By Eric Elezuo

“One glorious morning, I shall see my Saviour, one glorious morning by and by” so says a popular hymn. For Mrs Margaret Afolashade Akande, the indefatigable revered elder sister of billionaire businessman and Chairman Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga, the glorious morning came on Wednesday, January 27, 2021; the very day she clocked 80 years on planet earth.

The second of five children of late Pa Michael Adenuga Sr. and Juliana Oyindamola, Mrs. Akande, who died when birthday messages were flooding in from loved ones, was born on January 27, 1941.

Her dearest and closest confess that she possessed all the qualities of a promising child in both physical features and character, and little wonder, she played the role of a big sister perfectly to her younger siblings, including the one, who today is referred as the spirit of Africa, Dr Mike Adenuga jnr.

Fondly called Mummy Ikoyi, among other terms of endearments for which she is known, Mrs Akande’s eight decades spell on earth was highly eventful, lively and full of impact.

There is hardly anyone who knew her who did not have a name for her. She was that full of life and action, getting involved in almost everything she came across in the most positive of ways. Little wonder her siblings, nieces and nephews nicknamed her ‘the professional letter writer’.

Mrs Akande was known to always express herself in writing whenever she felt offended or slighted. She exhibited such prowess much better in her various complaint letters to the Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) of yore whenever her telephone lines malfunctioned. She had no time to engage in verbal exchange. She was highly cultured!

As the child of very dotting parents, Mama Akande, just like the other of her siblings, was not spared of the good things of life, among which is education. She not only attended the best of schools of her time, but was encouraged with the best life can offer to pursue her dreams. Consequently, she qualified as a Chartered Secretary from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries, United Kingdom.

On her return to Nigeria, she was engaged by the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). But like her industrious mother, she soon delved into the trading business, where she excelled. Her industrious nature propelled her to becoming a major wholesale distributor for the Nigeria Breweries Limited and Guinness Nigeria Limited, where ingenuity and classy entrepreneurship shot her to the top.

Mama, on her wedding day in 1966

On December 31, 1966, at the age of 25, the extremely beautiful Folashade found love, and married her heartthrob, Mr. Philip Babasola Akande, at the Saint Paul Cathedral Church, Breadfruit Street, Lagos. Both of them were blessed with four lovely children: Olujimi, Olatunde, Yewande and Oluwatosin.

The late Mrs Akande was a catalogue of fond names, given to her as occasion demands. To her cousin, The Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, she was ‘Sade Olowo Ketu’ because her shop was located in Ketu, Lagos, from where she transacted business for many years.

To her children, she was Shady Girl or Mumskid, owing to her loving and fun-filled nature. It is said that one can hardly be or remain sad in her presence. Interestingly, she in turn she also had a name for everyone!

The Adenuga siblings…From left
Mike, late Esther, Yetunde, late Afolasade and Ademola

A strong and very devoted Christian of the Anglican faith, Mrs Akande gave her life to Christ quite early in life, and served God, humanity and the church till her dying day.

The love and care she professed and extended to her younger ones was unprecedented.

She was very close to each of them, and would give anything to support them.

Her younger brother, Ademola Adenuga captured her wondrous life in an eulogy to celebrate her 80th birthday.

He wrote: “The Nigerian Breweries came around March and gave me a job. My sister Shade and Mama, without telling my father, bought me a brand new Toyota Corona and they didn’t tell me too. I started work with Nigerian Breweries on 5th July, 1974 with the brand new car, courtesy of my sister and Mum. And when I wanted to get my Guinness dealership, Sister Shade was the live-wire, the one who got it for me. She was very close to our mum.

“In the dying days of my mother, they slept on the same bed. On the eve of her death, they slept on the same bed. And they usually wore the same dress when Mama was alive. She would buy clothes for herself and for Mama. There was a time Mum owned a tipper and my sister copied my mother to buy her own tipper. When I was building my house behind Gen. Akinrinade’s house in Opebi, I used my mother’s tipper and my sister’s tipper on that project.

Afolashade with daughter and nieces

“My sister is nice to all of us. But if you offend her, she will pick up her pen to write you to express her feelings. In the days of NITEL when there was no GSM, whenever anything happened to her telephone line, she would write them. She is a nice, positively stubborn sister. Very nice to me. I am very close to her.

Before COVID-19, I used to spend almost the whole of Saturday in her house in Ikoyi. And we would sit down and look back at the good old times and share our stories.”

Chief Ademola maintained that her sister, Shade, took very much after their mother in giving and philanthropy, and would spare no expense to ensure that anyone she came across was comfortable. To him, that was the complete attribute of their late mother, as he noted below:

“My mother had one credo: that what she had in her lifetime should go to all her children. She bought houses for all of us, apart from the ones we shared after her death. She bought houses and warehouses in Ibadan for her children. For Xmas, she normally gave us fat cheques to help us in our lives and in our businesses. I remember there was a time each child got forty thousand pounds which was a very big amount. And there was a time each child got 1.5 million before she died. Even when she died, we distributed money too. She was the best mother ever. We cannot forget her and our father. May their souls rest in peace.

In his words “When she has made up her mind to do anything for you, whether you are a family member or outsider, she would even carry it to your backyard.”

And he added “I wish my sister a happy 80th birthday. I pray that as she ages, she would remain in good health, peace and the joy of the Lord. The Lord will not forsake her in old age, the Lord will be her strength. There are many positive stories around my sister.” Little did he know that Almight God will call her on the day joined the octogenarian club.

Family members and all who knew Mrs Akande agree that all she ever wanted was for her children to be successful, and her prayers to God day and night was for her to never bury any of her children, niece, nephew and her younger siblings, and God definitely granted her her request. She died a very happy person.

Highly selfless, kind, philanthropic, principled and accomplished disciplinarian, Mrs Akande will be greatly missed.