ku Feee. She  was rescued by the  late Olowo of Owo, Oba Adekola Ogunoye II when she was in trouble

Madam Oluwafunke Samuel  ( aka E ku Feee)


Looking at her she is simple, but when she opens her mouth to talk one would think  she is a comedian  and if care is not taken one  could  break his  ribs as she speaks.
MY STORY
''My name is Oluwafunke Samuel. I live in Emure Uli, Owo, Ondo State . I always come to the King's Market (Oja Oba) to sell my E ku Feee . I am in my late 60s. My story is an interesting one .I once had  conflict with some market women about 30years ago when the late Oba Adekola Ogunoye  II was on the throne''.
She continued '' sincerely speaking there was a rule in the market that nobody should sell powdered corn ( elekute) but due to the  poverty  I found myself I went ahead  selling it . It was my grandmother's business. Some years after her death I  was financially down and I had nothing with me . I then decided one day to start the business , and I   took   her  materials , set up the business and started  producing and selling it.Though  I lived in Emure  but always go to Oja Oba     ( King's Market ) where there is  market for the product '', she said , nodding her head. 




MY ARREST
However she was arrested , she said  ''When the market women caught me selling the banned product they arrested me and said I flouted their rule , all my pleadings that I was trying to sustain myself felt into their deaf ears. They asked me to walk -over a local knife and that I must pay a live cock and  pay some fine. I walked over the local knife but refused to pay  all the fine telling them that I am a Christian and that I know Jesus and did not  believe in their  Tradition. My product was seized and it became a serious matter ''


OBA ADEKOLA OGUNOYE RESCUED ME 
Madam E ku Fee was talking with all seriousness yet laughing. She said  ''I was taken to the palace of Olowo of Owo , Oba Adekola Ogunoye II, who was a no -nonsense man . The Market leaders  were all sure and certain that  they would  win me and  get justice . I remember some high caliber of High chiefs and community  royal fathers    who were  present  including High Chief Adelanke Ajana the late Chief Priest of the town with  some market leaders. 


INTERROGATION
''When I was interrogated by  the late Ajana and  Oba Ogunoye and asked what I was selling , I said   ''I am not selling powdered corn but selling E ku feee, (Aroma)''. They asked again what I was selling I kept on saying that I was not selling powdered corn but selling E ku feee, they all looked at  one another . With confidence  and pity I  insisted that I was selling E ku feee but not powdered corn. They all burst into laughter. The Monarch then asked them to leave me alone that I was looking for what to eat .Since then they have been calling me E ku feee.That was how the late Monarch, Oba Adekola Ogunoye rescued me, and this I can never forget till my dying day.''

HAWKING
While hawking her product she said ''I would scream on top of my voice advertising my product  that they should come and buy E ku feee, and they would call me to buy. I have used the proceeds from E ku feee to train my children in school in the university ,from the proceeds I   have built  house and still feeding from it today.
CALL ME E KU FEEE
Though E ku fee love journalism  but said '' they are not well paid . I have an uncle who did it for many years but came home with nothing to show for it .Asked about her E ku feee again, she said '' when I am frying the corn its  aroma wafts everywhere, when I ground the corn the aroma wafts  everywhere and when I mixed it with palm oil and groundnuts its aroma wafts  in the air and everybody will know its E ku fee.Asked what is her response when greeted or hailed as E ku fee, she said  ''I will pray for them that A dara fun e, Aye a ye o''( It will be well with you, You will live well).
E ku feeee, E ku feeee.