HID Awolowo
Daud Olatunji
ABEOKUTA-Emotion ran high, yesterday when the
only surviving sibling of the late Chief(Mrs.) HID Awolowo, Pa Festus Taiwo Adelana visited the Ikenne country home of the family as he weept profusely.
Pa Adelana, 94, was brought into the Efunyela Hall inside of the Awolowos home at about 3:20pm on a wheelchair by a relation of his was said to have learnt about the death of his late sister few hours earlier.
HID Awolowo
The frail-looking pa Adelana, waving his two hands in the air and biting his fingers, screamed “ha! Ha! Ha!” and spoke to no one in particular as he was being wheeled into the hall, with tears streaming down his face.
The aged surviving Adelana matriach whose speech was not so coherent told newsmen that he had been dreaming about the late Awolowo matriarch who died last Saturday, since the past three days.
Vanguard learn that, Pa Adelana who lives in Lagos was not told about the death of his sister until Thursday when he visited the Awolowo’s home in Ikenne.
It was gathered that he insisted that he should be brought from his home in Lagos to Ikenne to “see things” for himself.
Pa Adelana lamented that the Awolowo matriarch died during this period, saying, “She (HID) had always said I would be the one to bury her. Oh, now she’s gone!”
The nonagenarian again burst out crying.
Pa Adelana further said that the late matriarch took good care of him while she lived.
The nonagenarian who was provided a white handkerchief with which he wiped his face, was later assisted by a relation to sign the condolence register.
Speaking on his behalf, the first male grandson of the Awolowo family, identified as Segun (Jnr), said the late matriarch had lived an exceptional extraordinary life.
Segun, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council described his grandmother as a pillar of support to the late sage,Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the entire family and the Nigerian nation.
He noted that the late matriarch lived with the ideals of the late sage till her death last Saturday.
“For me, Mama was more than a grandmother because I actually lived here with both of them. I grew up here. They were like parents to me. She had lived a good life.
“When I reflected on the life of Mama lived,it was extra-ordinary to marry a man like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to live with his ideals and to support and make him strong when he was weak. She covered for him and the whole family.
“We are thankful to God for her life for protecting her. She was not sick. She was not in the hospital for years. Although, she was frail but her brain was very sharp on top of events. For her to pass on peacefully is a thing of joy. We,in our own human ways and selfishness,we wanted her to be alive for her 100th birthday,which we are preparing for,but it is not to be. This is God’s wish for her life.
When asked to comment on some of his fond memories of Mama, he said,”I am not going to reveal that to you because am writing a tribute. I can tell you that her love for this country, it is an outstanding example. For her and Papa,they have made the name Awolowo synonymous with service, service to the country. Her shoes are too big to fill,but it is my hope that the legacy of service to the country in which the name Awolowo symbolized would forever be uphold.”
Meanwhile, prominent Nigerians and groups yesterday continued to stream into the country home of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo to condole with the family on the demise of his wife, Chief (Mrs.) HID Awolowo.
Amongst such prominent Nigerians were the former Nigerian Ambassador to the Phillipines, Dr. Yemi Farounbi; former minister of education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole; the President of the Campaign for Democracy and Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin and the former chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola.
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