Olufunke Arthur-Worrey Cascade of Memories at 95

Her animated nature as well as the remarkable ability to infuse humour into any situation has been an asset in her 95 years of existence. Quick-witted, Mrs. Funke Arthur-Worrey has the physique and agility of a woman in her late 60s.  Her recollections are as vivid as assessment of current global developments. Age hasn’t slowed her down; she rocks every day. As she turns 95, the nonagenarian tells Funke Olaode she is excited about her new age and hopes for a better Nigeria- one that is more inclusive of women.

Revered for her impeccable sense of style, Mrs. Funke Arthur-Worrey has built an enviable personality of a style icon in her heydays that resonates till now. She looked radiant in her floor length wine floral dress as she received this reporter into her sprawling Victoria Island home. Her well-manicured fingernails were eye-catching, olive green themed. And her skull cap wig adorned her oblong face.

For Mrs. Arthur-Worrey, April 23 of every year is a unique milestone in her life. This year, she turned 95. The ‘birthday girl’ is excited about her new age. “I feel happy and good to be alive to witness my 95th birthday. It is not by my power but by my maker. It is a wonderful feeling because when you start life as a youth, you don’t know where you are going. But my youth was wonderful in Lagos because I was always surrounded by all my relatives and family.”

For those who have followed her life trajectory, Mrs. Arthur-Worrey is often referred to as a rare breed because of her youthful nature. Is there any special diet that has kept her over the years? “As said earlier, my God has been gracious to me. Also, I don’t have any special diet. You will be surprised, ask the children, I eat anything unless it is something I don’t want to eat.  Let’s say I come to you now, whatever you cook for me to eat, I will eat. But then if I don’t like something I don’t eat it.

“Anyway, I eat well. Anytime I go out and somebody says to me, ‘grandma you still eat meat?’ I eat meat but the thing is, I eat everything in moderation and I drink a lot of water. I was so afraid that one day I had to ask my doctor. And I told the doctor the way I drink water. I hope it is not too much. And he said no, it is not too much that I should keep on drinking. But I love our vegetables. We are so blessed with varieties of vegetables that are organic and fresh.”

She lost her parents earlier in life. Invariably, this pain had helped to deepen her appreciation of life.

“My father died at the age of 57 and my mother died at the age of 60 plus. Then my grandfathers on both sides, my step brother, and grandmother lived up to a 100-year plus.”   

Mrs. Arthur-Worrey has a rich pedigree having been born into the popular Ogunmade Chieftaincy House of  Onilegbale, Olowogbowo, Isale-Eko on Lagos Island and her mother, Mrs. Ibironke Davies nee Oluga  hailed from Kenta Okebode in Agbo-Ile Untowa, Abeokuta in Ogun State. One of her siblings was the popular late Lagos lawyer, H.O Davies.

“My father was Ezekiel Akindele Davies Ogunmade. My grandfather, my great grandfather, are both from Isale Eko. Lagos was my oasis because of the radius of Lagos from Tinubu to Obalende and Obalende to Olowogbowo and Isale Eko. Lagos people then were like a family. I remember having cousins, aunties in Idumagbo – Oyingbo. So it was wonderful. I did not know anybody more than my people and friends in Lagos at that time.”

Talking glowingly about growing up in the Lagos of ‘old’, she described the experience as a communal living rooted in the word of God. “It was a communal living in those days because what we grew up to know is that our grandparents were there for us.  Both my paternal and maternal grandfathers were living at Olowogbowo. And from day one, their house was like a house of birds, that have children and families. You have to go there to see them, your husband and wife, and they set good examples. You have to be a Christian one, and a solid Methodist. You have to go to Sunday School, and on Sunday while you are in the house with my father, you have to pray at 6 o’clock in the morning. We ate together. And then these people  were disciplined. They inculcated good character and values in us.”

“Lagos was beautiful. You know our Lagos, we were so close, there was no discrimination whether you are from Oyo, Calabar, or from whatever place. Once you come to Lagos and manage to have contact with any one of us or you come to my door here, and have a baby by accident, you are my family. And things were so cheap and there was no security like this. Lagos was so safe and clean, I remembered our gutters, we had these sanitary inspectors going round. The street must always be clean. Lagos was beautiful. It was fantastic, safe and friendly. Now, you don’t trust me and I don’t trust you.”

For Mrs. Arthur-Worrey having educated and prosperous parents was a plus for those growing up in that era. “It was a privileged beginning. My father was a produce examiner, he was working with the Ministry of Produce. And my mother as far as I can remember was trading in clothing. Then suddenly with a friend, whose name I cannot remember now, they got this contract. They used to go to Apapa and buy all these military wears, like the shirts, trousers, caps and I think after the Second World War, all those materials were being sold around. Like this seal cap, the helmet, belt, shoes. It was so popular in Nigeria because of the material, especially from the north, they used to come and buy from everywhere, because my mother’s shop was at Idumota. They would bring all these things to that shop and then they sell them again in bulk to traders. Some people used to use helmets to cook or boil water because it was so strong. I remember she had about three of her siblings selling with her and we were going to school of course.”

Mrs. Arthur-Worrey began her early education at Olowogbowo Methodist School on the Island. From there, she proceeded  to Methodist Girls’ High School, Yaba. She had a job at a Bata Shoe company where she worked. She married her late husband, Mr. Steady whom she met in 1950. During her sojourn abroad with her husband, she developed herself further. She is a qualified secretary by profession and also holds a diploma in Fashion and Design from Paris Academic of Fashion and another diploma in Social Studies from Ohio State University, United States.

Recalling the tales of how she met her late husband through her elder brother, the late Lagos famous lawyer, Hezekiah Oladipo Davies, she said it was love at first sight. “My brother and his wife returned from England and we were all excited to see them. And one day he said, ‘Our son is coming’ and for some time he used to say ‘If steady was here, he would have done this.’ For about six months, we kept hearing about this Steady, we did not have a clue who Steady was but we had to listen to them. Then one day they called us and said Steady is coming to Nigeria.  Meanwhile, Steady’s father, Arthur-Worrey and brother H.O. Davies were friends in England when they were students. And then he had to come back to Nigeria, because he was a Miner in Jos so he came back to Nigeria. When the elder Arthur-Worrey was going to England,  he took  his three boys, Andrew, Peter and Steady to go and watch the coronation of King Edward. They ended up in England schooling. But then two of the boys married whites.  Steady, who later became my husband  said he would never marry a white woman. That he is going back to Nigeria to marry a Nigerian. He was just harping on this. Eventually the opportunity came and they said he was coming, so eventually Steady  arrived. When the car brought him, we all had to line up because then I had my three sisters with me and two nephews and relatives. My brother was happy to meet this Steady, and introduced us and said this is Jumoke, Tokunbo, then when he came to me, he said this is Funke. So Steady  held my hand and said, ‘Funke how are you?  And he said, ‘You are going to be my wife.’

“If the young Funke was embarrassed by Steady’s blunt attitude, the flame of love was already burning inside of her. She loved him too. Steady went to his primary assignment as a teacher in Birnin Kebbi in the present Kebbi State where he taught for nine months. The harsh weather coupled with the love of his life in Lagos, Steady quit his job in the far north and relocated to Lagos to the love of his life.

“While he was away in Kebbi, we communicated via letters and telegraph. Steady returned from the north and asked for my hand in marriage  and he promised my family that he would look after me. He travelled back to England in 1950 and I joined him in 1951. I boarded a ship to London and arrived in Liverpool Street after 13 days. My husband was posted outside London  but I was in London for some time with the popular  Mrs. Sholanke of the West African Students’ Union (WASU). Before I left for England,  I had been tutored on etiquettes by the  famous  half-cast from the West Indies, Mrs. Ferguson Rennyk  of Tinubu Square for  about two weeks on  how to handle the fork and knife, and courtesies. This was in 1951.”

How would she describe the culture shock? “Thank God, I was lucky. Mrs. Rennyk has made a woolly coat and I was prepared for the winter, this was in February.  The weather was bad  and the atmosphere was just dark even in the afternoon.  I said no, I am going back to Nigeria. But  Mrs. Sholanke encouraged me to stay so that I would get used to it. By that time, they were all there, the room was warm. From there my life changed, and Steady was going up and down, and all families in London and our friends were all there. That is how I started my wonderful life with Steady in London.”

After many years in England, the Arthur-Worreys returned to Lagos. Her husband got a job with the Ministry of Justice and having qualified as a secretary in England, she also joined S.O Oil Company. She later moved to Irvin and Burner, a law firm where she spent the next nine years. Her husband moved from the Ministry of Justice to become the legal adviser for defense.

“Our lives were on a roller coaster. My late husband was a good man who didn’t joke with his family. When we were in England, we made a little money. I was working on and off. The man just loved travelling. We were always going on these small holidays on weekends. We used to go round. So at that time I had that opportunity of going round England and then to Europe, to Paris, Scandinavian. It was a pleasure knowing and marrying him.”

Life they say is not a bed of roses. Mrs. Arthur-Worrey has had her own fair share. She had suffered personal tragedies in the past having lost her husband 12 years ago. But more devastating was the loss of her only daughter, Biola in 1967; a pupil of Queens College, Lagos. It was a wound which the passage of time has refused to heal. But being surrounded by her only surviving son and former Solicitor-General of Lagos State, Fola Arthur-Worrey, her loved ones and her church, St. Saviour Church’s unending love,  she is eternally grateful.

Voicing her view on the state of the nation, Arthur-Worrey was diplomatic in her response. “First of all, it is not only Nigeria that is changing, the world is changing and the world has changed. But then when you hear or read about the other countries, even in Africa they are still managing to make their people comfortable. They have enough water, they have enough food, they have enough electricity. And things are too expensive for the ordinary people, I don’t know how they manage. I am proud of our women in Nigeria. When you go out, you see them in the morning about 5 o’clock, they go from here to Oshodi, they go to Osogbo, Ilesa to buy things. And then when you go out, especially on this street, you go out there in the morning, 6 o’clock, 7 o’clock, who are the people feeding the nation? It is the women. So I look at them and ask ‘’how do they manage?”

She thought the government could do better. Since independence in 1960, Nigeria has been abundant in human and material resources. She still remembered the hope for Nigeria on that special day in history.

“We were so happy, but now honestly I don’t know whether we made that mistake. But I should not say that because we have been enjoying this freedom and there is nothing as being free. But now we don’t trust each other. Before we used to go to Badagry from here to buy fish, port around and look at artefacts and enjoy ourselves and come back, there was no problem. We used to go to Osogbo, I remember I and the International Women Society then used to take people around especially when I was the treasurer for Museum Society. We travelled round Nigeria freely, we will go to Osogbo, we will go to Jos, we will go to Benin especially to see our fabulous artefacts the way they were kept. The way they are still making it. Considering the wealth we have in Nigeria, we should not suffer. We have food, the weather is good but now people can hardly eat.”

Gender equality is still a subject of global discourse and for Nigeria in particular, it has become worrisome that no remarkable progress has been recorded for women inclusion in governance. Mrs. Arthur-Worrey said Nigerian women have come a long way and they deserve the best.

“Nigerian women are wonderful, brilliant.  We have been fighting since, what is wrong with having a woman president? Okay if they don’t want to give us a woman president, give us a vice president, the women of Nigeria deserve to have that. Look at India, and Germany, Markel just left recently.  And then in Sri Lanka too. Women deserve to be the vice president especially in Nigeria. We have so many brilliant women, everything they touch is good and they are the ones that are pushing our economy. It is about time men let us have the chance of letting Nigeria to enjoy the good of Nigeria.”

Giving tips on life lessons, Mrs. Arthur Worrey echoed the popular saying ‘whatever will be, will be.’ “That is my life lesson because whether you are brilliant or not, you don’t know your tomorrow but be content with what you have. First of all you must believe whether you are a Muslim or Christian, you must believe in God. Once you believe in God and you are faithful to God, your life will be easy. Be faithful to yourself and be kind to your neighbours. You must be a bit generous, think of your neighbours, try to help and be content with what you have.”

At 95, her life has been on a roller coaster and she said she is not afraid of death. “Of course I am ready, unless it is not my time. If it is my time, I am ready with joy to meet my God. My life has been good, I thank my God almighty that I have had a wonderful life.”