Akerele: Dirge for an arts lover who promoted Shakespeare’s plays

SONGS, poetry recitations, tributes summed up the day when widows in Ose community in Ondo State, gathered to honour the late Mr Dele Akerele, an arts lover and humanist who just transited to the great beyond.

The late Akerele, alongside his wife, Ms Olayemi Olapeju Akerele, was instrumental to the staging of several of William Shakespeare’s plays in Lagos, Akure and Owo, his hometown, in Ondo State, for young children in order to mould their characters.

Akerele, who died on September 11, at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Osun State, believed that Shakespeare’s plays could re-orientate the youth, and inculcate in them love for their fatherland.

The deceased, who died at 64, and whose funeral service will take place on Thursday, October 5, at The Cathedral Church of St. Andrew, Owo, Ondo State, was also a philanthropist, who had at one time or the other, assisted members of his community, especially widows.

It was, therefore, not a surprise that widows from Ose community in the state, gathered at his residence in Owo, to honour him with a day of songs.

Some of the songs highlighted the brevity of life, love for fellow mankind, life after death, among others, which made the event somber.

One of the elegiac poems entitled, Dele Akerele: March through 9/11, composed by his wife, was also dedicated to Oluwasefunmi, the couple’s daughter, who transited into greater glory in 2008.

In her tribute, the leader of the widows, Mrs Grace Asawo, from Idoani, lamented the death of the late Akerele, who had used his resources to assist the less-privileged on several occasions.

“That many people have been visiting his residence to commiserate with the family since his passage is not a surprise because of who he was.”

Robert S. Arnold’s song, No Tears, was used by the representative of the Olapeju Foundation, Mrs Nike Brereton, to remind mourners that those who have departed have only gone on to a higher and better place.

One of those who benefitted from watching several of the plays staged by the couple, Olu Isaiah, admitted that the performances helped him in his Literature examinations in school, saying he was able to grasp the Shakespeare’s plays better on stage than through reading the texts.

“The deceased contributed in no small measure to many people, particularly young people, understanding our responsibilities to the society through the plays he organised free of charge.”

While thanking the organisers of the event, the wife of the deceased, Ms Akerele, lamented his death, following that of their daughter in 2008.

“When one experienced double tragedies within a few years; losing a young child and losing her father, one feels a responsibility to finish the legacy of that young child, rather than letting the experience weigh one down for life.

“My feelings of loss can only be replaced by the pleasant memories of blessings and prayers I have received from everybody.  And according to a popular saying, it is not what we have in life that matters, but who we have in our lives that cares for us to the end.”