A member of the burial committee for late actress Moji Olaiya, Foluke Daramola-Salako, has said that details of the funeral service for the star actress will be made public, only by her family.
Speaking with The Nation, Daramola-Salako said the funeral details would come out after her body returns to Nigeria.
It had been a dilemma for the family of the deceased, on how to convey the body of the actress to Nigeria.
Succor however came their way on Monday, when the committee approached All Progressive Congress stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who rose to the occasion.
The committee would not disclose how much was given to them by Tinubu, saying the family reserves the right to make the donation public if they choose.
When contacted, a source in Tinubu’s camp also declined to give the exact amount, saying that the former Lagos State governor did not expect the committee to make his donation public in the first place.
“All I can tell you is that members of the burial committee for the late actress approached the APC stalwart, saying they needed help to bring the body of the actress home, especially on the request of the deceased 18-year-old daughter, and he gave them some money yesterday (Monday),” said the source.
Reports say the committee had estimated that about USD17, 000 would be required to bring the corpse and the baby to Nigeria, being the amount presented, albeit unofficially, to the Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, few days ago.
The late Olaiya was delivered of a baby girl on March 17 in Ontario, Canada, after which she died from a heart attack on May 18, at the age of 42.
“Moji is an ambassador of Nigeria,” said Daramola-Salako who debunked the rumour that the actress’ corpse was released a long time ago, stating that it was only released on May 20, 2017.
Publicity Secretary of the burial committee, Yomi Fabiyi, in a separate chat, corroborated Daramola-Salako on the date the corpse was released.
“It was just two or three days ago that the government of Canada released the body for burial,” Fabiyi said over the phone. “It had been going through autopsy.”
On how long it would take to commence the funeral rites, he said: “Like I am told, to get the required papers, tickets for the baby and the two people accompanying the corps, and all the necessary Customs and Immigration papers is going to take like one week,” he said, adding that, “I don’t want to speculate because it also depends on the availability of flight and how speedy the process can be.”
Daramola-Salako disclosed that the remains of the actress will be accompanied by Yinka Farinde, a film promoter in Canada, while the baby will also be arriving with a personal nurse.
She said the committee is still open to more voluntary donations from people, as the funds being solicited is also meant to support the welfare of the late actress’ family.
“The committee, on behalf of the other colleagues looked into giving the children some kind of support where possible, and to support the aged mother if we have excess funds. So, it’s a moral position. We can’t bury her and go like that.”
On the risk of the deceased’s baby losing her Canadian citizenship if returned suddenly, they said arrangements will be made with the actress’ family to take care of that.
