Prologue:
I met Princess Comfort Olufunke Ponnle and her husband, Prince Tunde Ponnle in the early 1980s. I was in their large mansion to interview for the renting of an apartment in one of their blocks of apartments. As soon as she heard my last name, Princess Ponnle exclaimed in her usual pleasant manner, “Hey, there is an Olawole’s compound in Igbajo…are you from there?”
When I nodded in affirmation and tried to explain how I got roots in the town, she interrupted with another exclamation, “Listen…I’m now your aunty, is that clear?” At the same time, the princess gestured toward me while talking to her smiling husband, “Tunde…for your information, this is my nephew…”
Speechless by her gregarious, ebullient attitude to life, I simply nodded with a smile. And that was the end of the interview. In subsequent days upon my movement into the rented apartment, the princess met my father and promptly told the amused old man that she had adopted him as her father.
I immediately became an informal member of the Ponnle’s family and the princess made sure to educate me at every point about life, wealth, humility, values and philosophy. She was never tired of telling me stories. The Ponnles rose from humble backgrounds, struggled to attend college in the United Kingdom and both returned to Nigeria as electrical engineers.
After a stint with Adebowale Electrical Industries, the couple founded MicCom Cables and Wires Limited which, by dint of hard work, was later turned into the first indigenous cable manufacturer in Africa. Some years later, the couple also built MicCom Golf Hotels and Resorts in their ancestral home land of Ada, Osun State.
When the husband and wife built their very first blocks of apartment, they resolved never to be typical Lagos landlords. Firstly, they avoided the “middleman” problem by refusing to employ “care-takers”. This way, they were able to make things very easy (sometimes too easy) for their tenants. It was their policy never to collect more than a month’s rent from every new tenant. And they never collected “Agreement fees” (security deposit).
There was a day my dear aunty came to drag me from my apartment so that I could accompany her on her rent-collection rounds. At the end of the exercise we could only collect rents from a couple of tenants. This was so because it was late in December and many of the tenants pleaded that they were broke due to “Christmas expenses.”
I could barely contain my anger at such recklessness and audacity. But the princess patted me on the shoulder to say “Femi, relax…we need to show understanding in situations like this…it’s not easy for some people.”
Really? I told her that I already made provisions for rents in spite of the holiday and wondered why others could not do the same. But trust her she turned the whole matter into a joke, saying I was a bachelor with no responsibility except to have fun.
And talking of my bachelor status, if anyone made my life pretty difficult over marriage issue, Princess Ponnle did. “Femi, don’t you know that each one of these young women will find a way to trap you with a pregnancy? Look at you…a rich, young banker living in a fully-furnished 3-bedroom apartment. Why don’t you just pick a good young woman out of the whole lot to marry?”
When I protested against her use of the phrase, “a whole lot”, she insisted that there was always a different woman in my apartment each time she came by to collect rents. “Listen young man, don’t go smelling what you don’t really feel like eating…it’s risky and it’s not worth it.”
Again, I defended myself by saying it was simply a recycle of the same women. She shook her head sadly and declared “Look here…I give you one month to pick one of the young women that you consider good enough for marriage and bring her to us at home to introduce her, is that clear?” Of course, I could only nod my head soberly.
And when I finally took my choice to the couple, it was like I just did them a great favor as both husband and wife got up to celebrate excitedly. My dear aunty now turned to my fiancée and boldly stated “my dear sister, did Femi tell you he has an old father?”
When my fiancee nodded her head, Princess Ponnle declared “Well…if you will marry him, you’ll please have to accept his father…okay?” And she did not even wait for an answer before she went on to remind the now amused, smiling lady that “I know many of you young women of nowadays are trying to change things due to your very high education but our culture is superior to all that education…we African women don’t come between a man and his family…we accept his parents and siblings.
Fortunately, the two ladies hit it off great in spite of that strong first encounter.
A few days after our wedding, the couple hosted a dinner in our honor. And it was during the dinner that we both got invited to a private room for discussion. Among other things, the couple advised us on life planning and to start thinking of getting a plot of land for the construction of our own home. That was the day we officially named them as our marriage mentors.
The Ponnles were an interesting couple. I remember visiting them one day and saw their kids (who were just kids back then) as they drank garri (cassava flakes). Stunned, I asked how and why the kids of such multi-millionaires would be taking such cheap stuff for lunch. It was my aunty that answered. “Femi, this is one of the ways to teach kids something about values…look at my bowl and that of my husband, it’s the same stuff we are taking for lunch….or do you see 'jollof' rice in my own bowl?”
Still talking of values and several years later, I stopped by their corporate building one day to say hello while on a business outing for my employers (NAL Merchant Bank) and discovered that one of their daughters was acting as her secretary. When I asked what was going on, she explained that whenever the kids were on school vacations, they were made to work in the company. “No kid of mine will loiter at home or wander aimlessly all over the town while I work…”
Epilogue:
On October 1, 2012, when I logged-on to my Facebook page, I got a surprise inbox mail from the wonderful couple:
How are you FEMI? We are very happy to contact you after a long time. We hope that all is well with you! May GOD bless your lovely family amen IJN. - This massage is from Tunde & Olu Ponnle.
A few hours later, I got another in-boxed note, this time, a longer one from the princess in which, once again, she prayed for my family and thanked God for the opportunity that made our paths crossed. It was very emotional.
When I got each of these messages, I was elated to hear from the great couple after such a long time. But somehow, I felt something ominous about the second note from her but I just could not explain the omen.
It was only this morning that its meaning dawned on me. I was terribly stunned to hear about the transition into glory of my dear aunty, Princess Comfort Olufunke Ponnle. The sad event took place yesterday, Tuesday October 30, 2012.
Unknown to me, the hapless lady was on her sick-bed in London when the Facebook messages were sent. I found it very emotional, totally humbled and absolutely altruistic on her part, that even while on her sick-bed and about to die, she still thought of me and my family.
May the good Lord God almighty repose the gentle soul of this wonderful lady and console her equally great husband and children.
I met Princess Comfort Olufunke Ponnle and her husband, Prince Tunde Ponnle in the early 1980s. I was in their large mansion to interview for the renting of an apartment in one of their blocks of apartments. As soon as she heard my last name, Princess Ponnle exclaimed in her usual pleasant manner, “Hey, there is an Olawole’s compound in Igbajo…are you from there?”
When I nodded in affirmation and tried to explain how I got roots in the town, she interrupted with another exclamation, “Listen…I’m now your aunty, is that clear?” At the same time, the princess gestured toward me while talking to her smiling husband, “Tunde…for your information, this is my nephew…”
Speechless by her gregarious, ebullient attitude to life, I simply nodded with a smile. And that was the end of the interview. In subsequent days upon my movement into the rented apartment, the princess met my father and promptly told the amused old man that she had adopted him as her father.
I immediately became an informal member of the Ponnle’s family and the princess made sure to educate me at every point about life, wealth, humility, values and philosophy. She was never tired of telling me stories. The Ponnles rose from humble backgrounds, struggled to attend college in the United Kingdom and both returned to Nigeria as electrical engineers.
After a stint with Adebowale Electrical Industries, the couple founded MicCom Cables and Wires Limited which, by dint of hard work, was later turned into the first indigenous cable manufacturer in Africa. Some years later, the couple also built MicCom Golf Hotels and Resorts in their ancestral home land of Ada, Osun State.
When the husband and wife built their very first blocks of apartment, they resolved never to be typical Lagos landlords. Firstly, they avoided the “middleman” problem by refusing to employ “care-takers”. This way, they were able to make things very easy (sometimes too easy) for their tenants. It was their policy never to collect more than a month’s rent from every new tenant. And they never collected “Agreement fees” (security deposit).
There was a day my dear aunty came to drag me from my apartment so that I could accompany her on her rent-collection rounds. At the end of the exercise we could only collect rents from a couple of tenants. This was so because it was late in December and many of the tenants pleaded that they were broke due to “Christmas expenses.”
I could barely contain my anger at such recklessness and audacity. But the princess patted me on the shoulder to say “Femi, relax…we need to show understanding in situations like this…it’s not easy for some people.”
Really? I told her that I already made provisions for rents in spite of the holiday and wondered why others could not do the same. But trust her she turned the whole matter into a joke, saying I was a bachelor with no responsibility except to have fun.
And talking of my bachelor status, if anyone made my life pretty difficult over marriage issue, Princess Ponnle did. “Femi, don’t you know that each one of these young women will find a way to trap you with a pregnancy? Look at you…a rich, young banker living in a fully-furnished 3-bedroom apartment. Why don’t you just pick a good young woman out of the whole lot to marry?”
When I protested against her use of the phrase, “a whole lot”, she insisted that there was always a different woman in my apartment each time she came by to collect rents. “Listen young man, don’t go smelling what you don’t really feel like eating…it’s risky and it’s not worth it.”
Again, I defended myself by saying it was simply a recycle of the same women. She shook her head sadly and declared “Look here…I give you one month to pick one of the young women that you consider good enough for marriage and bring her to us at home to introduce her, is that clear?” Of course, I could only nod my head soberly.
And when I finally took my choice to the couple, it was like I just did them a great favor as both husband and wife got up to celebrate excitedly. My dear aunty now turned to my fiancée and boldly stated “my dear sister, did Femi tell you he has an old father?”
When my fiancee nodded her head, Princess Ponnle declared “Well…if you will marry him, you’ll please have to accept his father…okay?” And she did not even wait for an answer before she went on to remind the now amused, smiling lady that “I know many of you young women of nowadays are trying to change things due to your very high education but our culture is superior to all that education…we African women don’t come between a man and his family…we accept his parents and siblings.
Fortunately, the two ladies hit it off great in spite of that strong first encounter.
A few days after our wedding, the couple hosted a dinner in our honor. And it was during the dinner that we both got invited to a private room for discussion. Among other things, the couple advised us on life planning and to start thinking of getting a plot of land for the construction of our own home. That was the day we officially named them as our marriage mentors.
The Ponnles were an interesting couple. I remember visiting them one day and saw their kids (who were just kids back then) as they drank garri (cassava flakes). Stunned, I asked how and why the kids of such multi-millionaires would be taking such cheap stuff for lunch. It was my aunty that answered. “Femi, this is one of the ways to teach kids something about values…look at my bowl and that of my husband, it’s the same stuff we are taking for lunch….or do you see 'jollof' rice in my own bowl?”
Still talking of values and several years later, I stopped by their corporate building one day to say hello while on a business outing for my employers (NAL Merchant Bank) and discovered that one of their daughters was acting as her secretary. When I asked what was going on, she explained that whenever the kids were on school vacations, they were made to work in the company. “No kid of mine will loiter at home or wander aimlessly all over the town while I work…”
Epilogue:
On October 1, 2012, when I logged-on to my Facebook page, I got a surprise inbox mail from the wonderful couple:
How are you FEMI? We are very happy to contact you after a long time. We hope that all is well with you! May GOD bless your lovely family amen IJN. - This massage is from Tunde & Olu Ponnle.
A few hours later, I got another in-boxed note, this time, a longer one from the princess in which, once again, she prayed for my family and thanked God for the opportunity that made our paths crossed. It was very emotional.
When I got each of these messages, I was elated to hear from the great couple after such a long time. But somehow, I felt something ominous about the second note from her but I just could not explain the omen.
It was only this morning that its meaning dawned on me. I was terribly stunned to hear about the transition into glory of my dear aunty, Princess Comfort Olufunke Ponnle. The sad event took place yesterday, Tuesday October 30, 2012.
Unknown to me, the hapless lady was on her sick-bed in London when the Facebook messages were sent. I found it very emotional, totally humbled and absolutely altruistic on her part, that even while on her sick-bed and about to die, she still thought of me and my family.
May the good Lord God almighty repose the gentle soul of this wonderful lady and console her equally great husband and children.
6 comments:
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The ponnle's are indeed a wonderful family, when it comes to advise and support they never fail to give that, it runs in the family, Mr micheal abiodun ponnle who is on of the ponnle' s child is my godfather who never fail to encourage me... May her gentle soul rest in peace
Hi Mohammed,
Thanks for the kind comment on this article. The Ponnles are a wonderful couple. And it's great to learn that one of the kids has been playing an equally wonderful role in other people's lives as well.
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