Professor Felicia Adebola Adeyoyin (OON), the author of the Nigerian national pledge, has been laid to rest.

The funeral service, which took place at the Yaba Baptist Church, Lagos, throughout the week started with service of songs on Tuesday, a wake-keep on Thursday, and finally the internment at Atan Cemetery on Friday.

Among the numerous dignitaries who attended the funeral was Pastor Tunde Bakare, a friend of the family who had once lived with them.

He wrote in his tribute, “Auntie, you remain an unforgettable helper of my destiny. I lived with your family in 1980/81 while in the Nigeria Law School, and in your unique selflessness, you adopted me into your family.”

A letter of condolence from the Presidency through the Secretary to the Government of the  Federation was sent to Mrs Adebola Ogunremi, the Adeyoyin’s daughter and first child. The letter, signed by Boss Mustapha, stated in part that Prof Adeyoyin’s contributions “to nation building are too numerous to mention, chief amongst which is her article, ‘Oath of Allegiance to My Country’ that was later adopted as Nigeria’s National Pledge in 1976.”

READ ALSO: Prof. Felicia Adeyoyin, Author of Nigeria’s National Pledge, Dies at 83

Olusegun Obasanjo, former President, sent his apologies for his absence and described the event as a “personal great loss”.

“Felicia was a patriot,” he said. “She influenced me when I was military Head of State to bring about the National Pledge which has become one of the enduring values we live by.”

Adeyoyin had lectured at the University of Lagos from 1978 to 1994 and had served as a United Nations Administrator as a Regional Population Education Training Adviser for Anglophone Africa from 1994 to 1999.

“A family effort at writing led to my writing the Article which was accepted as the National Pledge in 1976 for which I received the National Honour of the Office of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 2005,” Adeyoyin had said in her autobiography.