Akeredolu’s widow slams critics as ex-governor is buried in Ondo

Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the widow of the immediate-past governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, has reminisced the life and times of her late husband, saying he was called a ‘weakling’ while alive just because he loved his wife.

Akeredolu, a lawyer by training, who later attained the enviable title of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and became President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), was elected twice as governor of Ondo State until his death on December 26, 2023 after a protracted illness.

In a special tribute published on pages 32 and 33 of the funeral programme for the burial of the former governor in his native Owo town in Ondo State on Friday, written by his widow, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, titled; ‘Tribute To My Love, Aketi’, the former First Lady said the death of her husband hurts her badly as she is now left alone to face all manners of mockery from the so-called friends and adversaries alike.

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The former first lady said “It’s me, your adorable Betty. You just left me. Just like that! It hurts. Badly it hurts. Now alone to face all manners of mockery from the so-called friends and adversaries alike. Now alone. A beg o! Can an Amotekun generalissimo be a weakling? Mbanuu! It doesn’t add up nau. Haba!”

“Not a few lashed out that you (Akeredolu) were a weakling because you loved me. I don’t think so in their homes while growing up they saw their mothers trampled upon as doormats. By the way, do they know what love is?

“They copied the template and treated their wives as pieces of furniture that can be easily discarded as trash. In many instances, the subjugation was garnished with beatings while the community looked the other way and remained unperturbed by gender-based violence. Beaten up like punch bags.”