Nigeria’s Who’s Who Bids HID Awolowo Farewell

APC meeting on Kogi poll, FEC postponed due to burial Pro-Faleke group stages protest, PDP caucus meets

Twenty-eight years after the passing of the first premier of the defunct Western Region and statesman, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, his wife and matriarch of the Awolowo clan, the late Mrs. Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo was yesterday laid to rest beside her husband at the family compound in Ikenne, Ogun State.

Her interment, which coincided with her 100th birthday, was attended by Nigerian dignitaries including President Muhammadu Buhari, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, General Yakubu Gowon, Chief Ernest Sonekan, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who is her grandson in-law, Lt-Gen. Oladipo Diya, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chief Subomi Balogun, Oba Otudeko, several serving and ex-governors, ministers, other government functionaries and captains of industry,

who all converged on the Awolowo country home to bid HID Awolowo farewell.

Mrs. Awolowo, who was in her own right a successful politician and businesswoman, died on September 19 at the age of 99.

Prior to the funeral service, Our Saviour’s Anglican Church on Kehinde Sofola Way, Ikenne was shutdown by security personnel from the state and the presidency as they waited for Buhari to arrive.

Also, the forecourt in front of the Model School, Ikenne, which Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State recently named after Mrs. Awolowo, had been cleared for the president’s helicopter to land.

The church service for her interment commenced around 11 am when the white chariot conveying her gold-plated casket arrived at the church and the bell on the belfry tolled for the third time.

The service was conducted by the Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of the All Nigeria Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, along with other 36 bishops.

Speaking during the service, Okoh extolled her virtues, describing Mrs. Awolowo as a great wife who stood by her husband throughout his sojourn on earth.

He explained that the rest that Mama deserved was quite different from the worldly rest everybody thinks of and prayed that she finds the eternal rest after living a worthy life.

In his sermon on the state of the nation, Okoh said criminal behaviour such as armed robberies, kidnappings, rape, human trafficking and child trafficking, were all things that should weigh heavily on the conscience of the society.

He said corruption and social vices of all kinds including indiscipline, youth restiveness and terrorism were also taking their toll on the country.

According to him, “Only recently, I learnt that if you are 27 years old, barriers are put in your way preventing you from getting employment. So if you graduate at 27 and there is nothing for you, it will be very difficult before any organisation can employ you.

“So we run into the trouble of having a generation of young people who are wiling away their time. As such, the devil has taken away our peace and this is a self-inflicted problem that we are going through. If these issues are not addressed, we will not have peace.”

On arrival, Buhari met with the Awolowo clan to pay his condolences, after which he was taken by his deputy and other family members to the marble tomb of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo into which his wife’s casket had already been lowered, to pay his last respects.

It was a befitting tribute to Mrs. Awolowo, as it was the first time that a serving head of state had paid homage to the wife of a politician at her funeral instead of sending representatives, as was the norm in the past.

Speaking to a gathering of the family, friends, associates and other prominent Nigerians in Ikenne, Buhari said that he had to delay his departure for Malta for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) so that he could be part of the ceremony marking the last rites for Mrs. Awolowo, noting that the deceased deserved the attention she was receiving at home and abroad.

Buhari recalled how Mrs. Awolowo effectively took care of the home front while her husband was busy around the country and throughout the world.

He praised her family and urged all of them to stick together as they have over the years.

“Let me appreciate those who have come to participate in this ceremony. When I was in the car, I discussed it with the governor of Ogun State that the late Mrs. Awolowo deserved all that the nation is doing for her.

“While chief (Obafemi Awolowo) was all over the country and the world, she was effectively managing the family. So she has earned this. May her soul rest in perfect peace.

“And for you the family that has for weeks been receiving friends, associates and facing all the logistics problems day and night, I congratulate you for a very successful burial of the late Mrs. Awolowo.

“I came back yesterday evening from Iran and I had to make sure I do not miss the last rites for Mrs. Awolowo because she earned it.

“This is the third time I have been here and I hope the family will try and continue to remain united,” he said.

Speaking earlier, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State expressed delight at the presence of the president in Ikenne, adding that it was an honour not only to the late matriarch, her family and womenfolk, but to the whole of the Yoruba race and the nation.

Speaking on behalf of the family, the eldest surviving child of Chief Awolowo and his wife, Mrs. Oyediran, welcomed the president to the family home and thanked him for the honour.

She said there had been an outpouring of love for the late matriarch of the Awolowo clan from everywhere, describing it as a demonstration of how well she was revered.

She said: “Judging by the life that mama led, little did we know that she was so loved by all Nigerians and you all have demonstrated it this afternoon. So we warmly welcome you into our midst.”

While thanking the president and the state governors of the South-west who took part in the burial activities, she stated: “You have been extremely wonderful to this family.

“When we got to Lagos, we thought that was it. When we got to Ibadan, it was a complete standstill and when we got to Ogun, the governor danced with us all the way from Shagamu to Ikenne with all the beautiful ladies with us here this afternoon.

“So I want to thank you and to use this opportunity to wish your government progress with the good work which it has started.

“We all believe that there will be ‘change’,” she said.

In her vote of thanks, another daughter, Dr. Tokunbo Dosunmu, revealed that Mrs. Awolowo had in the last 20 years discussed her funeral, telling her family that it was not an affair for the family alone but the whole world.

She said the way the final rites had gone were beyond the imagination of the deceased.

However, the burial of Mrs. Awolowo forced the All Progressives Congress (APC) to postpone the meeting of its National Working Committee (NWC) today.

The NWC was meant to meet today on the modalities for the primary to select a substitute governorship candidate for the Kogi supplementary poll slated for December 5, following the death on Sunday of the APC candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Audu.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting was also postponed for the second week in a row since the swearing-in of ministers two weeks ago without an explanation offered by the presidency or the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the postponement.

The National Chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun, told THISDAY yesterday that the decision to shelve the meeting meant to discuss the choice of a substitute candidate for the Kogi supplementary governorship election was to enable the leadership of APC in the Southwest to be attend the funeral service of the late matriarch of the Awolowo family.

But as APC chieftains converged on Ikenne, a group known as the Kogi Youth Vanguard stormed the premises of the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja yesterday afternoon, urging the leadership to jettison the move to hold fresh a primary to select a new candidate.

The group canvassed support for the late Audu’s running mate, Abiodun Faleke’s candidacy to contest as the gubernatorial candidate in the Kogi supplementary election.

Speaking to journalists, the leader of the group, Mr. Bamidele Peters, said the party should consider the provisions of Section 181 of the constitution and submit Faleke’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its substitute governorship candidate.

“Though we sympathise with the family of the late APC governorship candidate, Audu Abubakar, and the Kogi electorate who voted for APC, we feel that this mandate is not just for an individual but the entire party.

“We think the election should be allowed to be concluded and that there should be no replacement of the candidate until that is done. The party will after the election be able to replace its candidate.

“Our own interest under the circumstances is to ensure that the supplementary election is concluded. Even if the party is desirous of replacing its candidate, it should be after the election and we feel that if possible, the running mate, Abiodun Faleke, should be allowed to step in to replace the late governorship candidate.

“Section 181 of the Nigerian constitution should be made to apply under the circumstances to enable the party resolve the crisis of substitution in which the APC finds itself now,” the group said.

Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whose candidate and the incumbent Governor of Kogi State, Capt. Idris Wada, was trailing late Audu in the inconclusive governorship election, on Tuesday night went into a crucial meeting of its leadership caucus to strategise on the way forward.

PDP earlier Tuesday rejected the move by APC and INEC to substitute the ruling party’s candidate for the supplementary poll.

Meanwhile, the Democratic People’s Congress (DPC) has canvassed for an entirely fresh governorship election in Kogi State following the death of Audu.

In a statement issued by the party’s National Chairman, Mr. Olusegun Peters, the party rejected INEC’s decision to conclude Saturday’s poll by conducting a supplementary election for 91 polling units in which votes were cancelled.

“It is inappropriate for INEC to direct APC to choose another candidate to substitute the late Audu and continue the governorship election when the people voted for the candidacy of Audu and not the yet-to-be selected candidate who will substitute the dead one.

“We strongly oppose the attempt by INEC and the ruling APC to impose a candidate on the good people of Kogi State in violation of democratic ideals.

“We urge all lovers of democracy and good governance to resist this anti-democratic stance of the electoral umpire in connivance with APC.

“We demand a fresh governorship election that will reflect the will of the people. This is the only way the nation’s frail democracy will be deepened and strengthened to provide dividends to long suffering Nigerians,” the party said.