•City People Reveals The Inside Story
Life they say, life is not fair, it is only a mystery. This was what happened when former beauty queen and wife of popular pastor, Ituah Ighodalo died prompting shock and sadness in the country.
Pastor Ibidunni Ituah-Ighodalo died in the early hours of Sunday morning in Port Harcourt, June 14 few weeks before her 40th birthday. The cause of the death was cardiac arrest, according to the family. Ibidun was due to celebrate her 40th birthday next month and had been travelling across the country for many weeks to build isolation centers for coronavirus patients. It was indeed a shocking moment when news filtered into town that she lost the battle to death 2am early Sunday morning. Her husband described receiving the news of her death as “the call that shattered his life.” In his words, “A lot of you know that I really shouldn’t be here,” he said during a funeral service he officiated on same Sunday morning. “At 2 0’clock this morning, I received a call that shattered my life… Life is a deep mystery, there’s no human being, no matter how wise they are who can say they understand life… Let us accept the mystery of life. We don’t have any control of most things in life…” he said”.
For days, Ibidun’s death has caused many uproar in different sectors of the society as many who have come in contact with her have many unforgettable moments they have shared. In the event business, Ibidun is one of the pioneers and professionals who have carved a niche for herself as a seasoned event planner and decorator. Even in the Christendom, she was described as a loving and passionate soul who loves to put smiles on everyone’s face. Since her demise, torrents of tributes have been pouring in from all corners, leading the pack was President Buhari who commiserated with her husband and the family as well as many other dignitaries, men of God, friends, families and her loved ones.
Ibidun’s death is one too many because death took her away at her prime. One amazing thing about Ibiduns life is that she lived a very good and purposeful life. She had many dreams to fulfill and she had already laid all her plans down. How she spent her last few days before she died was like a she had a premonition about her death, she did many surprising things and it looks like she was biding the earth farewell.
How did Ibidun spend her last few days? They were events which can not be forgotten. When she was leaving for Port Harcourt before that fateful Sunday morning, she did a special video where she was seen hugging and kissing her husband whom she fondly calls popino, telling him it was hard to say goodbye,’ she wrote on the video, Always so hard to say goodbye to my Popino….Love you too much, baby….See you soon”.
The caption suggests that the video was shot before Ibidunni embarked on the journey to Port Harcourt. Few days before her death, she was at her close older friend, Bola Okolie, the CEO of Bonix drinks 50th birthday where she was seen in a supportive mode as she made sure her friend had a beautiful 50th birthday celebration. She was also at the event fair at Lekki organised by her sector where she was seen at many fair stands with her friends. They never knew that would be the last time they will be seeing her. In fact we gathered her close friend, Bola was meant to go with her on that trip to Port Harcourt.
Another incident before her death was when she shared a video on Instagram which showed her at her late father’s graveyard. According to Ibidun Ighodalo, she was missing her late father and so she had to visit his graveyard. She wrote: “Miss my dad.
“When I went to visit daddy’s burial ground, the graveyards were not organized, getting there was daunting and no space, people buried on people. Please take time out to visit your loved ones and say a prayer. I was so emotional.
“I went to visit my aunty as she also wanted to visit her brother’s graveside. They were inseparable. As elderly as she was she insisted on going to visit their loved one him with me. On getting there, there were quite a number of impediments and overgrown grasses which would have discouraged anyone from going to visit their loved one. But she persevered. It was such an emotional visit and I’m so glad we could go. Make sure you take time to visit loved ones and make them feel loved and cherished always even in death. Clean their grave always, regularly and say a prayer thank you @akanke83 for looking after me #imissmydad #wishyouwerehere”. Ibidun has always been full of love and has a special bond for her parents especially her dad, because she is the only daughter. Prior to this, four years back she also remembered the 20th anniversary of her father’s death. She posted a photo of her ‘first love’ Olaleye Ajayi who is her dad and wrote:
“20 years without hearing your voice. 20 years without your warmth 20 years without your cuddles and hugs
20 years without that charming smile
In the past 2 decades I have held on to memories we shared and they have become my priceless treasures. My first love, my knight in shining armour, my hero, to say I miss you everyday is definitely an understatement. In life, you were my inspiration and in death, you inspire me even more. There’s no one who misses you more than me Dad. Continue to rest in perfect peace.” Ibidun’s dad died 24 years ago when she was only 16. This was how awesome Ibidun spent her last hours touching lives.
The ex-beauty queen and maiden Face of Lux is an international award-winning event planner who owns the Dorchester by Elizabeth R, a four thousand seater event arcade on the Island. Delectable Ibidun also handled most of top society notch events in a career spanning over a decade. She founded Elizabeth R in 2003 as a public relations and events company. She is the founder of Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation which provides grants for women to pay for IVF treatments and helped reduce the stigma around IVF in Nigeria. She got married in 2007 in a private and classy wedding to Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, the Senior Pastor of Trinity House Church, Victoria Island. The mother of two, Keke and Zenan recently celebrated her 13th year wedding anniversary with her husband last February. She is from Ibadan and comes from the popular Ajayi family. She spent her early school years in Ibadan and studied Microbiology at the University of Lagos. She was born on July 19th 1980. Planned to mark her next birthday which she will turn 40th before her untimely death. She has a mum who turned 68 last year, 2 younger brothers, Dare and Tayo Ajayi.
-TAYO FAJORIN OYEDIJI
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