And My Friend Died

BY Dele Momodu

Carol Onyemaechi Akinloye (née Ebenuwa 29 July 1959-27 May 2020) was a woman I had read and heard so much about before our paths crossed later in London. She was a stuff of fairytales.

There were many fables about her whirlwind romance with Chief Adisa Akinloye and as we compiled stories for the maiden issue of Ovation International magazine, in 1996, her name cropped up amongst the 100 stormy women we featured.

By the time we later met, and became friends, I was a visitor to her posh home in Belgravia, South West London, at the time. Her children were relatively young. Mrs Akinloye loved to entertain guests in the aristocratic style of the upper class English families. We spoke every now and then after I returned home from exile.

I was shocked when Lagun, her second son, called me two weeks ago to inform me of her sudden death. The tribute he penned sums up the life of a remarkable woman who was once the subject of high society gossips, globally, oftentimes exaggerated.

She will be missed by friends and family.

Adieu, my dear friend and sister…