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Lagos: World’s Oldest Person Living With Sickle Cell Dies At 94
Alhaja Ashata Onikoyi- Laguda, the world’s oldest person living with sickle cell, is dead. She passed yesterday, Saturday, in Lagos in her sleep. She was aged 94.
A source from the Onikoyi royal family confirmed the death of the legendary woman, who has become a specimen of science wonder to the world, to The ELITES and disclosed that her last moments on earth were pleasurably spent in the caring company of her immediate family.
Her remains will be buried in accordance with Islamic rites today, Sunday, March 1, 2020, at Atan Cemetery, Lagos.
Sickle cell disorder (SCD) is an inherited abnormal haemoglobin (blood) disease that causes severe pains, organ damage and early death. Mama Onikoyi- Laguda was among the rare patients that lived with sickle cell disorder.
Most people her age would have had their children and younger relations fussing over their well-being and spending fortunes on medical bills and other efforts to buoy their ebbing health. Not Mama Onikoyi-Laguda. Till her death, she cut a picture of the ideal grandmother: patient, loving …and healthy.
Her blood pressure hovered around 160/90 (the normal is 120/80), Onikoyi-Laguda was under no dietary restrictions whatsoever. She still relished consuming salt, sugar, fried food and meat, without the least adverse effect on her health.
But Onikoyi-Laguda’s enjoyment of good health was a medical aberration. As a sickle cell sufferer, she was not supposed to live beyond her fifties, at best. Her living up to the ripe age of 94 remains a mystery to most people. And she was believed to be the oldest person living with sickle cell disorder in the world.
Born on November 1, 1925, Onikoyi-Laguda was the second of four children. She was born in the same year as Margaret Thatcher, first female British prime minister; Malcolm X, civil rights activist, and Idi Amin Dada, Ugandan dictator. Her father, AbdulYekeen Ishola Onikoyi, was a prince of the Onikoyi ruling house in Lagos, while her mother, Aishat Alake Onikoyi was from Kudeti, Ibadan in Oyo state. At the time Onikoyi-Laguda was born, the average life expectancy of people living with sickle cell disorder was just five years. Although she had all the symptoms of the condition, she was not diagnosed of the ailment due to the low level of literacy at the time. The pains she suffered during childhood were severe enough to delay her from going to school till she was 12 years old.
Onikoyi-Laguda struggled through primary school, and enrolled at Queens College Lagos, where she met her husband Bolaji Alakija, a medical doctor. He treated her for sickle cell, but she never really told him much about her condition, as it was the culture in those days.
Alakija had 27 children, five with Onikoyi-Laguda and the rest from his nine other wives.
Onikoyi-Laguda refused to allow sickle cell deprive her of an active and fruitful existence. A devout Muslim, she visited Mecca 13 times and performers Lesser Hajj, (Umrah) six times.
When she clocked 88, Onikoyi-Laguda was forced to quit observing Ramadan by her children.
In August 2014, Onikoyi-Laguda lost one of her sons, who died at the age of 59. Even though she accepted what befell her as the will of Allah, she always prayed that her other children would outlive her.
God was faithful in fulfilling her prayer because she never had any cause to mourn any of her children till she died.
Remarkably, Onikoyi-Laguda still read the Bible and Quran till she died yesterday.
Source: The Elites
Controversial singer Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, was on Monday arraigned before the Federal High Court in Ota, Ogun State, over criminal charges including assault and resisting arrest.
Confirming the development to our correspondent, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Oluseyi Babaseyi, said Portable was arrested and arraigned in Ota on Monday.
“Yes, he was arraigned and remanded yesterday,” Babaseyi said on Tuesday.
Portable’s arraignment followed a viral video that surfaced on Sunday showing him in handcuffs, shirtless and tearfully pleading while seated on a couch in what appeared to be a police holding area.
His arrest reportedly followed allegations of assault against actress and skit maker Omobolarinde Akinyanju, better known as Ashabi Simple, who is one of the musician’s baby mamas and the mother of one of his children.
In court, Vanguard reported that the prosecution alleged that the Zazu crooner attacked Ashabi, alongside some police officers and other individuals, at his bar in the Iyana Ilogbo area on New Year’s Day.
Other alleged victims named in the charge sheet include Ileyemi Damilola, Akinyanju Oluwabusayomi, Olowu Olumide, Demilade Ogunniyi and Ebuka Odah.
The prosecution further alleged that Portable stole a Mercedes-Benz E300 valued at ₦12 million, belonging to Ileyemi Damilola and associated with car dealer Wally Dex Auto.
During the proceedings, two siblings of Ashabi Simple testified as witnesses to the alleged assault, although Ashabi herself was absent from court.
Police also alleged that the singer obstructed and assaulted a female police inspector, Ogungbe Olayemi, while she was performing her official duties.
The presiding judge declined to grant the singer bail, citing the absence of the allegedly assaulted police officer in court.
The judge ruled that the officer must be present before a decision on the bail application could be made and consequently remanded Portable in custody, adjourning the bail hearing to January 19.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Police Command has ordered an investigation into a separate viral video allegedly showing the singer being assaulted while in custody.
The United States has delivered military supplies to Nigerian security agencies in support of ongoing operations in the country.
The United States Africa Command, AFRICOM, announced the delivery in a post on X on Tuesday.
“US forces delivered critical military supplies to our Nigerian partners in Abuja. This delivery supports Nigeria’s ongoing operations and emphasizes our shared security partnership,” AFRICOM said on X.
Nigeria in recent times has faced an upsurge of insecurity, with hundreds being kidnapped.
US forces launched airstrikes on terrorist enclaves in North-West Nigeria on Christmas Day.
Chief (Mrs.) Lucia Onabowale Onabanjo, the widow of Ogun State’s first civilian governor, Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, has passed away at the age of 100.
Her passing was announced by her daughter, Ms Olubukunola Onabanjo, on Tuesday.
According to Ms Onabanjo, the matriarch of the Onabanjo dynasty died at the age of 100.
She said in a statement: “The family of Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, former Governor of Ogun State, announces with deep sorrow, yet with gratitude to Almighty God, the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
“Chief (Mrs) Lucia Onabowale Onabanjo (1925–2026) was called to glory on Monday, January 11.
“We thank God for her long and fulfilled life, and for the enduring legacy of love, strength and faith she leaves behind.
“May her soul rest in perfect peace.”
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