Society Gists

The hum of life begins again soon after the last condolence has been declared for the comfort of the bereaved. The gender gap in late-life remarriage where widowers are more likely than widows to remarry has been explained by the adage “women mourn, men replace.” This characterization implies that heartbroken widows mourn the loss of their irreplaceable late husbands whereas widowed men quickly find a helpmate and confidante to take the place of their late wives.

There is no surprise, therefore, that Mutiu Sunmonu, the former MD of Shell companies in Nigeria, has bid goodbye to lonely nights and lovelorn days. Now, he is ready to tell it on the mountains that he has found a new trophy wife who would keep his well-heeled libido active and prevent it from going into eternal flaccidity. Otherwise one of Nigeria’s most eligible widowers with a solid pedigree and wealth to boot, Sunmonu has settled for Ekaette, his  56 year old former subordinate at Shell, as his new partner in the journey of life.

Many high flying ladies, who had been deploying conventional and unconventional means to curry his attention, were at a loss as to why the extremely urbane man had to travel to Akwa Ibom to find a new wife. Ekaette is a native of Akwa Ibom State.

While Sunmonu is seeking marital felicity and may have made peace with those single women and widows who thought that they had won his heart, not knowing that his mind was somewhere else, his home is literally on fire as his kids and close friends are miffed at the fact that he had to remarry less than four years after he lost his wife, Funke.

The Grim Reaper visited the Sunmonus in April 2017 and left with Funke after a protracted battle with cancer. Indeed, if money were enough, Sunmonu, a multi-millionaire by all ramifications, could have mustered the whole world to save her and fulfil his vows that they would grow grey together.  But alas, she was buried at the elitist Vaults and Gardens in Ikoyi in the presence of friends and family members and prominent Nigerians.

Of course, it was hard for him, like it would for anyone else who loses a loved one especially one in the hue of the adorable Funke, to accept that they would never see again or look into each other’s loving eyes as they had for the past almost three decades. The anger that he was helpless as his beloved wife suffered untold agony in her twilight days and all his wealth couldn’t salvage her dovetailed into understandable depression. But time heals all wounds, and Sunmonu seems to have healed and come to terms with the reality of Funke’s death. Yes, he has bounced back into full vitality, leaping and spinning when necessary. In fact,  reciprocating the come-hither smiles of Ekaette.

What his children and friends would later discover is that all the while he was mourning and when his wife was gravely ill before passing, Ekaette, his subordinate at the company, was making his heart to flutter and palpitate. Those who are privy to their love story are swearing by everything they hold sacred that the relationship had been on since he was at Shell. She was also reported to have enjoyed the largesse of being ‘Oga’s favourite in terms of expensive travels, luxury gifts and rapid promotions at work. She was in the shadows when Funke died; the unseen comforter who ensured Sunmonu never had cold, lonely nights.

It would be four years in April that Funke died and Sunmonu probably feels that he has waited long enough hence, his decision to formalise his union with Ekaette. The marriage rites held in Abuja weeks back and had Pastor Tunde Bakare and his wife in attendance.

To his shock, many of his friends who used to swear by his name shunned the ceremony according to what a source disclosed was their mutual decision to respect his late wife’s memory. As if that was not enough shock, his excuse that he was remarrying so he can get a woman to take care of his kids fell flat on his face because his kids are adults and one or two of them are even married. The same kids expressly told their father that they would not sit back and allow him to bring Ekaette into the same house he shared with their mother thereby desecrating her memory.

Flustered and frustrated, Sunmonu was forced to go buy another house in Abuja where he can enjoy his new marriage. But, inwardly, those who know him well say he is an unhappy man as those who love him genuinely have turned their backs on him because of his choice of a new wife. At the twilight of what has been a most illustrious life, Sunmonu, who resigned as Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), and Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria after 36 years of meritorious service; and is currently the chairman of construction giant, Julius Berger; San Leon Energy PLC, UK; and Imperial Homes Mortgage Bank, might be ruing his ill-timed venture into marriage again.