To the residents of the sleepy agrarian community of Iju-Odo, one of the settlements that make up Moribodo Kingdom of the larger Ikale clan that occupies Irele and Okitipupa Councils in Ondo South Senatorial District, Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, dedicated some 20 years ago, is a big church.
But the “smallness” of the church was apparent Friday when its auditorium could not contain the thousands of visitors that came to attend the funeral service of former Ondo State governor and an illustrious son of the community, Dr. Olusegun Kokumo Agagu, who passed on last September 13.
According to residents, the small community, which had the imprints of having produced the state’s number one citizen between 2003 and 2009 in the tarring of almost all its roads, had never before witnessed such a huge number of visitors as came into the town Friday for Agagu’s burial.
The list of big important personalities that attended the service, from a delegation of the Federal Government, led by the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade, to Mrs. Bola Obasanjo, who represented her husband and former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, political leaders, captains of industries and former members of the cabinet of the late governor, was almost endless.
And because the church could not contain the guests, Agagu’s former Commissioner of Information, Eddy Olafeso, himself an Ikale from the nearby Okitipupa, had to appeal to residents and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, who were clad in a uniform attire with the photograph of the former governor printed on it, to leave the church to allow dignitaries have their seats.
It was such a full house that former Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who came alongside his PDP governor colleagues, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun), Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo) and Olusegun Oni (Ekiti) respectively, had to be given a marble seat reserved for the clergy.
Daniel and other personalities, like billionaire businessman, Chief Jimoh Ibrahim, also an Ikale from neighbouring Igbotako, Chief Pius Akinyelure, Mr. Funso Kupolokun, former GMD of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), retired Rear Admiral Akin Aduwo and activist lawyer, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, had converged earlier at Agagu’s country home waiting for the arrival of his remains from Lagos.
The PDP leadership in the state was fully represented by Mr. Ebenezer Alabi, its Chairman; the party’s candidate in the last governorship polls, Chief Olusola Oke; Agagu’s Deputy, Otunba Omolade Oluwateru, now Nigeria’s Ambassador to Uganda; and other members of Agagu’s cabinet, such as John Mafo, Olu Akinkoye, and lawmakers, led by the two Speakers that served under his administration, Victor Olabintan and Taofeek Abdusalaam.
It was, however, a long wait before the body was brought into the community to start the commencement of the service at 1.55pm.
Sources told The Guardian that a huge crowd had accompanied the funeral procession from Ondo town, where the body was redressed and put in a new coffin following the air crash, to Ore, causing traffic gridlock.
Outside the church, hundreds of residents and visitors, who could not secure seats inside, milled around, while local traders made brisk businesses, even as some youths of the town came out with different masquerades to celebrate the funeral in their own traditional way.
In his sermon, the Bishop of the Diocese of the Coast of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Ebunoluwa Ogunele, who led the service, charged the gathering to be of good behaviour and be closer to God instead of unbridled acquisition of wealth.
Olubolade, who spoke on behalf of the Federal Government, described Agagu as a good man and an asset that his community, state and country would miss.
He expressed the sympathy of government to those that lost their lives in Thursday’s air crash and prayed for the repose of their souls.
The remains of the former governor was lowered into a grave dug beside that of his father at the frontage of the church, with his widow, Olufunke, and her two daughters performing the dust-to-dust rites about 3.30 pm.
Except for the senator representing the district in the National Assembly, Boluwaji Kunlere, and the two representatives of the Okitipupa in the House of Assembly, the ruling Labour Party’s (LP) presence was not felt at the event.
The state government, because of the plane crash, in which the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Deji Falae, and others lost their lives, had suggested that the burial plans be put on hold, but the family insisted on going ahead with the plans.
In a release signed by younger brother to the former governor, Femi, however, the Agagus commiserated with the families of those who lost their loved ones in the ill-fated plane and prayed God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss.
“In deference to all the families, who are in bereavement, and out of respect for the memory of the departed, the Agagu family has decided to scale down the details of the funeral to its barest and basic minimum.
“Accordingly, the funeral will now be a private family affair, short of all the pomp and pageantry of a state funeral.
“The Agagu family deeply commiserates with all the bereaved families and prays fervently for the repose of the souls of all the departed, even as the family continues to remain in close contact with all the families affected by this tragedy.”
Source: Guardian
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