Joe Okei-Odumakin, the widow of Yinka Odumakin, former national publicity secretary of Afenifere, has given birth to twins — a boy and a girl.
Odumakin died of COVID-19 complications on April 2 at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
In a statement issued on Sunday, Okei-Odumakin, who gave birth at a hospital in the United States on Wednesday, October 27, said her late husband had expressed a “strong desire” to have another child 18 years after their second child was born.
“The “miracle” birth fulfilled the wishes of the late Odumakin towards the end of his sojourn on earth to have another baby to be named after him,” she said.
“The couple got married in 1997, had their first baby girl in 2000 and the second, a boy, in 2003. While the girl was named after Joe, the boy was named Abraham after the late Afenifere leader, Pa Abraham Adesanya.
“After he survived a three-day coma in 2020 and a few months before he succumbed to the illness that eventually but unexpectedly claimed his life, YO, as he is fondly called, developed a strong desire for him and his wife to have another baby.
“Thank God Joe did not dither or procrastinate as she took in just about the time YO took ill and never recovered.
It was good news that Joe conceived, but YO never got to hear the news of his wishes coming to pass as he did not make it out of the ventilator.
“He had, however, prophetically left words concerning what the baby or babies should be called if his wishes materialized.
“YO was so accurate in his predictions that they could be twins (and their sex) that he gave the names of the babies and told his wife how he would raise them.
“While many may interpret this to mean that YO had a premonition about his death, it was only a strong desire expressed by him to have babies that he would dot over and who would possibly step into his “aluta” shoes.