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| HID'S Sibling Pa Taiwo Adelana. |
Ninety-four year-old sibling of the late
HID Awolowo, Pa Taiwo Adelana, visited the Ikenne country home of the
Awolowos on
Thursday and wept profusely on learning that her elder
sister had passed on.
Adelana, a retired teacher, was brought
into the Efunyela Hall inside the compound at exactly 3:20pm on a
wheelchair by a relation. He was not aware of his sister’s death until
he got to Ikenne on Thursday.
Wiping tears from his face with a white handkerchief, he could only exclaim, “ha! ha! ha!,” speaking to no one in particular.
The nonagenarian, whose speech was
incoherent, told journalists that he had been dreaming about her late
elder sister since the past three days. This, he said, forced him to
insist that he should be brought to Ikenne to see her sisiter from Lagos
where he lives.
Pa Adelana explained that HID Awolowo had always said he would be one of those that would bury her.
Amidst sobs and tears, he said, “She
(HID) had always said I would be the one to bury her. Oh, now she’s
gone! She really cared for me, ha, ha, ha!”
He was later assisted by a relation to sign the condolence register.
The matriarch of the Awolowo dynasty was
born on November 25, 1915, and passed on last Saturday, exactly 67 days
to her centenary birthday.
Meanwhile, the first male grandson of
the Awolowo dynasty, Segun Awolowo(Jnr.), said on Thursday that his late
grandmother, HID Awolowo was more than a grandmother to him.
He said this on Thursday at the Ikenne home of the family while fielding questions from journalists.
He said he lived with both his late
grandmother and grandfather at Ikenne, from where he attended the then
Ogun State University, now Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye.
He said, “For me, Mama was more than a
grandmother because I actually lived here with both of them. I grew up
here. It was from here I went to the university. They were like parents
to me.”
Awolowo Jnr., who is the Chief Executive
Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, noted that his
grandmother was a pillar of support to the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo,
the entire family and the nation at large.
He stressed that the matriarch of the family lived with the ideals of Papa, even after his demise.
He said, “She had lived a good life.
Although she was frail, her brain was very sharp. For her to pass on
peacefully is a thing of joy. We, in our own human ways and selfishness,
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.
“It is a thing of great joy and it calls
for celebration. She was an epitome of great womanhood. She had become
an example to mothers and wives all over the world for her devotion to
her husband, to the family and the country.”
When asked to comment on some of his
fond memories of Mama, he said, “I am not going to reveal that to you,
because I’m writing a tribute. I can tell you that her love for this
country surpasses what anybody can imagine.
Source: Punch Newspaper
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