Eulogies as Akerele, former editor of The Guardian, goes home

It was a harvest of tributes, as former editor of The Guardian on Saturday, Mr. Asishana Taiwo Akerele, who died at the age of 60 on November 8, 2019, was buried yesterday at the Atan Cemetery, Yaba, Lagos State.

The widow, Christiana, set the ball rolling with her expression of huge loss.

She lamented, “Now I have to live alone without my husband. Who is going to call Iyabo? I know death is inevitable; God took him away at a time that we didn’t expect.

“Though, there is nothing we can do to prevent death from taking him, I pray God to forgive him and place him in eternal rest.

“My husband was excellent, very caring and loving. Words cannot depict my perception of him.”

While taking the remains of the former editor to its final abode, one his siblings, Onobere Akerele, bemoaned the painful exit of his elder brother whom he described as an epitome of tranquility.

He said, “We cannot question God nor his actions; rather we have to accept what he has conferred on us.

“As he (Asishana) joins his ancestors, I pray that he rests till we join him.”

Stella Osiyale, who described herself as a sister to the deceased, eulogised the deceased as a good brother, peacemaker, and dedicated husband.

Also, Folashade Johnson, who represented the family of Akinyegun where the widow hails from, said, “He has lived a successful life. He has done a lot for us, just like he would do for his immediate family. I personally can’t differentiate him from my father, because he has been a father as well as in-law of the highest esteem.”

Similarly, Efundapo Olusegun, an evangelist, described the deceased as an icon to be emulated. “He is a good man who loves everybody around him. He is a responsible man who loves all his children. I could remember when Morayo, his daughter, gained admission into the university; he wanted to follow her to school. That’s the extent to which he loved his children.

“Till his death, he was a nice man. We are going to miss him as a father, brother and grandfather. Also, the church members will miss him,” the cleric said.

Akerele is survived by an aged mother, wife, children, grand children and other relations.