‘Will this pain ever go away?’ – Akeredolu’s wife grieves on late husband’s birthday
By Boye Oyeyemi –
Dr. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, wife of the late Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has once again poured out her heart in grief as she remembers her husband on what would have been his 69th birthday.
In a deeply emotional tribute shared via her Facebook account on Monday , the widow described July 21 as a painful contrast to the day before, when she quietly celebrated her 72nd birthday surrounded by close friends and family.
“Yesterday was my birthday. There was laughter, warmth, and an overwhelming outpouring of love from friends and admirers online,” she wrote. “But today is different. Today is Aketi’s birthday—and I am left staring into the void that his absence has created.”
Dr. Akeredolu, who lost her husband on December 26, 2023, reflected on the emotional weight of his absence, confessing that the grief remains as raw as ever despite the passage of time.
“I have often wondered: Will this pain ever go away? Perhaps not,” she said. “Perhaps we don’t get over such losses—we learn to live with them. We carry them, like a stone in the shoe. We walk with a limp only our hearts can feel.”
The former first lady recounted her nearly five-decade-long journey with the late governor, describing him as her soulmate, confidant, and the father of her children.
“He was more than a husband… He believed in me, and I in him,” she said, as she confessed that even her strong advocacy work and public life could not fully mask the pain she feels in private moments.
Choosing not to speak of healing or moving on, she admitted: “Today, I just want to feel. To grieve. To cry. To whisper ‘Happy Birthday, my love’ into the universe and hope that somehow, somewhere, he hears me.”
