Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday mourned Chief Hannah Idowu
Dideolu (HID) Awolowo, who passed on on Saturday at the age of 99 years,
just two months away from her 100 birthday.
Jonathan said the present and future generations of Nigerian women and
youths would miss Mrs. Awolowo, who reportedly died in the company of
her children after fervently praying for them and singing praises to God.
In a statement he signed, the former president expressed dismay at the
news of the demise of Hannah, noting that she would eternally be
remembered as the pillar and backbone of the late sage, Chief Obafemi
Awolowo, foremost nationalist and former Premier of the Western Region.
Jonathan urged all Nigerian women to emulate the virtues of Mrs. Awolowo,
citing how she stood by her husband during his active days in politics;
at the time of adversity and even after he passed away about 30 years.
He therefore said HID Awolowo was a true warrior who stood solidly behind
her husband during the epic struggle for self-rule, through the crusade
for the enthronement of good governance in the First Republic, the fight
against jackboot military dictatorship to the campaign for a united,
prosperous Nigeria before, during and post-civil war years.
He stated that as the matron of the family, she held the forth while her
husband was in prison, noting that she provided the necessary support
which ensured that her husband made a success of his time as the deputy
head of the Federal Executive Council and finance minister during the
civil war years.
The former president said: “It was this strong support that guaranteed
her a place in Awolowo’s autobiography, ‘My Adventures in Power’ where
she was appropriately identified as the ‘jewel of inestimable value.’
“The matriarch of Awolowo family remained, till her death, the political
conscience of the nation, sustaining the fight for equity,
egalitarianism, representative democracy and good governance which
remained the hallmark of her late husband’s political legacies.
“Through her hard work and political sagacity, she turned Ikenne her
homestead in Ogun state a political Mecca of sorts where every political
office holder or those seeking leadership positions came to her for
endorsement.”
He added that HID Awolowo would be remembered for the way she protected
the Awolowo estate like a good shepherd, uniting the family and
maintaining his legacies, especially the Tribune newspapers which endured
as the oldest surviving newspaper in Nigeria, through her visionary
leadership and direction.