Fare thee well Prince Aragun Ogunoye

                      

      Babalawo Of the Nation (BoN) with JEFOE

The news filtered in that JEFOE is dead!. Dead? .Yes , dead . Everybody was pained. I am the most pained. Yes , I cried more than the bereaved, you will say.Not that he was not old  and not because there is no money  for the burial but because he still  have an  aged mother at home. Whaaaaaat? Aged mother ? .Olorun Oba oooo!. Oghan mo ku!, oghan mo w'esun oran, o ti n'iye s'aiye ke?. Ki  le le yi o? Oro nla! Yee paripa!. Kini kati  gboo?. Kini ka se?. Kini ka wi ?. kini ka fo?.  Kai!Baba onirungbon yeuke looooo!

Who will break the news to the old woman?. When I spoke with his younger brother, Prince Sunday , he said ''that is how we saw it o''. And the question on everybody's lips  is why God?. Why do some people die leaving their parents behind? .Why ?, why God? .Yet we would say He understands . He knows  best . We cannot question or query  Baba Goodu. And what came to my mind is '' If thousands die on Saturday , we would still go to Church the following day, Sunday to sing ''We praise and worship you Oh God! .Bi egbegberun eniyan ba ku ni Satide awa yin o la o ko l'ojo Sunday ! Oloun Oba o ki leleyi ooooooo?.

   We need to console mama that she should take heart . There is nothing new under the sun.I told Chessy Aragun, one of his younger brothers who is a musician to take heart.

Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Dagrin,Wacko Jacko, Elvis Presley, Orlando Owoh  and  many others died leaving their mothers behind. Infact Jesus Christ died (was crucified in the presence of his mother!) leaving his mother behind.Yet, we  still thank God for everything. Nobody can question Baba Gooodu.

 

        MY ENCOUNTER WITH JEFOE

As  I sighted  the man with his grey beard glittering like silver I chukled and soliloquized , this is a story. I  quickly alighted from my Camry Car,  ran up  up to him and said '' Sir, you  are like the heavily bearded old  man  Baba Onirungbon Yeuke , eni ti ngbe ibi gegele okuta  ti D.O.Fagunwa ko itan re ( You look like the mysterious  heavily bearded old man that lives among the stones of which D.O.Fagunwa wrote about) , your beard endeared you to me.You are wearing beard like my brother , Professor Rowland Abiodun who lives  in America, are you a Professor?''. He  gave a roar laughter  and responded ''Professor ke? No,o I am Prince ARAGUN . Then I am not Baba Onirungbun yeuke oooo .I don't live here but lives in Kaduna.  I Immediately asked for an interview from him  of which he accepted , and  I brought out my ipad , he cried '' loju titi yiii?'' (on this road?), I said yes, I do  interview anywhere, any place and anytime .that is why I take my ipad along always ''.

I told him this story I got from THE LITTLE , BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, by CLIFTON FADIMAN : A journalist once called at Frost's house for an interview ,''Do you have one of those machines -those tape recorders ?'' asked the  poet suspiciously as he opened the door. ''No sir,'' replied the journalist. Frost's manner changed instantly .''Well , come on in!'' he cried.''Those people who take down word will never get anything right''.He then burst into laughter.The man can laugh , he can crack jokes and you will join him laughing.Yes, that is JEFOE for you.

Then somebody called me Babalawo of the Nation!, Babalawo of Africa! , Babalawo of the World! "', the old man burst into laughter and said '' sebi you said you are a Journalist , are you also Babalawo?'', I said   ''no'', but  my own Babalawo is of the Nation newspaper.We started the interview   on the road, he  then asked us to go inside to complete his story. 

He showed me his mother who was selling palm wine and then  ordered cups of palm wine for me , and trust me I started flowing and pouring panegyrics to Palmwine, saying ''Kare o, abiwarapa abito funfun lenu, emu reee, emu ti Bobo T , T Bobo and Babalawo of The Nation ti nwa kiri'', when he heard me , he asked '' Come o sebi your name is Taiwo , how come you are Babalawo? or is it fake?''I screamed ''Sir, my own Babalawo is original, it is Babalawo of The Nation newspaper, I am Bobo T, T, Bobo''.

We sat down and spoke  virtually on everything. The last time we spoke was about his land that he was having problem with and when he resolved it he also told me he has been given another place.

One day we spoke and he told me he wanted to have a praying mountain , which would make him be  fulfilled.

When I started my website taiwoabiodun.com and taiwoabiodun.blogspot.com he was on my mind for another interview  about the Aragun family compound he showed me and asked me to write about that time. I called the Olunaun of Unaun , Prince Olanrewaju Abegunde to send me his number just few weeks before his demise.

  Why am I writing this piece today? I am writing this   to appreciate his simplicity and humility . I  am writing this to honour him. I am writing this  to give him my last respect. I  have had cause to  ask for  interview  from  some people who would treat me shabbily  and turned me off. I remember  a guy who with his arrogance attitude cum uncouth manner went extra mile  for my jugular but  failed woefully. The guy exhibited multilateral combinations of foolishness, arrogance and  arrant nonsense.

     Only very few people appreciate the profession, journalism. While only few people too want their children and wards  to go into the profession because of  the danger it involves yet they want to be interviewed by journalists!. No, wonder some called it a thankless job!. Yet among the few  who know its value and appreciate it is JEFOE.

Whether we like it or not JEFOE has become more popular than any living man who  has  not appeared in The Nation newspaper!.You must be news worthy  in order to be interviewed.

He has become popular allover the world , even in heaven he would go with  this published story and the paper where he granted interview and  show his friends he would meet there.

JEFOE as your name implies (eat vegetable) be eating your vegetable there but not worms, eat what they eat over there .Say hello to my parents over there, my father has spent over 34years and my mother 13 years there. Salute our people there o . 

Anyway , soki lobe oge.

FREE MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR OWO INDIGENES

     MEDICAL TEAM FROM  AMERICA  ARE   IN OWO NOW!
ARE YOU FROM OGHO ? OMA OGHO WE DE RE?
      WE DE GHIN OGHO?ARE  YOU IN OWO NOW?
 DOCTORS, PHARMACISTS, NURSES, MEDICAL LAB TECHNOLOGISTS   FROM AMERICA HAVE ARRIVED OWO!. THE MEDICAL TEAM ARE IN OWO NOW .PLEASE COME TO OKE -MAPO  [MAPO HALL] , OWO FOR FREE  MEDICAL TREATMENT  .YOU ARE NOT GOING TO PAY A DIME

                Pharmacist Bayo Ogunmolawa

PLS. COME AND HAVE FREE MEDICAL TREATMENT AT OKE -MAPO. 
              EGHEN KA WA O , E YA GBA IWOSAN OFE OWO OGHON OMA WA  LATI ILU OYINBO, AMERICA
    FROM MONDAY APRIL 8 -FRIDAY APRIL 12 
                        FROM 8am - 5pm

 
                    Pharmacist Bayo Ogunmolawa

ARE U FROM OWO? DO U LIVE IN OWO ENVIRONS? OH MY GOD , COME ON  MONDAY, THE 8TH OF APRIL  TO MAPO -HALL, (OKE -MAPO ),  OWO
                                  
Do you have Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Tooth problem, Eye problem , Breast Cancer, Skin wound?
Owo Sons and daughters  in Washington DC, Alabama,Dallas,Texas,California,Missouri ,New York, Atlanta Georgia have brought Medical team to Owo to treat Owo indigenes . Don't be shy, just take a bike or Taxi or trek to Oke- Mapo for your treatment.
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   O ti ko Dokita ati oogun wa o Ero Igbanasa,  Asewa,  Igbanasa, Idimepen,Upele, Uloro , Ulale Uli, Ulale Oko, Iyere, Upo, Ugbe, Usuada,Otapete, Emure Uli , Emure Oko, Elegbeka, Amehinti, Ago Paanu, Ago Igbira, Idi Mangooo, Usijogun, Amuren,  Ahere Bami ila, etc.
   Eghen kawa o ero  Ehinogbe, Idimisasa, Mobil, Ogbaniton, Oke Ijimala, Corwell , Ogwaluwa, Aghofen, Igbanlori mesan, Amuye, Oke Osonron, Aboludo,Achievers, Oke Ogho, Ifan ,Arimogija, Ute, Imoru, Ijagba, Ute,  Osse, Okeluse, Opu, Ujima,Okelua, Odo Osse,  Ogbanengun, Ijebu, Ode'ya, Okedogbon,  Uka, Uselu,Unaun.
  O duro dehen Oke- Mapo o  gede eghen ye ghin Clerk Quarters, Oke Rantiri, Owaluwa, Shagari Village, Conway, Ujelu, Upenmen, Oke -Ijebu, Ekusi,Usho, Ogbonmo, Uka, Upele,  Iregun, Owatowose, GRA, Obukele, Isaipen,Ugbooko, Usanma, Poly area , Bami Segun, Y'emi Taiba, Anti Mulika, Brother Saamu,Iye Ade gedegede ghen e kawa oooo.              

 By Taiwo Abiodun, Bobo T, T Bobo, Babalawo of the Nation (BoN)

O YA E KA SADURA GHIN GEDE WA O , ATI EMI  BABALAWO OF THE NATION (BoN) A------D--------U-----R-------A------, TAWA KO ERO OKO TOLI OOOOOO, AAAAAMIN, AAAASE OOOO

Why they call me Obè Àkùko

                                                 Obè Àkùko

                      

         

 

 ....... Why I set my bed and mattress ablaze ..................Why they call me an  eunuch 

 ........I have spent over 64years in Owo

  

                                 Obè Àkùko' [Chicken stew]
  
 Not many people  know his name except his appellation 'Obè Àkùko'. The Octogenarian speaks of how he came to Owo, his nickname and many others. Taiwo Abiodun reports

                         

          EXPERT IN WATCH REPAIRING
 His name was  a household name in  Owo , Ondo State in the 1960s to early 2000 , for he was among the best few  watch repairers in the ancient town.  In his shop located at the  Late Pa Oladoyinbo's house opposite St Patrick's Anglican Church, Ijebu-Owo, where one could see different types and sizes of wall clocks, table clocks and wrist watches for repair where the high and the low come to repair their watches.
He is a man of average height, rich in Òwò proverbs and poetry . Not only this ,the  octogenarian could speak Òwò dialect fluently despite the fact that he is  not  a native. Popular and loved by the old and the young because he is jovial and had never been angry. 
  He was so popular that if he contested for the  post of a Counselor he could win. When hailed ''Obè Àkùko'!, Obè Akuko!! Obè Akuko !!!" his response would be"You will partake from it". "You will be great" .You will not faint", "Your wife will not run away" etc .

Then if you shout ''Obe opolo''[toad's soup], then he would reply '' You will keep it for your father''.Then he would promise to give you one of his wrist watches from about six watches strapped on each of his wrist which you will never be given. That is the ever jovial and smiling man who harbors no-ill feelings against anybody,  Obè Àkùko   
       

 
 MY NAME
The 80 -year -old man said "My names are : Alfred Wadai popularly known as Obè Àkùko. I am from Ohodua in Ishan ,  South - East Local government . I was born in 1939 but I don't know the day for my parents were illiterate and did not know the date either .

I CAME TO OWO IN 1955

" I learnt the watch repairing skill from an Ibo man when I was young and  after my freedom in 1955 I came to Òwò. I did the work for over 50 years before I pensioned myself .Today things have changed as nobody repairs watches again. I am married to one wife. I have one head and as God created Adam for one wife so I am ", he said as everybody in the vicinity burst into laughter.

            

 " I came to Òwò in 1955 after my training as a watch repairer under an Ibo man in the then Mid -Western state, and started my job as a watch repairer".

     STORY BEHIND  Obè ÀkùKo

On how he earned his nickname , the 80 -year -old man gave a roar laughter and started his story: "One day, I think it was in 1965 I went to the late Òwò billionaire , Chief Jide Fagboyegun's poultry farm to buy a live chicken and people who saw me on my way back home were shouting on top of their voices" Obè Àkùko!, Obè Àkùko!! Obè Àkùko !!!" , in a mockery way. They  were curious and   asked  what I wanted to use it for, because I was not rich and buying live chicken then was exclusively for the rich .I replied them " Wa jobe, Aye a ye, Waa dagba etc" .Since then I have been called Obè Àkùko and only  few people know my real name".

 
  IN LOVE WITH DATES

Obè Àkùko was fond of writing the dates he rented an apartment on the back of the door of his room , he said " Any house I packed into I always write the date at the back of the door. I was once living in Baba Bayode's house ( Baba Sola) at No 12, Èhìn-Ogbė before I relocated to Ìjèbú- Òwò because business activities in Èhìn -Ogbè was dull for they soon go to bed between 6:30- 7pm '', he continued ''but for people living in Ìjèbú it was jolly , jolly and I said I must come to Ìjêbú that was how I went to live in the late Pa Oladoyinbo's house ( the father of the present Kabiyesi Ojomo Oluda ) at Ìjèbú where commercial activities were at the best and they sleep late as workers would come for their watches. I was not driven away or ejected from their house or any house in Òwò throughout my period of my tenancy'', he said with confidence .

WHY THEY CALL ME EUNUCH

For Obè Àkùko who was serious and dedicated to his job , because he ignored women , he was blackmailed and called eunuch , he said " in those days ladies called me eunuch because I did not chase them or go after them or press their    'organ' ".

     HIS RESPONSES WHEN PRAISED

   Whenever he is praised or hailed as ' Obè Àkùko , ' he will respond by saying '' wa a jobe'',( you will eat sumptuous soup), ''we nii jabo''( you will not fall), ''Òrò re ti dayò ''( your case has turned to joy ) , ''Waaaaye''( You will survive) etc

 WHY I BURNT MY MATTRESS AND BED

     According to Obè Àkùko, he is no longer a tenant in Owo where he spent all his life . He with all gratitude to God and full of humility said " one of my children built a house for me in GRA, and when I was packing in I burnt my mattress and bed , and moved in with a new set".

            As he said this he gave thanks to God. He stood up , looked at everyone as he was hailed by this reporter , and he responded in Òwò dialect" Wàá dàgbà, Wàá jobè, wéé níí wè sú Òràn, Wàá gbóóó" etc.( You will grow old, You will eat sumptuous soup, you will not be in trouble,  You will grow old).
           As the old man was  walking back to his residence, those who met him along the way and those who were in their houses and heard his voice continued hailing him saying , ''Ooobe Akuko! Oooobe Akuko!!'', the old man too was responding  '' Waa jeun pe, aya re ni salo, waaa dagba, weee ni we sun oran'', [ meaning You will live long, you will grow old,your wife will not run away, you will not be in trouble ). 
But when a rascal boy  cried '' Oobe opolo,Oobe Opolo' (toad soup!, toad soup!!) he too responded '' waa gbede B'are, waa jeee''[ When he was greeted toad soup, he replied '' You will keep it  for your father, you will eat it ). What a wonderful and witty  man loved by everybody.

'How I escaped from gorilla attack'

            

 
                
               ....... I am an Aviculturist
                   .....I love giving
                ....I escaped from gorilla attack
             ........ Why we use Agbegilodo 



As he approached  the  front of his office over 1,000 white pigeons   flew   towards  the sky flapping their wings and  as they touched  down their  beauty  showed .One could imagine and appreciate  the handiwork of God  on these birds, and  as they all touched down they  formed a circle around  him as if they had come to welcome their benefactor.

 

   In a jiffy, he  went inside , brought out a can filled with  corn and millet grains which had been kept  in a cool dry place  and threw  them to the birds, again they all flew and scattered towards the areas he spread the grains  . 
   Mukaila Obanigba looked at the  birds. He  smiled and jocularly said '' this is enough for you now''. He then went into his office to start the day's business.


   It was on a busy Monday , the beginning of  a new  week. As he sat in the office using calculator to know  how much he  made over the weekend  a woman came inside . The woman went on her knees,  in tears  she  said her son was chased away from school for not paying school  fees and needed his assistance , she added that she would not mind working for it in his sawmill. Obanigba  , shook his head , asked her few questions and told the woman to come back. The following day the woman came back and was given double the amount she demanded for.

          Few months ago, a young man cried to him that  his father died and he  is the first  child of the family , and according to custom and tradition he has to  buy the casket for the burial. Obanigba  asked how much he needed for the casket, he counted the money and gave him.
These are some of what the man called Mukaila Obanigba , a silent giver , a  philanthropist and a devoted Moslem does without blowing his trumpet.

                                            
        
                WHY I GIVE

    Every year he gives money to the handicapped, to the market women and to the needy . Many testified to this attitude of his philanthropy  .Asked why he gives out money freely and donating as if he has any political ambition or any motive behind it . Obanigba smiled and said   '' I am not rich and I am not poor . I  have gone through hardship.I  know what it is to be hungry and not to go to school. I am not doing all these  for cheap popularity or for any favour . It is in the Holy Koran even in the  Bible to help the needy.
 I believe in hard work  with God's blessings.  I just have to do it,l have no power of mine its God that answers prayers . If I wait till next day to do good what if I don't wake up the next day?  '', he said.

           


          THIS IS 20YEARS IN THE BUSINESS

    Obanigba has been in the  sawmill business since 1999.  According to him he inherited the business from his late father, Obanigba  and has been doing it since then.He said many  have abandoned the business but for him , he is still in it by God's grace.''I have experience in this profession and cannot be cheated. I know how much a timber cost. I have driven timber vehicle , and I have cut the wood using machines, infact I  know the nitty- gritty of the business so nobody can pool wool on my eyes''
 

  

   There are a lot of challenges  in the business , he said  but he  is able to face most of these challenges  due to his experience  and Allah's guide . He  said '' nobody can cheat me in the business because of the knowledge of the bush  and the skill I had acquired from my late father so  nobody can come up to cheat me on the number of trees fell, sold or bought''

               MY ENCOUNTER WITH GORILLA  

  The man who had seen the good , the bad and the ugly said he has been to many forests and  had faced many hazards in the bush while sourcing for his daily bread .Recounting part of  his experience, Obanigba said ''I have been to many forests and seen dangerous animals . I  with my co workers  once had encounter with a  gorilla in the bush and we had to run away leaving our implements behind.It is a real gorilla ,it is  very mighty .This I can never forget in my life . It is real. We ran for our dear lives. I came across the animal  along  Benin-Idanre -Akure road''

               ON THE TIMBER LORRIES 
  The man who defended the usage of using old and rickety  timber lorries gave his reason,  '' nobody uses good ones for the drivers would not use it very well, we are black and wicked and will not maintain the good ones so there is no point buying new ones.Do you know some of these timber lorries don't even have brakes?.That is why nobody can even encourage his children to be its driver'', he said
 .

 

   ''They call it agbegilodo magbeyawo  (the lorry that carries  timber but not a wife) because nobody  will use  the vehicle for pleasure so one cannot take his wife or family along in the vehicle and it is not for a family .Some of these timber vehicles don't even have light or brake, imagine. If there is an accident they will all perish, a family must not  be in the vehicle or else all of them will perish'', he counseled.

            WHY I KEEP PIGEONS
   The businessman who has been keeping pigeons as his pet spoke how he loves keeping birds  , he  said  ''those are my birds . I am an Aviculturist . I  love  pigeons and whenever they know  that  I am around they will cluster round me and flap  their wings.Their beauty shows and I feel happy seeing the nature and work of God'', said  the timber Merchant  .
Reminded that some mischievous people  could read negative  meaning to his pigeons , he fired back '' I have over 1,000 pigeons , it is my hobby. If they say the  birds give me money then it is funny, and if over 1000  pigeons give me money then I should be able to knock Obama, the  former President of America's door and say hello to him''.

              THERE IS NOTHING LIKE DEFORESTATION
  As we fell trees always , would there be  trees in the forest again?, the business man was asked, but he quickly gave an answer ''there is nothing like  that ,there is nothing like deforestation for  trees cannot finish in this world,no'', he responded and added '' a tree  grows every five years, and that is it ,There are trees everywhere.Have you seen where trees did not grow?''


         OTHER ACTIVITIES

Obanigba says he is a good mixer , he said ''I am a socialite , I do drink but in moderation and  I don't smoke'' .
Asked what he sees when he look at the morning every morning, he replied '' when I look at the mirror  I discovered that I am getting old, we cannot stay young forever''. 

AWARDS

The timber businessman and saw miller said  he has received many awards from different organizations and state , ''You can see the awards, we would talk about it next time'', he said .

Please rescue me, Comfort cries out

                                                 AGONY OF A FAMILY 1

                                          

           ......SHE HAS THREE SET OF TWINS

            .........One set is dead

           ......The second set  has no Taiye

          ......The third  set  has no Kehinde

          ........ Taiye is crippled

           ........Kehinde is blind

             .......Other three children are.....

 Madam Comfort Olore is crying for help . And who will help her?

First, her first set of twins died at infancy ,another set of her twins left one behind and the last set of twins also left one behind. Not only this, among the two set of twins left behind one is now totally blind and was operated on its stomach while the other is crippled , all from same mother .

  Seeing the blind  and handsome Kehinde using  his hand to pave way for himself to come into the living room simultaneously his younger sister , Taiwo too  who crawled on her chest   from the inner room with her withered legs would make one cry. Yes, it  was like a movie , not funny but pathetic!
  One could read poverty on  their mother's face who had just  arrived  from the market with two tiny tubers of yam to prepare their food for the day. In fact,  sadness  was written all over  her face .
The mother who said she had been called names narrated her ordeal:

Mother
''My name is Comfort Olore I am over 60 years old . I am married to different husbands. I have three set of twins , the first set died at seven months ( premature). Another set came and when they were three months old it was only Kehinde ( now blind) that survived while the last set of twins came ,only Taiwo ( now lame) survived again.
I have three other children living in Iyere, Ondo and Lagos but they are not financially okay. I have relations but none assisted me”.
She declared that she needs help , “I sell pap and that is the only source of our livelihood and that is all what we depend upon to survive . I don't have  money to buy corns now . I want assistance from good- spirited Nigerians”, she begged .
Asked whether her  daughter, Taiwo  has married she declared  ''Some men do come to Taiwo but they couldn’t spend, they are stingy

[Left-right]  Taiwo, Kehinde and their mother, Comfort

while those who come to her would befriend her and after sometime  they would run away and would not come back here again .I believe it could be because of her condition( lame)”, she said with emotion .
       Asked whether there is spiritual undertone with what she is experiencing as many thought  but she declared ''I

don’t belong to any society , I go to church”.

                                                AGONY OF A FAMILY 3

 Kehinde Asojo 
“My name is Kehinde Asojo. I am 30 years old . I finished my secondary school from  Adeyeri Grammar School, Owo, and I have distinctions in my subjects .I tried to further my studies when I gained admission into Rufus Giwa Polytechnic but due to financial condition I couldn’t go and I went to learn welding in Benin .My father died in 2010. We sold my father’s land and used the proceeds for my medical expenses in the year 2016 when I had a gastro intestinal operation , I couldn’t go to toilet and thanks to some doctors and good- spirited- Nigerians at the hospital ( FMC, Owo) who contributed money for the operation .  

Strange wire
Kehinde has been crying over the pains he is having from the stomach where he was operated on , he said  ''last November I started seeing the wire used for the suturing of the operation coming out  from my stomach  I showed it to my mother.I didn’t go back to the hospital to report. This operation was done in the year 2016 .I am in agony , I am in pains .I have lost my two eyes as a result of glaucoma.
“I had a girlfriend before but I lost interest when this problem came .I have been like this since 2014. I wish to further my studies and go to Special school but who will assist me


Taiwo’s tommy:The operation was performed in 2016, and the suture or wire  coming our  November 2017, he is in pain.






Taiwo Olore
She  grabbed the edge of her skirt , crawled to where her wheelchair was and mounted it in the corner of their living room without a furniture.
“I am Taiwo and I am 24 years old, my Kehinde has died long time ago.I am not of the same father with the blind Taiwo. My condition was not like this when I was born ( her mother argued that she was like that). This wheelchair was donated to me by one sister called Titi. Things are not easy with my mother as she struggle to meet up our needs.I was learning knitting before but my boss was very hostile to me that was why l left.”
                     
                             AGONY OF A FAMILY 2

Taiwo wishes to learn a trade if assisted.
The family lives at Express- Ikare junction, Owo, Ondo State

Who will console this woman?

     For the past one year , this 23 -year -old  mother , Mrs. Bimbo Olalekan  has been   crying over her two kids that were stolen under her nose. 
Will this woman ever be consoled?

                     History repeating itself in different form?

       When Bob Marley sang '' Woman hold her head and cry 'cos her son had been shot down in the street and died  ..... just because of the system.,'' Bob Marley  did not know  Bimbo.
When it was recorded in the Bible that ''Rachael is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children , Because they are no more'', Bimbo was not born then .
Unfortunately  Mrs. Bimbo Olalekan is now  added to the list of  mothers  losing their children but Bimbo's  children did not die  but were stolen !.
The Yoruba saying  that  ''Omo mi ku san ju omo mi sonu lo'' (My child is dead is better than being lost) comes to play here.

                  
          

                         MY STORY

         
      It is exactly  one  year today when  two  kids of  Mrs. Bimbo Olalekan were stolen from her house   where she was living. Up till the moment of writing this story the two kids are  yet to be found.
  Bimbo in an exclusive interview  after the incident narrated how it all happened, she stated '' on January 30,2018  a man came looking for a room to rent in our house  at 27, Okedogbon Street, Owo;Ondo state.  He met my  mother who  at the initial stage turned down his request saying she needed a tenant  who is married  and  responsible. The man   left but  came back later  with a Ghana Must Go bag  with  a woman he  claimed to be his wife.

''The couple was  asked  to pay 2,000 naira per month but they begged for 1,500 naira and after much pleadings my mother accepted and  they paid for one year  which   is 18,000 naira. The money was given to my uncle who had no time to give them a receipt for he was preparing for his baby’s naming ceremony.  The new tenants later packed in living with us.''.

                    THE GREAT BLOW

       Bimbo  continued in tears  ''On that fateful morning of  January 30 of  2018, I was washing  my children's  clothes at the backyard while my daughter, Blessing who is two years and eight months old  was  sleeping in the room and the second one  a baby, Ayomide who was eight months old  was crying. Since the woman said she is an hairdresser I asked her to help me  braid my daughter’s hair .She carried the  baby that  was crying  and put her on her back . Later, the one that slept woke up and  the woman told  me   she was going to buy biscuit  for them  and that was all'', as she said this she burst into tears again.
    Asked when she realized  the disappearance of the woman, she said ''It was when I finished washing the clothes  and asked after  the woman  that we knew what happened. At  first  we ran inside to search for them  and when we did not see her we thought she would soon come back from where she went to buy biscuit for the kids''.
           The woman  continued in tears   ''we were shocked after  searching everywhere thinking she would surface since she said she was going to buy things for them . We never knew that such thing could happen and when we went into their rented room we  only saw the  Ghana Must Go bag  stuffed with used  carpets and papers'' .

                       NO NAMES, NO PHONE NUMBERS,
The most shocking thing is that nobody  knew the names  of the tenant, when asked what their names are , Bimbo said '' I don't know their names, we didn't ask . We collected money from them and hoping to issue a receipt for them later''.
''What of their photographs?'', she again said they did not have their photographs or their telephone numbers .
When asked to bring the pictures of the children for publication she said '' I don't have their pictures , the only one I have is one of them when she was some months old''. Bimbo's mother confirmed this too.
Then how can they be traced ?
   Bimbo kept on saying ''We did not know their names and we didn’t ask. All what we know is that they  claimed they  are from  Delta  State.''

                                  FRANTIC SEARCH
According  to Bimbo's mother , ''the case was reported at the Police headquarter , Ijebu -Owo  but my daughter  was detained as the Police said  she  was the first suspect since she  did not come to report early , she even  spent that  night at the station''.
Bimbo and her mother said they have gone to many spiritual homes seeking help, she added ''after reporting the case at the Police station, we   also visited   spiritualists , soothsayers, Babalawos, Alfas and churches  to seek for spiritual  intervention''.


                                         BIMBO UNDER GUIDE 
 When this reporter went to check Bimbo  at Okedogbon  when the case was still fresh she has relocated to her  grandmother's house in the town.
  At the grandmother's house  she was  under strict guide  for  she was said to have  been behaving funny. This reporter met her  being  sandwiched  in-between her mother , grandmother and  her aunt sobbing. This reporter  noticed that  Bimbo was was no longer herself  as she exhibited traits of  unsettled mind for within a minute  she suddenly  stood up,  glanced at  the ceiling fan   and  cried  ''Sorrow  should be my second name .Where will I see these kids again?’’, as she said this she ran  outside to look at the passers- bye  and came back  to sit on the sofa again .
        Her grandmother  said '' this is how she has been behaving since the incident happened . Many  times she would look askance and laugh  wildly then walk  round the compound calling the names of  her stolen children. Last Saturday she ran to the  Post office to see the vendor and asked whether the  retrieved kids from a Catholic Priest were her own when she heard a news of an arrested Priest''. 
This has been the way Mrs. Bimbo Lekan whose two children ;Blessing and Ayomide Lekan whose  ages are  two years and 8months and the younger one 8months  were stolen before her nose on that fateful day of January 30 last  year. 
       Her grandmother said she decided  to bring  her to  where she lives and  under proper  guide  to avoid her from committing suicide , she said  ''I go out with her  where ever she goes to even when going to the toilet for the way she has been acting since the incidence did not let us leave her alone .We heard over the  radio  that a couple was arrested with two kids but when we read the paper it is not our own case.''
     Bimbo has been  shedding tears like  Niobe in  Greek mythology whose  children were killed and Zeus k later  transformed her to a stone  and its dropping  tears till today.
   Since last year  Bimbo has been going to the newsstand, listening to the radio and watching television whether they will announce that they have seen her kids . 
Will she see her kids?
                                         

' 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.