A member of the burial committee for late actress Moji Olaiya, Mrs.
Foluke Daramola-Salako, has said only the family of the deceased can
make public details of the donations and funeral plan for the star
actress.
Speaking with The Nation, Mrs. Daramola-Salako said the funeral details would come out after her body arrives in Nigeria.
Succour, however, came their way on Monday, when the committee
approached All Progressive Congress stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,
who rose to the occasion.
The committee would not say how
much was given to them by Tinubu, saying the family reserves the right
to make the donation public, if they choose.
A source in Tinubu’s
camp also declined to give the exact amount, saying the former Lagos
State governor did not expect the committee to make his donation public
in the first place.
“All I can tell you is that members of the
burial committee for the late actress approached the APC stalwart,
saying they needed help to bring the body of the actress home,
especially on the request of the deceased 18-year-old daughter, and he
gave them some money yesterday (Monday),” said the source.
Reports indicated that the committee had estimated that about USD17,000
would be required to bring the corpse and the baby to Nigeria, being the
amount presented, albeit unofficially, to Ekiti State Governor Ayo
Fayose few days ago.
The late Olaiya was delivered of a baby girl
on March 17 in Ontario, Canada, after which she died from a heart
attack on May 18, at the age of 42.
“Moji is an ambassador of
Nigeria,” said Mrs. Daramola-Salako, who debunked the rumour that the
actress’ body was released a long time ago.
She stated that the body was only released on May 20.
Publicity Secretary of the burial committee, Yomi Fabiyi, in a separate
chat, corroborated Daramola-Salako on the date the corpse was released.
“It was just two or three days ago that the government of Canada
released the body for burial,” Fabiyi said over the phone. “It had been
going through autopsy.”
On how long it would take to begin the
funeral rites, he said: “Like I am told, to get the required papers,
tickets for the baby and the two people accompanying the corps, and all
the necessary Customs and Immigration papers is going to take like one
week.
“I don’t want to speculate because it also depends on the availability of flight and how speedy the process can be,” he said.
Headded that the body of the actress will be accompanied by Yinka
Farinde, a film promoter in Canada. The baby will also be arriving with a
personal nurse.
The committee said more people can still donate
money since the funds being solicited will support the welfare of the
late actress’ family.
The Nation