Two weeks after the matriarch of the Adebutu family, Dame Caroline Oladunni Adebutu passed on at the age of 83, Oladipupo Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorshipl candidate in Ogun State, decided to give his mother a befitting burial that spanned four days.
As the first child in the Adebutu family, the 60-year-old alongside his wealthy business magnate father, Sir Kessington Adebutu, pulled out all the stops to bid her a final farewell. The funeral activities started with a service of songs on the first day. The solemn ceremony which took place at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos had in attendance, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; former Ogun State governor, Segun Osoba; Chief Razak Okoya etc. The following day, a commendation service for the deceased was held at Hoare’s Memorial Methodist Cathedral church, Lagos. Thereafter, her remains were moved to Iperu Remo, Ogun State where a Christian Wake was held in her honour at the palatial home of her husband.
The grand finale of the event came up the next day, February 10. The day started with a burial service at the Wesley Methodist Cathedral, Iperu, Ogun State. This was followed by a private interment and then a grand reception party that had the who is who in Nigeria’s political, business and social sphere in attendance.
Dame Caroline was married to her husband for over 55 years. She began her working career at the Board of Customs and Excise in Lagos, briefly before proceeding on a vocational training course at the Federal Training Centre, Broad Street, Lagos. After completing the programme, she returned to the board of Customs and Excise again and worked for a little while until January I963 when she travelled to the UK to study at the Pitmas College for a one-year programme in Secretarial Administration.
On her return to Nigeria, she was posted to the Ministry of Health from where she was seconded to the Board of Customs in 1967. She eventually left the service in 1971 on the request of her husband who wanted her to be a full-time housewife. A year before her death, Sir Adebutu lost his second wife, Rosemary, to complications from COVID-19. The 86-year-old is now left with his third and youngest wife, 45-year-old Temitope Kofoworola.
