What Moji Olaiya told me before she died – Mum, Bosede opens up a year after

The news of the death of popular Nollywood actress, Moji Olaiya, about a year ago, came as a rude shock to everybody. The delectable actress died two months after child delivery in Canada.

The actress is survived by her siblings, aged mother and two daughters.

Her mum, Mrs. Abosede Olaiya recently opened up in an interview with Biodun Alao on how she has been coping and taking care of the deceased daughters after one year of her untimely death.

It’s been one year since you lost your daughter. How have you been coping since she died?

I give Almighty God the glory, for his grace, mercy, favour and blessing upon my life, he has been there for me. If not for God, I don’t know what I would have been saying now. A righteous and faithful God, his mercies endureth forever. After God Almighty, I will like to say a very big thank you to His Excellency, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I am indeed grateful for everything. Affliction will not rise in his home, he will never have cause to weep over any of his children, he will live to eat the fruits of his labour. My God will grant him longlife. I will also like to use this opportunity to say a big thank you to all my late daughter’s colleagues, friends, home and abroad.

They all stood by me and I will forever be grateful to all of them, may Almighty God bless them immensely. Also to all the Olaiya’s family, my siblings, friends, family members, Moji’s friends in America and Canada, even the ones I don’t know in person but they still took out time to call and check on us. I am grateful to everyone of them. I pray affliction will not rise in their homes.

In the entertainment industry, such will never happen again. I am grateful to Moji’s siblings especially the step ones, and Redeemed Church for standing by me.

How has the last one year been for you?

Honestly, it hasn’t been easy, it’s been God. When you have God, you have eveything, he has been my help. I have been standing on his words and he has never let me down. Whatever that has happened has happened, if I decide to hit myself on the ground and keep crying and thinking, it won’t change anything that has happened. It can’t bring my daughter back to life, so I have been putting all my hope and trust on God Almighty and thank God, we have been surviving.

You have her daughters in your care, how have you been able to take care of them?

My first grand daughter Adun is in Babcock University the last ime, she resumed school after her mother’s death, I paid 1 million naira, she will be starting her final year in August and that will require lots of money, I don’t even have an idea of how much I will be paying this time around but when it is time. It will be pasted on their platform. I know God has been faithful and he won’t let us down this time around.

With all these bills and expenses, how do you source for funds?

With the help and mercy of God Almighty and some people that have been there for us, we have been surviving, and that is the way I have been able to pay bills and take care of other issues and also pay school fees.

What position was the late Moji Olaiya in the family?

She was from a large family from the father’s side. She was the last daughter from her father’s children and they are all five in number.

What will you say you have missed most about her?

Honestly, I miss everything about her, I can’t count how many times I have made reference to her while talking, am always like, supposing she was still alive she would have done this and that. Life has not been easy without her around but I thank God for his grace upon my life. I miss her so much!!

(She breaks into tears!!!)

Mummy please try and put yourself together?

I can’t help but think all the time, but in all I give God Almighty the glory. God has been faithful. As you can see, the daughters are very fine, I have been getting help from people, I can’t even start mentioning names, I give God Almighty the glory.

So what do you do personally?

Initially, I had a shop in Gbagada, but at a point I moved in with her and due to that, I couldn’t continue with the business, because each time she goes to location, I am always at home to help take care of her daughter and the home too. She also had a shop before her death and I have been trying to continue with the business, but it requires, stocking the shop with goods and I don’t have capital to do that, so I am just praying and hoping that I see help, so I can continue with the business, but for now, it is just there, and I am not doing anything.

Before the late actress died, she remarried, so in all these, what has been the husband’s position?

No, she never remarried, she was married before and she was Mrs. Okesola, but afterwards, she never remarried.

What about the father of the little baby?

Oh, okay, you mean Moropeda’s father, yes. You know things like that happens, the only thing I can say is that, he is taking good care of his daughter.

What are the challenges, you will say, you have been faced with so far?

Like I said earlier, it has not been easy at all, tribulation and challenges will surely come in different angles but I give God Almighty the glory, because we always overcome. God is faithful.

Would you say the late Moji Olaiya was the bread winner of the family?

No, she was not, she was just responsible for me and her daughers, not the entire family. Moji cherished her daughter Adun so much. She told me about the plans she had for her before her untimely death, that immediately Adun graduates, she was going to buy her a car, and make sure she goes for her master’s programme abroad, she cherished her so much. The second daughter was handed over to me, when she was just 2 months old, as you can see, she is looking so healthy and beautiful, I give God all the glory.

What would you say are the late actress’s unfulfilled dreams?

Her major dream in life was to send Adun abroad for her masters, after her graduation from the University, not knowing that man proposes God disposes. I thank God. I strongly believe that, that dream will be fulfilled in Adun’s life.

Do you feel bad at times, that you and her daughters are not getting all the help you need, despite the fact that your daughter knew lots of influential people in the society before her death?

Yes, my daughter knew lots of influential people in the society. Most times, I used to sit down and wonder why we are not getting the required help we need from people, considering the kind of people my late daughter knew, because, I know very well, that if this had happened to someone else, I am very sure, Moji would have rallied round to see that the family is being taken care of with the kind of people she knew.

Her kids are not supposed to be lacking in anything, but in all I still give God Almighty the glory and praise. Though I remembered His Excellency Ahmed Bola Tinubu said Adun should be brought back to him, initially when the incident happened and they visited him, but we have not been able to do that because he is an extremely busy person. Honestly, I can’t thank him enough for his kindness and support, he spent a fortune concerning the burial, may he live to enjoy the fruit of his labour and may he take Nigeria to a greater height.

What is your heart desires right now?

My only desire right now is for Adun to finish her University, go for her master’s programme and with the help of good people of Nigeria, she will get a good job, at least, if she is okay, she will be able to take care of her younger sister and her grandmother as well.

I will be clocking 64 years soon, if only I can get some help, then with capital, I can start putting goods in the shop and I won’t be idle as well.

Do you have any message for your late daughter’s colleagues in the Yoruba movie industry?

I will urge them to keep praying and draw closer to God, Moji was prayerful, it was just destined to happen that way. May God continue to bless and protect them, and no evil will befall them again. I am grateful to everyone of them, especially Yomi Fabiyi, he really stood by us, rallied round to see that everything went well during the burial. I am also grateful to the media, may Almighty God bless them greatly, then also Seye Kehinde, he will live to eat the fruit of his labour and no evil shall befall him in Jesus name. Amen.

Why was nothing done to remember the actress a year after her death?

What really happened was that we planned to cook and give to Muslims fasting for the 1st year remembrance, since it fell in the Ramadan period. We already bought things, it fell on a Thursday, it was people that wanted to go and buy cow to do the cooking for the remembrance that brought the news of Aisha Abimbola’s death, and that changed all the plans, but not withstanding Alfas came, prayers were held for her, then her daughters went to her graveyard to drop flowers and offered prayers. Later in the day, friends and family came, Foluke Daramola was also here, so little preparation was still made. May Almighty God grant Aisha Abimbola eternal rest. Affliction will not rise again, the young will not die again in the industry. We couldn’t do anything elaborate because of the news of Aisha’s death. She was more or less like a daughter to me, she once lived with us for 5 years.