Eighty-year-old retired nurse and wife of a former judge, Mrs. Olufunlola Akinyede, tells TOBI AWORINDE about her life
When and where were you born?
I was born on February 18, 1937, in Alade Idanre, Ondo State. At that time, there was no record of birth and there was no hospital. So, each time people needed to know my birth, I would get an affidavit from the court. I was told my date of birth by my parents, who were educated. My father, the late Chief J.M. Akinbola, was a teacher and headmaster. My mother was a fashion designer from Igbein, Abeokuta, Ogun State. They got married at an Anglican church in Abeokuta. I am the only daughter and eldest child of my parents. I have two brothers. My immediate younger brother, Oba Olusegun Akinbola, is the Aladeokun of Alade Idanre. He was a lecturer of Drama in Ekiti State University and was taught by Prof. Wole Soyinka in the University of Ibadan before he became a lecturer. He also worked at the Nigerian Television Authority in Lagos. My other brother, who is based in Lagos, is seven years my junior.
What was it like growing up in the 30s and 40s?
There was no private school then. Back then, my parents used to travel around the country a lot. But my grandfather, who lived with them, said my mum should stay home in Alade Idanre because they had lost two or three children before my birth. But I was allowed to join my father when he was transferred to other states.
Did your parents give you special treatment because they had lost children before?
No, they did not. Back then, there was no machine for grinding pepper. I was the one my mother would ask to grind pepper with the local stone. I was treated like any other child. My father had so many people — his brother’s children and others — living with us. I didn’t even know that I was the only child at the time. I knew how to cook. I also pounded yam for my father whenever he came back from his trips. I worked even more than the other children in the house. They were eating free of charge and my father sent them to school. I wasn’t pampered at all. There was a day I was grinding pepper and somebody came to my mother and said in our language, ‘Mama! Isn’t this the girl you suffered to give birth to that is grinding pepper?’ My daddy, on the other hand, was very patient with me. If I did anything he didn’t like, he would call me aside and gently reprimand me. Because of that, I was really close to my father. And you know girls love their fathers more than their mothers, while boys are closer to their mothers. When my father went to St. Andrew’s College, he would teach me everything. Sometimes, when he got to a station, he would be the catechist or pastor. He would preach and pray. My mother was very strict. She died at the age of 107 about four years ago. My father died in 1975.
What schools did you attend and when did you start travelling with your father?
It was in 1943. We went to Okitipupa, in Ondo State. Not up to a year after, they transferred my father to Minna, Niger State. I was in St. Peter’s School then. We spent two years in Minna before my father was transferred again to Iju-Itaogolu, Ondo State, when I then attended St. Michael’s School. Later on, I joined United School somewhere between Itaogbolu and Ikere, in Ekiti State.
When I was 10 years old, I was called for an interview at Queen’s College, Lagos. I came to Lagos to stay with my uncle of the Fletcher family at Herbert Macaulay, Yaba. Back then, Queen’s College was at Race Course, now Tafawa Balewa Square. But I didn’t get the acceptance letter in time. My dad then took me to Ibadan, Oyo State. We had cousins there, the Osunbors. Mr. Osunbor was the secretary of the Anglican Diocese. Later, I attended Anglican Girls School in Oritamefa, Ibadan. They didn’t allow me sit on the entrance exam for that year. I had to repeat Standard Five and Standard Six before I took the Queen’s College exam. In 1952, I was eventually accepted by Queen’s College. The teachers from St. Anne’s School (Ibadan) came to interview us before those of Queen’s College, and urged us not to go for the interview with Queen’s College. So, in 1953, I went to St. Anne’s School. Our principal and teachers were all British. I was there before I sat for my School Certificate exams.
Was it common to send girls to school back then?
It wasn’t common at all. I didn’t know until later. In the schools I attended, like St. Anne’s and Anglican Girls School,.....
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