Wole Soyinka loses sister at 90, funeral rites begin Thursday
The older sister of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Madam Tinuola Aina, has died at the age of 90.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday, her family announced that Madam Aina died on November 7, 2023.
The announcement indicated that a service of songs will kick off the funeral rites on Thursday, December 7 in Lagos.
The two-day rites are set to conclude on Friday, December 8, culminating in a private interment in Lagos.
She was born on April 29, 1933, and she was the first of seven children of a school teacher, Mr. Samuel Ayodele Soyinka, and trader-homemaker, Mrs. Grace Eniola Soyinka (neé Harrison) at Ake Vicarage, Abeokuta.
Tinu started her education at St. Peter’s Primary School in the Vicarage, and later at Abeokuta Grammar School (AGS), Igbein.
After her secondary education at AGS, Tinu left for England to pursue her life-long ambition to be a nurse.
She soon obtained her SRN, SEN, and Queens Nurse at South Shield and worked for a while in England before returning to Nigeria in 1959. She joined the then-Western Region at the Psychiatrist Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta.
A couple of years later, she obtained her first and second degrees in Community Nursing, respectively, at McGill University, Canada, and North Carolina University, USA. She continued working for the Western Region, first at Abeokuta and later at Akure General Hospital.
In 1963, she got married to Dr. Kola Aina, and the couple was blessed with two children, Oluyomi and Adebiyi.
Mrs T.A. Aina later joined the Federal Government Service, working at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). She rose through the ranks and became the principal of the Nursing and Midwifery School at LUTH in 1986, a position she held until her retirement in 1993. Her stellar record bears witness to her commitment to the medical profession and her delight in training new generations of nurses. Mrs. Aina retired into a new phase of professional life and community involvement.
Shortly after retirement, she took the initiative to start an advisory clinic at her church, The Christ King’s Church, which she ran with two other retired nurses and church members, Mrs Ajetumobi and Mrs Olubi; both preceded her in death. Although located on church premises, the clinic is open to all members of the community, irrespective of faith or creed, and is completely free. Even though she was frail, she regularly attended the clinic until early this year.
The matriarch of the Soyinka family, “Tinu,” was a caring, loving, and devoted mother, sister, aunt, and cousin. She kept the family united and left behind a strong, happy legacy.
