A REMARKABLE aftermath of the passage  and interment  of the matriarch of the Awolowo  family, Chief Mrs.  Hannah Idowu Dideolu, HID, Awolowo  was  the bond of friendship and solidarity that it elicited  even among erstwhile foes.  Perhaps  nothing gave fillip to  this pervading spirit of camaraderie  than  the commendable  gesture  by the family of the last Premier of the defunct Western region,  Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola.

In an uncanny show of  solidarity with the Awolowo family,  the Akintolas sent an emissary to Ikenne with a condolence letter,  which described the life and times of HID Awolowo as “remarkable”.  Not done  yet, the Akintolas caused to be published  a  full-page  condolence message in The Punch of Tuesday November 24, 2015.  The  full-page message  signed by the  two surviving children  of the late  Chief  Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Chief  Abayomi Akintola and Dr. Abimbola Akintola,  urged the Awolowos to be comforted by the fact that their matriarch lived an eventful life.

For keen watchers of the recent political history of Nigeria,  the condolence message was  remarkable  in more ways than one.  It need be recalled that the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, first Premier of the defunct Western Region, was at a time locked in a bruising political combat with his deputy and successor as Premier,  the late Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. Indeed,  their quarrel was such that it has been linked partly not only to the demise of the First Republic  but also  to the unfortunate Nigerian  civil war.

While Chief Awolowo survived the imbroglio and went ahead to serve in the General Yakubu Gowon military government, Chief Akintola was not that fortunate as he fell to the bullets  of the January 15, 1966 coupists.  In the 21 years that he lived after the demise of Chief Akintola, it is not on record that Chief Awolowo took any concrete step to heal the wound the political schism concomitant upon his feud with Chief Akintola  inflicted  on  the nation’s body polity,  especially as it pertains  to the Yoruba race.  However, it  is  salutary to note that concerted efforts were made  after the passage of Chief Awolowo  in 1987 to reunite the remnants of both the Awolowo and Akintola families.

At different  fora,  the children  of the two now departed leaders,  especially  Chief Abayomi Akintola and the late  Chief Oluwole Awolowo met  and declared that the animosities of old have been laid to rest.  Remarkably, at the obsequies  of  the late Chief Mrs. Faderera Abeke Akintola in 2002  both Chief Oluwole Awolowo and  the late Chief Abraham Adesanya, then leader of Afenifere (a pro- Awolowo political platform)  were in attendance  and duly  paid  deserved obeisance to the departed matriarch of the Akintola family.  At her 90th birthday HID Awolowo extended an invitation to the Akintolas who responded by attending the church service that was the highlight of the birthday celebration.

Thereafter a lull  seemed to have  pervaded the horizon, not even the demise of the  late Chief Victor Ladipo Akintola in 2006 elicited  a sympathy visit from the Awolowos neither did the demise of the late Chief Oluwole Awolowo  necessitate  a visit by the Akintolas.  Now,  all  of  that seem to have changed  with the Akintolas showing a rare benevolence and large heartedness.  Not only did the Akintolas  send an emissary with a well crafted sympathy letter to the  Ikenne homestead of the  Awolowos, they  had  the good sense and magnanimity  to publish  a full-page condolence message to condole  and show solidarity with the Awolowos in  their moment of  distress.

As we applaud the Akintolas for this rare spirit of  nobility,  it is hoped that both families will now cast away the bitterness of the past years. This is more so as the real dramatis personae  in the persons of Chiefs  Ladoke Akintola, Obafemi Awolowo  and spouses  Faderera and Hannah  have moved on  to immortality.  Also, it would be appropriate to enjoin supporters of both families and sundry political jobbers to  sheathe their sword and  allow peace to reign by not fanning  the embers of discord for  apparent selfish political gains.

For  choosing peace  and friendship over  feud and the enemity,  the Akintolas deserve  our appreciation and accolades. It was the great  Winston Churchill, hero, orator  and  statesman,  who  made the profound quip: “It is better to jaw-jaw   than to war-war”.   Churchill who ruled Britain both in times of war and peace  no doubt came to the realisation that in every contest  that involves war and peace that peace ultimately wins.

The  Holy Writ  in the Beatitudes notes  that “Blessed are peace makers for they shall be called sons of God”.  Evidently in every contestation between  war and peace, the latter ultimately triumphs.  With the  kind gesture of the Akintolas to the Awolowos  as pungently exemplified  in the condolence message published  in  the aforementioned  national daily on  the eve of the interment of the late Chief HID Awolowo,  a lingering national sore  appears to have  been  dutifully attended to and our humanity is enriched and better for it.

Chris Egbuna, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.