RECENTLY, women gathered at Aisegba, Ijesa-Isu and Agbado-Ekiti in Ekiti State to honour the late arts and fashion enthusiast, Olori Funke Odunlade, with songs and dances.
Odunlade, during her lifetime, supported fashion and arts by empowering the people, especially women in Ekiti communities to build their economic capacities through arts.
She was at the forefront of efforts to get widows and unemployed women economically independent by training them in traditional hand cloth weaving, popularly known as aso-oke.
The deceased was also a woman of many hats, as she was once the chairman of Gbonyin Local Government Area, as well as a humanist par excellence, who cares about the development of others.
Through her endeavours, Odunlade was a patron of the World Environment Day Eco Fashion Week alongside a wife of the Ooni of Ife, Olori Aderonke Ademiluyi Ogunwusi, where she played significant roles in the promotion of the Nigerian traditional weaving industry (aso-oke).
Olori Odunlade, who in the 60s won a beauty queen contest twice, died in Lagos on Sunday, May, 5 2024.
Apart from her arts/aso-oke endeavours, she accomplished several community projects in Gbonyin Local Government, including the renovation of the maternity home in Aisegba-Ekiti as part of her community-based care to improve maternal, newborn and child health when she was the chairman of the council.
The deceased, who was aged 73, and whose funeral will hold tomorrow, Thursday, July 25,, at St. Micheal Anglican Church Ikoro Ekiti, Ekiti State, also empowered widows and assisted indigent students to pay their tuition in Nigeria and abroad.
So it was in appreciation of her philanthropic gestures in Gbonyin council area that made well-wishers from all over Ekiti State join Mr Omotayo Popoola and other family members to celebrate her impactful life.
Royal praises were rendered by Ijesa-Isu, Aisegba and Agbado Ekiti communities for the deceased,, led by wife of the Baale Areta of Ijesa-Isu, Chief (Mrs) Busola Popoola, alongside Mrs Iyadunni Omojola and Olori Mojisola Akingbade.
Several people, comprising widows, aso-oke cloth weavers and former indigent students who she empowered and supported also converged to pay homage to her.
While thanking all the people who participated in the traditional dancing events, nephew of the deceased, Mr Olaniyi Olapeju, who represented Prince Ademuyiwa Ademola Odunlade, described Olori
Odunlade as someone who cared about others, thus the reason she equipped many widows with the aso-oke skill.
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