Ras Kimono’s Step-Son, Also Ali Baba’s Son, Onome Akpobome Reveals Fresh Facts About The Death of His Mom, Efemena Okedi
Fresh facts have emerged about the death of Ras Kimono‘s widow, Efemena Okedi as revealed by the son of the deceased, Onome.
On Sunday, Nigerians were awakened to the rude shock of the news of Efe’s death, barely a month after the burial of her late husband. Family members revealed that prior to her death, just like her late husband’s; Efe was not ill.
In an exclusive interview with NET, Onome Akpobome, 23, the late Efemena Okedi’s son with Nigerian comedian, Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome popularly known as Ali Baba, explained the circumstances that led to his mom’s death.
Onome recounts:
“On Saturday, we went to the beach for my uncle’s birthday. Nothing went wrong until about 2 a.m when she woke us up to change over because PHCN had brought the light, she then went upstairs and started complaining of chest pain. At this point, she started breathing awkwardly.”
On the first aid efforts attempted by the family:
“Her elder sister who is a nurse attended to her and gave her first aid but her breathing was still laboured so we decided to take her to the hospital.”
On hospital management’s negligence:
“First, we went to Blue Cross Hospital at Ogba but the staff we saw were unresponsive. I was shocked to see their unconcerned countenance. When we saw that they were not ready to help us so we left and drove to County Hospital. A doctor saw her there, checked her pulse and said she was still breathing but that they had no facilities to treat her. So he referred us to Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Ikeja. When we got to LASUTH at about 4 am, they also wasted our time for over 40 minutes and by the time they were ready to treat her, she had stopped breathing. The pain is worse for me because none of the three hospitals treated the case as an emergency.”
Recall that recently, Nigeria’s minister of health, Prof. Isaac Adewole was quoted to have said:
“It might sound selfish, but we can’t all be specialists. We can’t. Some will be farmers, some will be politicians. The man who sews my gown is a doctor. He makes the best gown. And some will be specialists, some will be GPs, some will be farmers.”
At this juncture, one begins to wonder about the hope of medical science in a country like Nigeria.
READ ALSO:Mr. Ibu Recounts The Death of His Son At LUTH Due To The Negligence Of Their Staff
Onome made his conclusion about Nigeria already; and it is sad to see that those who are referred to as the future of the country are tired of the same today, so what hope does tomorrow hold where leadership is concerned?
“In fact, I have given up on Nigeria because they all had up to three hours to save my mum, how can over three hospitals in Lagos not have the right facility to treat breathing problems?- None of them even had a stretcher, I am just totally done with this country. It is even worse for me because this also happened last month to my friend who lost her sister due to wrong administration of drugs, how can over three hospitals in Lagos not have the right facility to treat breathing problems. This says a lot about the situation of the Health Sector of Nigeria as a country.”
Onome described his late mom as a very lovely person. He said, “If you are meeting her for the first time, you will definitely get to love her. There is no bad comment about her. She was the kind of person who could connect to a lot of people, who people even find it difficult to connect to. And she was a very strict person.”
Onome, who blamed the lackadaisical attitude of the nurses for the death of his mom, said further, “I would miss her calling me when I go out and had not come back on time, because she was that worried. I would also miss her smile. My mum and I play a lot like friends. In fact, she is my friend. Even on Saturday, the day before her death, I was even dancing for her. At a time I was tired of dancing, but she called me again to dance, and I danced happily. That is how close we are.”
Also, in another exclusive interview, Mabel Okedi, late Efemena’s eldest sister who expressed her grief to New Telegraph described her as a very good person: “I am the first born of the family, and I am the one that trained her. She was such a very good person. She always had the mind to do good, taking care of people. She didn’t like making people sad. She loved making people happy. If you offend her, she would tell you immediately.”
The family said burial arrangement would be announced soon.