Former Miss Nigeria and lawyer, Helen Prest, has broken her silence after a Lagos State High Court recognised Adenike Ajayi as the sole lawful widow of the late Dr. Tosin Ajayi, founder of First Foundation Hospital.
Prest, in a video posted on her Instagram page on Tuesday, vowed to continue defending what she described as the legacy of the late medical practitioner, insisting that she could not remain silent while his reputation, their life together and their children’s names were being attacked.
The development followed the judgment of Justice Oluwayoyin Odusanya of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, delivered on June 17, which dismissed Prest’s claim that she was also legally married to the late physician.
The court granted the reliefs sought by Adenike Ajayi and her children, recognising Mrs. Ajayi as the sole lawful widow of the deceased.
Dr. Ajayi, a respected medical practitioner and founder of First Foundation Hospital, died on April 26, 2020.
His death triggered a prolonged legal dispute after Prest claimed that he later married her under Kalabari customary law, while Mrs. Ajayi maintained that she remained his only lawful wife.
The dispute centred on who should be legally recognised as the surviving spouse of the late doctor and who had the right to administer his estate.
Reacting to the judgment, Prest said the situation required strength and resilience, adding that she owed it to the late doctor to defend his name and the life they shared.
“If you were in the position that I’m in, you would find strength because the situation demands strength. What’s the alternative? To leave your husband’s legacy to be trashed? To leave your children’s name? To leave the life that we lived together to be just undefended and trashed? No, that’s not possible,” she said.
Prest described the late Ajayi as a great man, father, friend and respected doctor who made significant contributions to the Lagos medical community.
“I owe my husband much, much more than that. He was a great man. He’s a great father. He was a great friend. He was a great friend to my friends. He was a respected doctor, a very respected pillar of the Lagos State medical community. They know it. Everybody knows it. So I cannot keep quiet to allow his legacy to be just ridiculed and thrown to the dogs. That’s not possible,” she added.
She said she would continue to speak about his impact on her life, society, the medical profession and Lagos State, even if some people who benefited from him chose to remain silent.
Prest, who is also a lawyer, said she believed she was standing up for what she knew to be the truth, insisting that the truth was not hidden from those who lived through the events.
“I believe too, as a woman, if you had to step up for something that you believed in, that you knew was the truth, no matter what other people say, you know the truth, and everybody knows the truth. We all lived it. We’re all here. We all know the truth. It’s not hidden,” she said.
She added that not everything should be treated as transactional or reduced to money.
“Not everything has to be transactional. Not everything is about money,” she stated.
Prest also alleged that people had sponsored attacks against her character, saying those who are sure of the truth do not need to attack others with bitterness.
“You have paid opinion writers. You know, I always tell people, you always know which side is telling the truth, because the side that is attacking with venom and vitriol,” she said.
According to her, there is no need to sponsor people to destroy another person’s character because the truth would eventually emerge.
“There’s no need to sponsor people to destroy somebody’s character. There’s absolutely no need at all because the truth will come out in the end, and it’s coming out slowly,” Prest said.
She said she had not sued anyone over the matter but had always been on the defensive.
“As I’ve always said, right from the very beginning, I’ve never sued anybody. I’ve always been on the defensive because there’s nothing to sue for,” she said.
Prest maintained that there was enough money for everyone, insisting that the dispute should not have degenerated into attacks and public hostility.
She said her main message was that women who are forced by circumstances to defend themselves and their families should not merely be described as strong, because such strength often comes from necessity.
The judgment and Prest’s response have again brought public attention to the long-running dispute over the estate and marital status of the late founder of First Foundation Hospital.
