BREAKING: Ogun Loses Another Matriarchal Figure, Alhaja Monsurat Bankole, Mother of Former Speaker Dimeji Bankole

Olufemi Orunsola 

Barely five days after the death of Princess Khadijah Adebisi Edionseri, popularly known as ‘Cash Madam", Ogun State has suffered the loss of another Matriarchal figure, this time, the mother of a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, Alhaja Monsurat Atinuke Amoke Bankole aged 78.

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News gathered that the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Dimeji Bankole, suffered the tragic loss of his mother, Alhaja Monsurat Bankole in the early hours of Friday after a brief illness.

OTN News reports that although full details about Alhaja Bankole’s death and burial are still sketchy, a close ally to Dimeji Bankole, a broadcast journalist with Ogun State Television, (OGTV), Alhaji Hakeem Akintunde, confirmed the news on his Facebook page.

Rt. Honourable Sabur Oladimeji Bankole (born 14 November 1969), is a Nigerian politician who was elected as the Speaker of the ninth (9th) House of Representatives of the Nigerian House of Representatives at the age of 37, making him the youngest speaker in the history of the House and was the candidate for the 2019 governorship election of Ogun State under the Action Democratic Party.

The deceased Matriarchal figure in Ogun State, Alhaja Monsurat Bankole until her death was the Iya Adini of Egbaland and wife of a Second Republic politician and high chief of Egbaland, Chief Suarau Olayiwola Alani Bankole.

Meanwhile, speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has condoled the former Speaker of the House, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, over the demise of his mother, Alhaja Monsurat Bankole.

Honourable Abbas in a condolence message issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, extended his condolences to the Bankole family.

The Speaker also commiserated the government and the people of Ogun state, especially the Muslim community, where Alhaja Bankole was a reputable Matriarchal figure, urging the Bankole family to take solace in the exemplary and impactful life of the matriarch, noting that her philanthropic life would be remembered for a long time to come. 

In a similar vein, OTN News reports that tributes have started pouring in from other prominent Nigerians to the Bankole family on the loss of the Matriarchal figure.