By Chioma Gabriel

First daughter of late multi-billionaire diplomat and businessman, Antonio Oladeinde Fernandez, has shed more light on the personality of the late billionaire diplomat, dismissing allega-tions of mystery being built around him.

The one-time commissioner under Fashola’s administration in Lagos State, Mrs Teju Philips, said her late multi-billionaire father was born into the royal Olumegbon family in Lagos.

“My late father was a typical Lagosian, born and brought up at Isale Eko, Lagos. You may say the younger generation doesn’t know about him but a lot of people do know him. He was raised in Lagos in Isale Eko here and he worked in Nigeria in the Ministry of Works in the early years.

“My father lived a normal life as a diplomat and that made him a global citizen. That was why he worked with the governments of Angola and Mozambique and represented Central Africa Republic in the United Nations. You don’t call a man who attained that height a mystery man or a very private person,”she said. Commenting on her father’s lifestyle.”

Further elaborating, Mrs Philips said: “Besides, as a Yoruba, he worked very hard and prayed hard too. You cannot excuse that traditional owambe lifestyle from him because he was rooted in the traditional lifestyle of the Yoruba and believed so much in the culture and tradition of the Yorubas.

“Before he began life as a diplomat, he used to have a company in Nigeria that was producing fridges and deep freezers and he was never discriminatory. He worked with both white-men and black-men.

“He was not the ‘away-away’ person many painted him to be. He fraternised with many Nigerian presidents and presidents of other countries, although he was never a politician.”

Recalling her early days with her father, Mrs Teju Philips said her father did the traditional things as a Lagosian before work kept him very busy.

“He did all the egungun masquerade things and the Eyo masquarade festivals here at Isale Eko before he started his work life. My father actually had moments that he threw back his head and laughed. He loved family life and the people around him but always expected things to be done properly. My father would tell you not to denigrate anybody because ‘nobody’ of yesterday could become ‘somebody’ tomorrow.”
Was he strict?

“Well, you can say that again. He was a strict disciplinarian and you wouldn’t appear before him looking tattered or casual. You must be prim and proper if you were female and your hair must be neatly packed and bonded. A female must appear before my father in skirt suit and healthy shoes. A woman must not wear trousers and as my father’s daughter, I never wore trousers. Even now, I find it difficult to wear trousers because he never allowed that.”

Children
“My father loved all his children. We are nine and we all resemble him character wise. As his child, you must be firm and very strong in character like him. These are the virtues he held sacred in life. I read Accounting and as a student, woe betide me should he call and I wasn’t in the library studying.

Love of jewellery

My father could not call you and you tell him you were in the dormitory. The days he caught me in the dormitory, I had to come home to explain to him in person why I had to be in the dormitory at a perceived odd time and after I had convinced him, he would take me back to the school personally.

“My father loved jewellery and many of his children do. But if you have to use them, you must use quality jewellery and not cheap looking ones. If you must wear sunglasses, you must use very good mature frames, not cheap looking or funny-looking ones.”
Membership of Ogboni fraternity?

I told you his life was rooted in the culture and tradition of the Yorubas. He was a traditional man to the core and promoted the Yoruba culture.

He was a Christian and Catholic. His name was Antonio and that is a catholic name. He will be buried by Christians and as a Catholic.

Exotic life of private jets, yacht, wealth, burial

This is not the time to talk about that. We are in mourning. My father will most likely be buried in Nigeria. I spoke with him the day he died and we discussed family issues.

Signature sunglasses

They were medicated glasses. His eyes could not take the bright lights and so he must use those dark glasses like mine. I think it’s a genetic thing because I too use medicated dark glasses. No, they were not for fashion and there was nothing else to them.