52 Hearty cheers Queen Mother, Hon Toyin Balogun Felicitates Mrs Tamunominini Olufunke Makinde the First Lady of Oyo State

Her Excellency is an unshakeable bulwark of support to our performing Governor.

Wives of political figures have a challenging assignment: to keep the home front in order,playing host to innumerable guests while contending with almost nonexistent family time because of the exigencies of state demand on their better halves

Her Excellency handles all these challenges with admirable equanimity and graceful panache.

One of the traits I love most about Her Excellency is the fact that she's a straight shooter.With her,what you see is what you get,there is absolutely no guile and no deceit about her

Her ability to see through and cut through all the fakery & eyeservice associated with politics is refreshing

There's an axiom in Yoruba language which loosely translated means: "When a man progresses,it means the advent of his wife into his life is favored and she brings God's favour to her husbands undertakings"

Her Excellency exemplifies this axiom and for this ,I celebrate her.

I found out sometime last year that underneath that brash exterior lies a heart of gold when I went with her and some former first ladies on an outreach to support female victims of cancer

I was so impacted & moved by the pains and piteous condition of some of the women who had reached Stage 4 of their particular cancer(meaning that they could not be helped as they wouldn't survive) that I burst into emotive tears and our amiable First Lady pulled me aside,put an arm around me and made sure she calmed me down .She then made me see why we had to try hard to internalize our feelings so that we could project strength and fortitude to help those women through that dark period.I learnt an invaluable lesson from her that day that has helped me strengthen other women in similar situations.

I celebrate Her Excellency for being not just a veritable Rock of Gibraltar in support of His Excellency and the children,for her life of service to the good people of Oyo state & for being a mother and sister to all,myself inclusive

May your days be long Queen Mother,in health ,comfort and surrounded by your loved ones

Hon(Mrs) Toyin BALOGUN
COMMISSIONER FOR WOMEN AFFAIRS & SOCIAL INCLUSION