OLUSESAN EKISOLA & Wife Open Up

• On What They Will Miss About His Mum

A couple of weeks ago, US based ace Broadcaster, Olusesan Ekisola, stormed Nigeria with his wife and children to give his beloved late mum, Ms. Omolara Mary Ademokun a befitting burial.

Ms Ademokun who died at 93, had a peaceful transition on May 11, 2023 and was buried in Ijebu Ode on 23rd of June, 2023. She is survived by her son, ace broadcaster and media guru; Olusesan Ekisola, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews.

After the remains of the deceased were finally committed to mother earth, her only surviving child, Olusesan Ekisola and his wife Adenike, told City People reporter, Jamiu Abubakar (08085185886) the many things they would miss about his mum. He mentioned how she influenced his decision to become a journalist.

OLUSESAN EKISOLA

How do you feel putting the remains of your late mum to final rest?

One, I thank God for her life. She was not a sickly person. She didn’t become sick that we had to carry her from one place to the other. No, she didn’t do that. In fact, as late as January/February this year, she was still reciting her ‘Oriki’ which I recorded. She was recovering from a slight illness that was after which I travelled and then I was told that she had gone. My prayers have always been that God would make it easy on her so that she would not have to go through any stress at old age. She still has an elder sister and an elder brother. Her brother is 94 and her sister is 102. So God blessed the family with longevity and good health. She lived a good life. She was a journalist. She had a column. When feminism was not that popular in Nigeria, she was a feminist. And her column was tied under her name which was ‘Lara Morel’. We thank God for her life and I’m grateful to God that God gave me the grace to at least be the person that would see her to glory.

How did your mother who was a journalist rob you as an ace broadcaster?

Most people think I’m the smart one. No, it’s not that I’m that smart. I was doing a photocopy of my mum. Thank God for the talent. I see it in my children too. And I see them display certain unique characteristics. So I believe I inherited some beautiful things from her and I’m grateful.

What are the things you will miss about your mum now that she is gone?

She had these little pieces of paper that she stapled together where she would write a phrase here, a sentence there, one or two words; all of them meaning something. One of the things she taught me is to be a decent person. She disliked false people. She told me that false people pretend to be who they are not. She taught me a lot of things and I’m grateful to God that I had her as my passage into the world.

HIS WIFE

Mrs. Margaret Adenike Ekisola is the beautiful and darling wife of ace broadcaster and US based media guru, Olusesan Ekisola, the CEO of the popular Kalahari Media Inc. Few months back, the celebrity couple was bereaved. Olusesan lost his dear Mum, Ms. Omolara Mary Ademokun to the cool hands of death. They however travelled home along with their children for the final burial ceremony which was held on June 23rd, 2023 in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. As the ceremony was rounded off, Adenike spoke at length about her late mother-in-law. She relished the many things her mother in-law taught her about life.

Below are excerpts: “Mama Omolara Mary Ademokun, a beautiful woman, she’s very eloquent, very neat, very calculated. I was wondering when I was called how somebody could give this unique woman a classic final burial. And from everything so far, I’ve been able to see that even the decency she lived followed her even after her demise. She loved us. She really loved us. I met her officially a few weeks before I had my first born. And then after we met, she looked at me and she said; ‘You’re a pretty woman but I want you to stay fit.’ And that I wrote in her memoir. She wanted me to remain as slim as she was. She wanted me to be eloquent. She wanted me to be classic. And I’m still running after that. I promise that even in her death that I would keep running after that.

“Mummy was very awesome. Like her son said, she had little notes for everybody. She had a name for each of the kids. When my first son was growing up, she literally made a book for a 2-year-old starting from the beginning on how to live and she was planning to publish it. something happened, it never came to fruition. The one that really caught my attention was the fact that when my number 2; Feyisola was born, mummy was giving him a bath and looked into his eyes and said ‘ewo oju e bo se funfun’ (look at how white his eyeballs are). And then she quickly turned and prayed for my baby. She believed that children come into the world with all innocence but as the circumstances and situations of life hit them, they begin to change.

“She wrote letters to me. She taught me a lot. I was with her when I was doing a programme at the University of Ibadan. I used to go there on weekends. And Mummy would sit me down and talk; women-talks. She would tell me what is expected from me as a woman. She would tell me stories about herself, about her expectations for her children and most especially about her beloved daughter who is late, ‘Ebun’. She called her ‘Ibon’ because they were in Paris together and ‘Ebun’ was pronounced by the whites ‘Ibon’. She kind of replaced me with ‘Ibon’ because she wanted to love me as a daughter. I would miss her.

“She’s so sweet, a very, very sweet woman, very, very lovely woman, classy, independent, able to do things on her own. She dictated her life and nobody dared corner her. Her spoken English is what really captivates me. She reads voluminous books and until she finishes the book she isn’t quitting. We love her so much. I’m glad we’re here to bury her. And I just wish her eternal rest.”