Former President Goodluck Jonathan was among dignitaries who thronged
the Ikenne country home of the Awolowos to pay tributes to their
matriarch, Chief Dideolu Awolowo, who passed away on last Saturday.
He
arrived the home at exactly 1.17pm in company with his wife, Patience; a
former Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Mrs. Mulikat
Akande-Adeola; and a former Chairman of the Federal Road Maintenance
Agency, Mr. Jide Adeniji, among others.
Jonathan said the death
of HID Awolowo forced him and his wife out of their “hidding” place,
adding that he had resolved not to go out for one year, after leaving
office.
Condoling with the family, the former President noted
that the deceased enjoyed a rare privilege of living for extra 29 years,
when compared to the biblical prescription of three scores and 10.
He
further described her as a rare mother, whose milk of kindness, milk of
encouragement as well as milk of advice Nigerians still needed.
He
said, “My wife and I are not mourning because mama has passed on. For
me, we believe that it’s a rare privilege to add extra 29 years to the
biblical three scores and ten; it’s not easy.
“Ordinarily, we
wouldn’t have been mourning but mama was a rare mother. She was a woman
of virtue described in the Bible and she was a mother to all of us; a
mother whose milk of kindness we still need, her milk of encouragement
we still need, her milk of advice we still need and today she’s no more
with us.
“We, just like the immediate children, and indeed this
country, have missed her. Within this period, myself and my wife have
been hiding; we don’t even go out. We thought we’ll be hiding for at
least twelve months.
“But in this particular case, we cannot
hide. So, we have come for the condolence and to encourage our brothers
and sisters that we are together. God brought her for all of us. She
just had to be the direct mother of few but she’s a mother to all. We
shall mourn more than even the direct children would.”