Tears as late TFC’s executive director is buried

Tears flowed on Thursday as the remains of the Executive Director, De Tastee Group, the parent company of Tastee Fried Chicken, Mr. Oluwabunmi Adedayo, were buried.

Oluwabunmi, who is the only child of owners of the TFC, died on September 25, 2013 at 36, after a brief illness in the United States.

The deceased, who is survived by his parents, wife and two children, was on a visit to the US when he passed on.

The home journey of Oluwabunmi started at 11am as a funeral service was held in his honour at Our Saviour’s Church, Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan, Lagos.

The church auditorium was filled with friends, family members and sympathises who came to pay him their last respects.

At the cemetery

Grief-stricken friends, colleagues and relatives could not hold back tears while the service lasted. They later broke down completely when his remains were taken out of the church at 12.23pm.

In his sermon, the Diocesan Bishop of Lagos, Most Revd Dr. Ephraim Ademowo, urged the wife of the deceased, Oluwayemisi, to take solace in the fact that human life is filled with pains.

 He said, “This life is filled with pain. As a nation, individual, family, and even church, we experience pains that make us ask questions like, ‘God, are you really there? Do you really care?”

The Reverend, who recalled that he presided at the solemnisation of the five-year-old marriage, told Oluwayemisi to look at the bright side of life and take comfort in the family she married into.

He said, “Since this incident happened, it has been streams of people sharing your pain from far and near. No airplane from US, Britain, Europe and Asia, has landed in Lagos without one or two people not having your home as destination, and that shows the goodwill that the family you married into enjoys.”

He encouraged others to lead a life worthy of emulation.

The family members were too distraught to speak to PUNCH Metro, but some friends and co-workers of the late executive director, who spoke in tears, recounted remarkable moments with him. They described  Oluwabunmi as “humble and unassuming.”

The silver-coloured coffin bearing his remains was later conveyed in a black automobile to the Vaults and Gardens, Ikoyi.

Around 1pm, the remains of Oluwabunmi, who was fondly called, “D Enormous One,” were lowered into the grave after prayers were said.

Oluwayemisi, who whispered some inaudible words to the coffin of her husband, later blew it a final kiss.

A friend of the family, who identified herself simply as Nkem, said, “He was too young to leave so soon. He was very humble. He was always ready to associate with everyone. My last moment with him was before he travelled. We prayed together in his father’s office. I didn’t know it was my last time of seeing him.”

 While fighting back tears, Isa Abdulsaheed, a worker with TFC, said he could not believe his boss was dead.

Lolade Olayepo, an employee in the quality control department said, “When I was to resume work in the company, I negotiated for something  lower and he surprised me when I checked my appointment letter; he gave me something beyond my expectation. He didn’t behave like he was the boss – so selfless and simple.”

A former worker with TFC, Kayode Odebunmi, said “Even after I left the company to start my own project, he still associated with me. I took my unemployed child to him and  he gave him a job in TFC. He was such a kind man who never discriminated.”