Oshiomhole Weeps For Late Wife As He Leaves Office Today

Outgoing Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who is leaving office today, Saturday November 12, 2016, is definitely sad that he lost his wife, Clara while in office.

At the last Executive Meeting he had last Wednesday in Benin with his commissioners and other staff, Oshiomhole, who battled tears, recalled how he lost his beloved wife, Clara, who was right by his side when he took the oath of office as governor of Edo State in 2007.

Below: Oshiomhole and late wife

He couldn’t help his emotions when he recalled that “My late wife wore khakhi with me, standing right beside me when I took the oath of office. Her death was very devastating to me because we were in the struggle together before I became governor and I felt now that God made me governor, she was going to enjoy the fruit of her labour. So, it was shocking for me to lose her at that stage. I started with her and it would have been wonderful to finish with her.”

Meanwhile, the governor said in an interview that he married the late Clara when he was 22 years old.

“He recalled, ““My father wanted me to marry early because he did not start early and wanted grandchildren. We were eight kids and I was the first. Whatever he said was law and I had to obey him. So, I got married and had two children before going back to school.”

Don’t ask how old his wife was at that time but he recalled that: “I met her in the course of my union struggle. Then, she was a secretary and I approached her to help me type some union petitions. She was afraid that I was taking too many risks; something led to attraction and we got married.”

The 64-year-old father of five, who remarried in 2015 to Iara, the outgoing First Lady, after the death of his first wife in December 2010, reminisced on his life as an activist:

He said, “Before I became NLC president, I had already stopped making babies. Even when I was travelling around, I was lucky to have a wife who was caring and able to fill the gap. My wife bore the burdens of peace because I’m a little impatient and I travel often. When you are exposed to tension, there is tendency for transferred aggression but you need a woman to understand you when in that kind of mood. When people say I was never around, I reply that I have five children and they were not produced in absentia. You would always find time to be with the family.”

With his new wife Iara