• ‘He taught me how to sew buttons’
The first daughter of the late former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Agagu, Mrs. Solape Hammond, yesterday reflected on her father’s life.
She said his foray into partisan politics was “very difficult for the family” because it robbed it of its privacy.
In an exclusive interview with The Nation at the late Agagu’s Bodija home in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Mrs. Hammond said no member of the family wanted their patriarch to go into politics but it was difficult to stop him from doing so, given his passion for the well-being of his people.
She said though her father never sought publicity, his activities brought him to the limelight, particularly his geological surveys as a lecturer at the University of Ibadan (UI).
Mrs. Hammond said at that time, her mother used to cook for over 30 people daily, stressing that there were never less than 10 people in the house at any point in time.
She said children of friends living abroad and extended family members were living in their home.
Mrs. Hammond said her father taught in three universities at the time because of his passion for working and caring for others.
Despite his several engagements, she described her father as a devoted family man, who always created time for his family.
Mrs. Hammond said: “He was a great man, an inspiration to many and a selfless worker, who was passionate about his country and people. He loved his country and people and sought to do good every day.
“He sat with me to check my results up to the university. He checked the courses I registered for every year and we planned my career together. He used to call it our career. Despite his tight schedule, he taught me how to sew buttons and remove stains from a white shirt. That was the kind of father he was.”
She said her father taught them how to sail through difficult situations, adding that he lived through many of such.
Mrs. Hammond said: “There is no situation in life that he has not given me advice on or that I have not seen him live through. Is it disappointment, betrayal by people or people not appreciating what you are doing? He would just smile and remind us that Jesus was betrayed.”
On what she wishes her father should have done differently, she said: “I wish he did not go into politics because we are very private people. But he was passionate about his people. We are getting a lot of accolades now but it was not like that at the time. That is something I wish he did not go through.”
Mrs. Hammond described the loss of their privacy as the sacrifice the family made for their patriarch.
She said she wished her father lived longer, so that she could return his love.
Agagu died on September 13 at 65.
