Dr Olukemi Adamolekun
She trained first as a nurse and midwife, then earned degrees in Psychology, Guidance and Counselling, and Social Work. Her education and professional experiences ultimately led her to devote herself to the welfare of vulnerable people, particularly the elderly. In 2000, Adamolekun founded Kaleyewa House to help elderly Nigerians age with dignity — the name itself a Yoruba prayer for an evening (old age) better than one’s morning (early years).
Some lives end, but their impact endures, speaking through the people, institutions and values they leave behind. Dr (Mrs) Olukemi Celina Adamolekun (née Ajayi) was one such remarkable woman whose life continues to inspire long after her passing.
On Friday, 17th July, I travelled to Iju in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State less as a guest than as a witness — one Fiwasaye old girl sent to see what one of our own had built. It was Dr Adamolekun’s posthumous 80th birthday party, and what I met was not a memorial service, but a party in the fullest sense: food, music, laughter, old friends finding each other in the crowd. Over three hundred guests filled the hall, most of them elders from Iju and neighbouring Itaogbolu, each there because of a woman who wanted to ensure they would not grow old alone.
