A tribute to my beloved and much cherished sister, Aderonke Olufunmilola Mosuro

Anti mi, Anti mi, Anti mi! Your sudden departure has brought a great vacuum and caused a deep pain which only the Almighty God can heal. To say that I would miss you sorely, would be an understatement! I cannot but keep recalling all the happy times we had together. You were more than a sister to me. We were siblings, sisters, different but yet very similar, very close and more like best friends!

Thank you for your selflessness and your numerous sacrifices to ensure that I was happy and comfortable. I remember my first days in the primary school, when you and Broda mi walked with me to the school, how you both looked after me and were overly protective of me. You always looked after me like we had 10 years between us! You took up a lot of responsibilities to free me from stress. During our undergraduate days at the University of Ibadan, I can never forget how you cooked for me and looked after my laundry so that I could pass my Part I MB exams to the Clinical School! You were very happy on my graduation day and I still remember how you carried me when I returned home with Daddy and Mummy after the graduation ceremony on the campus.

You always provided a guide at each stage of my life. You influenced my decision to marry Olawale and that has been the best decision in my life. How can I forget your numerous visits to Eket?? You showed up with Adedamola on a surprise visit to us in 1992 when you heard that I had burns injury while expecting our first daughter, OreOluwa. I was taking a nap when I heard your voice outside! I was overjoyed! Your visit made the burns wound to heal faster!

Our summer holidays to the UK when the children were growing up were the best! You made us very comfortable. You would drive to Heathrow multiple times, to pick us up, drop our luggage a day before our departure and then took us back the following day to catch our flight back to Nigeria. I would cry and cry at the end of the holiday because I never wanted to miss you! A week after our return home, I would tell my husband that I was missing my sister (“Aro anti mi nso mi”, I would say) and he would answer “I hope it is sha not your anti in the UK”!

How can I forget your solid support all the times that I needed to be in the UK for my training? 70 Harptree Drive was home! Brother Ayo gave us all the support and we were all so happy and comfortable. My joy knew no bounds when you returned to Nigeria in 2014 and moved to Ibadan in 2015. We shared many things together – we were together at the Orita Igbala ministry, preaching and distributing tracts every Monday morning at the General Gas junction – a beautiful way that we found to start our week! You were always the first to arrive and you would welcome me with a big smile and a big hug. We shared fellowship at the EPC Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International and I was always proud to let everyone know that you are my big sister. Living close to each other in the last 10 years has been a great blessing!

You would always offer to get dinner ready for us so that we would just pick up on our way home, an offer we would always grab, not because of the food but the opportunity to see you and Big Daddy. If we saw each other 10 times a day, each time was always like we were seeing for the first time in months! You would always go out of your way to buy our yams, onions and fish even when you still had your stock because Ike didn’t have! The tears have not stopped flowing!! I was looking forward to having you back in Nigeria at the end of your time in Dubai but it was not to be.

Thank you Anti mi for all you have been to me. The pain is real and the ache is deep. I still do not understand what happened exactly but we take solace in the fact that the Lord whom you loved and served is in absolute control. Anti mi, you were kind, warm, confident in God, full of faith and devoted to your God. You cared about everyone that came across your path and you always gave your best to make a difference in people’s lives. I remember the night before you travelled to Dubai, the four of us shared the hymn IOM 161 – Pelu mi ni bi ti mo nlo, Ko mi lohun temi o se, Sa gbo aro at’oro mi, Ko fese mi le ona Re. We thereafter prayed together in confident assurance that you would return to us.

I am still so confused! We know our God loves us and we surrender all unto Him. Anti mi atata, Orita-Igbala can never be the same without you! I miss your hailing me and calling “Iky”, “Prof”! Cornerstone cannot feel the same without you! We put our hope in God that the future years will be bright in Jesus Name, Amen. Rest in peace in the bosom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Whom you loved and served tirelessly.

Your baby sister,
IkeOluwaLagunju
Professor (Dr) IkeoluwaLagunju