•What He Will Miss About His Late Mum
Sina Fagbenro-Byron is a popular politician. He was also a former Presidential candidate for Kowa Party. The sad story is that he recently lost his mother. And the burial is this week.
A few days ago, he told City People what he will miss about his mum.
How does he see the recent passing away of his mum?
He feels very sad about her passing. He says he will miss Mama Victoria Modupe Oke,
one of Nigeria’s pioneer female Radiographers in Ibadan.
Mama Victoria Modupe Oke passed on quietly at the age of 92.
As a pretty young girl, Modupe Oke became the first Beauty Queen of the defunct Western Region of Nigeria in 1956.
She studied Radiography and passed out in 1955.
She worked with UCH Ibadan and became the first female President of the Senior Saff Association between 1969 and 1974.
Modupe Oke retired from the UCH Ibadan in 1977 as Deputy Chief Radiographer.
Fondly called Aunti Dupe, she was Oyo State President of National Council of Women Societies in 1984. She was until her death Chairman, Board of Trustees, Eleyele School for the Handicap.
Late Mama Victoria Modupe Oke left behind a son, Dr Adesina Fagbenro-Byron, a development consultant who was presidential candidate of KOWA Party in the 2019 General elections, a daughter-in-law and grand children.
“Her death is a monumental loss and the end of a fantastic life. And end of an era and phase in my life. I will miss her indescribably,”Sina Fagbenro-Byron told Citypeople.
What will he miss about her?”I will miss her passion for public and social service, her great mix of love and discipline.”
He seems to be his mum’s only child. Did that bring about bonding, between them?
“Yes, I was her only offspring, but as she would always remind me, I was not her only child as she trained, mentored and brought up hundreds of children, who grew up with her as my “brothers and sisters”
“Bonding between both of us was inevitable. We had no choice but to forge a bond especially after my grandmother, (her own mother ) passed on 13 years ago aged 102. My mother too was the only surviving child of my grandmother, who inturn was also the only child of my great grandmother. My mum and I agreed and disagreed on a constant basis depending on the issue, but we had common values which was passed on from generation to generation and greatly influenced by Christianity and Omoluabi ethos of the Yorubas.”
What major role did she play in his life?
“She was a disciplinarian, and this taught me to take responsibility for my own actions. She was a beauty queen and that made me very confident and self assured since I was very young. She was a professional, and this made. Me thirst for professionalism. She was a union leader, activist and quasi political leader , hence my interests and venture into politics, she was a philanthropist and social worker , and this encouraged me into my own eventual calling in international development. She was a woman leader hence my interest and passion for gender equity , and he was widely traveled internationally which was responsible for my early exposure globalization.”
Most importantly she was my number one fan as I was hers as well.
