It was a “second time to be speechless” for former Foreign Minister Olubanke King Akerele when her friends—crowd of girls and family members— threw her a surprised 78th birthday party at a local hotel in Monrovia.
Her first speechless moment, according to her, was when she turned 75 and some friends had tricked her into going to Bella Casa Hotel for a meeting after which, she was surprised to see that it was just a masquerade for the surprised birthday party, which was also attended by former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Before the septuagenarian had expressed how excited she was with her friends and family for the surprised gathering, the ‘Chief Organizer’ of the get-together, Ms. Miata Fahnbulleh, who is affectionately known about young Liberians as “Aunty Miata”, said she had to plan the gathering “spontaneously” as letting the celebrant knows ahead of time would have derailed the whole process.
“I have so much respect for her; she inspires me to keep having faith in the Motherland. Seriously speaking, if it weren’t for Sis. Banke and Cousin Theresa [Leigh Sherman], I would be somewhere else. And I have said to myself if Sis. Banke at 78, can still have faith, can still have hope and is still fighting, who am I?” Aunty Miata, who returned to the country last Thursday, turned to the celebrant and added: “So, darling, you deserve it and we will continue to surprise you.” Madam King-Akerele was even more shocked when the ‘Chief Organizer’ presented a postal card with beautiful and colorful wordings from her friends and family. “We couldn’t find any card in Monrovia with such wordings befitting of you, so we decided to make this ourselves.” Looking at the card that expression of shock, excitement, etc, all mixed became very glaring on the former Foreign Minister. As she looked at the card, only three words were heard from her: “Oh my God!”
Other women, all of them eminent daughters of the land, took time to eulogize the celebrant in ways that she has come to impact their lives. Liberia’s renowned poet, writer and Professor of English and Creative Writing, Ms. Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, presented two of the latest books on Liberia to the celebrant: one of them her own work, the other an Anthology. She even read a poem, When Liberia Rises, which is a favorite literary piece of the former Foreign Minister.
“Banke, these are two of the latest books that you don’t have copies yet. This is historical! It contains all poems on Liberia, from 1832 to now,” Prof. Wesley said. It was a coincident as Madam Akerele is already into a national project that has as its first quotation that exact same poem that was read by Prof. Wesley.
Colorful eulogies also came from the other women, including former Chief Justice Cllr. Frances Johnson Allison, former Minister of Education, Dr. D. Evelyn S. Kandakai, former Paynesville City Mayor C. Cyvette M. Gibson, former Monrovia City Mayor Ophelia Hoff Saytumah, Businesswoman Maureen La-Vonne Shaw, and Dr. Yvette Chesson Wureh, Coordinator, Angie Brooks International Centre (ABIC) of which the celebrant is one of its board members.
Dr. Chesson-Wureh and former Education Min. Kandakai spoke of the scholarly nature of Ms. King-Akerele. Specifically, Dr. Chesson-Wureh said, “People think that Banke and I are just partners but they don’t know that Banke mentors me. People have come to me and asked, ‘How do you manage with her’. I would just say, oh my God, it is such a pity when people are so dumb that they can’t recognize genius and don’t know how to use genius to make them look good. She makes me look good all the times.”
She stated that at times when she is getting tired, her board member, Ms. Akerele, who ‘never gets tired’, is there to fire her up. “She inspires me, too; Banke is a consummate patriot!” she added. She also mentioned she and the celebrant are built that way because of the mothers they had in their lives. The ABIC Coordinator further stated that the celebrant devotes her time not only for the older generations but the younger ones, which are her passion.
Also, former Chief Justice Allison spoke of the former Foreign Minister’s nationalism and patriotism for Liberia.
Of course, as the evening worn away, it wasn’t felt that much. The participants didn’t rush to leave as the celebratory atmosphere was filled laughter all centered on how the celebrant carries herself. Former Chief Justice Allison specially said, “Whenever you see Banke, she is always carrying these big bags, which are always filled with books. I have told her that when she predeceases me, I am going to tell the people to put a notepad and pen in her casket so that in case she wakes up, she can continue to write.”
Ms. King-Akerele’s brother, Charles T. O. King, also expressed his excitement to the women who had come to make his sister special on her 78th birthday.
“You all have been helpful and inspirational to Banke because she has shown it to us as family,” Mr. King said.
Responding to the eulogies, the former Foreign Minister stated that it was the second time that she has been made speechless. Her first speechless moment, according to her, was when she turned 75 and some friends had tricked her into going to Bella Casa Hotel for a meeting after which, she was surprised to see that it was just a masquerade for the surprised birthday party, which was also attended by former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
“Let me say to everybody, what you all talked about me, I say no, it’s not me, it is our mothers. Everything you all have said it is because of how we were brought up by other mothers and those on whose shoulders we stood.”
She mentioned that she has been involved in the struggle for the betterment of the nation since 1979 and it came about when the legislature passed a Joint Resolution to remove Judge Emma Shannon Wilser, who was Liberia’s first woman Circuit Court Judge.
She narrated that four young Liberians, who were University of Liberia students, including her and three Cassell sisters got together and started an action to stop the removal of Judge Wilser.
“We got together and got the elder women involved. The elder women who joined us said ‘enough is enough’. They joined forces with her younger women,” she stated.
She told her audience of mostly women, that everything they had said she couldn’t take credit for them as those traits had been passed to her and others by older women who have now passed.
Being the scholarly woman she is, she ended her gratitude speech by giving two thoughts-provoking quotes from two of Liberia’s prominent daughters: Mary Antoinette Brown Sherman and Sister Mary Laurene Browne.
