Madam Musiliat Akinyele hails from Ikire town, located in Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State. She was born in 1926 in Ikire town.
Going down memory lane, the nonagenarian said life was so easy as goods and services were very cheap and affordable when she was much younger.
She said, “Life was easy then and things were very cheap, with toro (the penny coin spent in Nigeria during the her younger days), you can buy a lot of things.But unfortunately, this is no longer so. Nowadays, our currency value has depreciated drastically.”
Madam Akinyele also said that during her heyday as a young lady, parents usually match-made their children, adding that this was common, especially between two family friends.
“If your father had a friend and his friend gave birth to a son, he could tell his friend that he wanted his son to marry his friend’s daughter and he would not decline the request. Rather, he would support the idea,” she said.
But Madam Akinyele’s case was quite different because she was not match-made but allowed to marry the man after her heart.
“My husband’s friend was like a brother to me. So, my husband told him that he loved me and wanted to marry me and I agreed because I also loved him,” she said. The 90-year-old woman stressed that she had no regret getting married to her husband because they loved each other and they had a happy home.
“I was helping my mum to hawk clothes before I met my husband, I usually traveled to Ibadan to buy clothes then and sell daily.
“After I got married, I was farming but when I started raising children, I stopped going to farm and selling clothes. I started my own petty trading. It was my brother-in-law who helped me to rent a shop, then”. She added.
Comparing the performance of the government and the governed then to what obtained nowadays, she expressed her disappointment over the way things had changed negatively,especially regarding the conduct of elections in the country.
“The government we had then was different from the one we have now. During Awolowo’s time, for instance, citizens could go to polling centres to cast their votes without any fear of being attacked because there was peace. And during that time, elections were conducted in a peaceful way.
“People come to polling centers to vote and return to their homes, peacefully, without violence,” she added.
The nonagenarian, therefore, advised today’s youths to shun violence and eschew thuggery during elections. “Youths are violent because of the bad gangs they mix with; they will even refuse to vote unless they are bribed by political parties.
“They should stop it, because that is why the elected political office holders have refused to perform in office and this has resulted in lack of basic amenities for people, because they paid some people before they could get to office.
“They should do the right thing by voting for the candidates of their choice, because it’s their right,” Madam Akinyele said.
