Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun said on Sunday that the state government has established a committee to provide a state funeral for the late Chief (Mrs.) Alaba Lawson, the Iyalode of Yorubaland.
The late Lawson passed away following a brief illness, on Saturday at the age of 72.
Abiodun praised the late entrepreneur and philanthropist as a passionate and selfless individual who spoke out for women’s rights on Saturday during a condolence visit to her family in Abeokuta.
“We will be with you throughout this very trying period. We are setting up a committee of the state to interface with the family so that we can begin to plan the final rights to give Mama a very befitting passing.
“Your mother was many things to many people. She was a very hard-working woman, a very principled woman; she would call a spade a spade; she would say it as it is. Whatever she wouldn’t say in your presence of you, she would not say it behind you,” Abiodun added.
On behalf of the family, the dead man’s son, Akinola Lawson, expressed gratitude to the governor for taking care of their mother despite her illness.
Iconic Alaba Lawson was described as an amazon who “lived a life of courage, service to humanity, dedication to trade development, women’s emancipation, and the overall development of Nigeria” by former governor Ibikunle Amosun, who also expressed his grief.
“An educationist, Iyalode Alaba Lawson stood tall and defied her humble beginnings as a classroom teacher to establish Lawson’s Childcare Nursery and Primary School, and later Lawson Group of Schools, one of the famous citadels of learning in Ogun State.
“Iyalode Alaba Lawson’s contributions to the propagation of Christianity in Egbaland, as exemplified by her title of the Otun Iyalode of Egba Christians, and her roles as a rallying point for the womenfolk and as a voice for the oppressed in society, will be sorely missed,” Amosun stated on Sunday in a statement.
cc: Punch Ng
