Encomium
ACTOR Adewale Elesho lost his mother, Alhaja Munirat Alake Adeoye Elesho on Friday, July 24, 2015, at the age of 98. She has been buried according to Muslim rites.
ENCOMIUM Weekly spoke with him about the life and times of his mom. We also spoke about his foray into politics.
Accept our condolence on the demise of your mother.
Thank you.
How and when did it happen?
It happened on Friday, July 24, 2015. She had a brief illness. It is an old age related illness. She even fasted during Ramadan. We insisted she shouldn’t because of old age but she went ahead to do it. She took ill for a couple of days and passed on.
How old was she before she passed on?
She was 98 though, some people said she should be above 100. We decided to stick to 98 because she has a relative that is about that age. They both grew up together.
When last did you see her?
I saw her last during Ramadan. She was living with me before but relocated a couple of years back. She said, she does not want to die in my house.
How will you describe her?
My mother was a good woman. She was generous to a fault. She gave her last kobo at the mosque. There was no way you could stop her from giving, she also prayed a lot.
What will you miss about her?
I will miss her prayers. You hardly hear her curse anybody. She never joked with her prayers, always going to the mosque to pray. At times, when I call her, she would pray and pray until my phone gets hot. The only way to stop her was to tell her I was driving.
How many children was she blessed with?
She was blessed with four children, two men and two women. My sisters are traders. One deals in kolanut just like my mother. My brother is a retired army officer.
What about the burial plan?
She was buried the same day she passed on. We will have 8 days Fidau prayer on Friday. The main event is taking place in September. We chose September 6, 2015 for the celebration of life.
We learnt you defected to APC?
Yes, it is true. I was a PDP man before I decided to follow my boss, the former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola. He is a very nice and considerate man. He takes care of people working for him. When he left PDP, I decided to follow him as well.
You neglected your acting career since you started politics, why?
Politics does not stop acting. No, it shouldn’t be. Once an entertainer, always an entertainer. But piracy is killing the industry. What is the essence of spending your hard earned money on a movie and at the end of the day, you run into debt. That is not reasonable. And it is a very unfortunate thing to happen to an actor. I pray God will help our government to wade into the matter. If they do, movie production will become more profitable, a lot of us will go back on set as well.
We learnt you have new endorsement too?
No, it is not new. It has been on for three years now. I am an ambassador of Adron Home and Property. We buy and sell land. May God continue to bless the chairman of that company. He is a very kind hearted man. I was given a Lexus jeep last year November, it came from Adron. They also gave me land.
– SHADE WESLEY-METIBOGUN
