The Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has said the state government will immortalise the matriarch of the Awolowo dynasty, the late Chief Hannah Dideolu Awolowo, for her good deeds.
He said this on Sunday while speaking with journalists at the Ikenne country home of the Awolowos, during his condolence visit to the family.
The governor, who just returned from the Holy pilgrimage to Mecca, said HID Awolowo deserved the honour, adding that honouring her would enable generations yet unborn to know about her.
He said, “We will name a lot of things after her, because she deserves it; so that generations yet unborn will come and ask why we named the things after her. And we will tell them that they were the foundations and the pillars that some of us rested on.”
Amosun, who earlier rendered a praise song “What shall we say unto the Lord, all we have to say is thank you Lord,” maintained that Mama had so many children and that she lived an eventful life.
He said, “Mama was the last of the hegemony of human capital available to Ogun State and beyond, a good mother, a devoted, dedicated, supportive and loyal wife. Certainly, the rank of our first generation mothers and wives has been finally depleted.”
He told the family that the state would participate fully in the burial programmes.
The governor said, “We will participate fully. It is our show, though Mama transcends the shores of Ogun State and the South-West.
“Unarguably, Mama will be mourned all over Nigeria for obvious reasons. But what can we say? As I said earlier, it must happen one day; it has happened. It has pleased God to make Mama live this long.
“We are not happy that Mama has left us, but we are celebrating her good legacies.
“It is the end of an era, really. How many of Mama’s peers are still around? Papa Awolowo and his lieutenants have gone, all their wives too.
“And you know that Mama was not just another wife, she was that pillar behind the successes that Papa recorded. So, we will miss her.
“We will continue to revel in the good legacy that she has left behind; it will give us the much-needed tonic and it will be the reason that we will seek to continue to do well. It is the legacy that Mama left behind that will motivate us, because she sacrificed yesterday for our yesterday and tomorrow.”
Responding, HID Awolowo’s oldest surviving child, Rev. Omotola Oyediran, appreciated the governor for his support, love and care towards Mama and the family during her lifetime.
Meanwhile, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, were among dignitaries that paid a condolence visit to the Ikenne country home of the Awolowos on Sunday.
Also a former military governor of Oyo State, Gen. David Jemibewon, also paid a condolence visit to the family.
Pastor Adeboye described Mama Awolowo as “one of the greatest women Nigeria has ever produced.”
“Definitely, Mama is one of the greatest women Nigeria has ever produced. We thank God that she lived well and she departed well. We pray that all other women will emulate her and by the grace of God we will all end well,” he said.
Copyright PUNCH
