As preparations for the burial of one of Nigeria’s best-known professional icons and pillar of human capital development — Prince Engr. Michael Ayotunde Ponnle are going on, snippets of rumblings are making the rounds about a worrisome item inserted into the Funeral Programme by his surviving wife.
Prince Michael Ayantunde Ponnle, Chairman of Miccom Golf and Country Club situated at Ada, Osun state and husband of former Osun Deputy Governor, Mrs Grace Titilayo Laoye- Ponnle, died on December 14, 2025 at the age of 94.
The death of Ponnle, who was also the Chairman of MicCom Cables and Wires brought much grief and sadness to many Nigerians and the business world. Expectedly, a befitting burial arrangement is being put in place for the highly respected and eminent departed soul. In fact, a programme of events, spanning Wednesday, April 8, 2026 , when the corpse will depart Lagos for Osun state to Friday, April 10, 2026, when he will be committed to mortal earth at MicCom House, Ada, Osun state is already out.
However, the snag in the Funeral Programme, already sent out to dignitaries and well-wishers, shows that there will be a Lying –in –state programme at Engr. Benjamin Olamijulo Close, Off Adesina Crescent, GRA, Okefia, Osogbo, the home of his wife, Mrs Grace Titilayo Ponnle .
Apparently, this development did not go down well with the larger Ponnle family members who argue that a wider consultation by the planners would have advised otherwise.
Close family members believe that the proposed lying-in- state in Mrs Ponnle’s Osogbo residence is traditionally disrespectful to the life and memory of Prince Ponnle. A family source was quoted as saying that ‘’so many things are wrong in the plan to have Daddy’s body sleep in his wife’s house in Osogbo en-route to Ada’.
According to the source, ‘’Tradition says you don’t carry a body to the in-law’s house. It is not done. I hear the rationale is that daddy lived in this house but the truth is- this is NOT his house, and no matter how we want to say it, it is the wife’s house and Daddy was a guest in that house. Let us also remember that Daddy is a Prince and he should be given the respect that title demands’’.
The disquiet stems from feelings among the larger Ponnle family that the burial programme was put together without inputs from many people , particularly as it relates to tradition.
‘’It beats the imagination and sense of propriety that people who should know are supposedly unaware of this potentially-disastrous threat to the MiCom Legacy established over the years. Is she trying to intimidate the Ponnle Family, put the people of Ada Town to ridicule or challenge Yoruba Tradition and damn the consequences?,’’ a family source queried.
The Osun State Government and various organizations have paid tribute to the late Prince Tunde Ponnle, highlighting his dedication to education, healthcare, and community development.
Efforts to get the comments of Mrs Grace Titilayo Ponnle were not successful at press time