SUNDAY AWONIYI: Curtain falls on a Legend

[gwobezentashi]

Tribute to Awoniyi: Nigeria is one head shorter
Written by Is’haq Modibbo Kawu
Friday, 30 November 2007

When about two weeks ago, the story broke that Chief Sunday Awoniyi had escaped death in an accident on the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, I had made frantic contacts with members of his family, especially his son, Dare, and his companion, Alhaji Adamu, Wazirin Fika, to..

know the true state of his condition. It was on the basis of those contacts that we wrote a front page report on the accident the following day.

What struck me was the depth of love that ordinary people, from all backgrounds, have for Chief Sunday Awoniyi. On the Daily Trust website, there were several sincere wishes for a quick recovery from the accident. The underlying current of thought, was the devotion to truth and the well-being of the Nigerian people, which Chief Awoniyi had come
to be known for, all over our country. There was of course the passion to hold very dearly, the memory of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the former Premier of Northern Nigeria.

Chief Sunday Awoniyi was one of the remarkable young men of the early post-colonial period who helped to build the Civil Service in Northern Nigeria, which became a true redoubt for service to the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Northern Region; and in the process of their service, they built long lasting friendships and political alliances which helped to define the very best of the Nigerian situation for a very long time into the future of our country, even with its often contradictory outcomes.

A witty raconteur, in the very best tradition of that phrase, Chief Awoniyi had a superb memory, and could recall even the most obscure event of the early years of independence, especially in Northern Nigeria, to help illustrate an event he is helping to clarify, in the present. This ability to illuminate the historical condition must also be placed alongside his genuine sense of loyalty to his friendships and his old colleagues, spanning decades of transaction and relationship. But if he had that ability to make a historical excursion, it is also striking that Chief Awoniyi also possessed the heart of the young, because of that ability he had to effortless draw the empathy of the younger generation; young people feel drawn to him because they know that he would be willing to listen sympathetically to their concerns, and he was ever ready to provide very sincere mentoring, advise and guidance.

He was one of the earliest victims of the vindictive politics of General Olusegun Obasanjo, and his insights about the man and what the ruling PDP became, in the past few years, helped considerably to organise a nation-wide constituency of resistance to the tenure elongation project, which almost derailed Nigeria’s democratic process.

Chief Awoniyi has been the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in the past few years, and his leadership of the socio-political organisation of Northern Nigeria, was accepted all around the North largely because of his devotion to the best interests of its peoples, all through his outstanding career as a civil servant and politician. It was Adamu Adamu who captured effectively the enigma of Chief Awoniyi: "Neither Hausa nor Fulani, yet (Awoniyi) is recognized by all as the embodiment of the complete Hausa-Fulani personality. Here is this strange man who surpasses Fulani in PULAKU, who beats the Hausa at the display of KARA; and has retained all the virtues of minority ness in a pluralist geographical entity" Tragically, it is that wonderful man that we have lost.

Chief Sunday Awoniyi was a genuine Nigerian patriot, who served with honesty at a time when public service meant commitment to the public good. It is such an example of dedicated service which Nigeria needs to learn from. Unfortunately, Chief Sunday Awoniyi is no longer here to offer his counsel to those attempting to build Nigeria a new. With his death, Nigeria is a head shorter today, and Chief Sunday Awoniyi was one of our best heads indeed.

Daily Trust newspaper- the online edition | Tribute to Awoniyi: Nigeria is one head shorter - When about two weeks ago, the story broke that... | His, Awoniyi, Chief, Nigeria, Sunday

S.B. Awoniyi: The Life and Exit of Sardauna Keremi
By Sufuyan Ojeifo, 11.30.2007

A luminous epoch in socio-cultural and political crusading has ended somewhat abruptly with the death Wednesday night in a London hospital of elder statesman and Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi. He passed on at the age of 75. He would have been 76 years on earth if he had made it to April 30, next year.

But the outcome of an auto crash along Abuja-Kaduna road, which at first appeared only ghastly, later turned awry and became irredeemably fatal, putting a seal of finality to an era that was lived out fully in fostering love of country and the service to humanity.

Awoniyi, while alive, meant so many things to so many people. He was a quintessential administrator, a civil servant per excellence, a father, a disciplined leader who did not stain his hands with filthy lucre. In death, his testimonial is speaking for him. Associates, friends and many who were close to him attest to his good nature, his God-fearing and man-caring attitude to life.

For a man who emerged from the shadows of the late Premier of the Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello (the Sardauna of Sokoto), under whom he worked in various departments, including secretariat and security, Awoniyi had become so sucked into the public life style of the Sardauna that he was widely referred to as Sardauna Keremi (Little Sardauna) in political circles in the Northern part of the country.

Everywhere he went, he preached the gospel of transparency, accountability, probity and proper conduct in public office ala Sardauna. He was never tired of using the late Sardauna as a reference point. Were it not for the cold hands of death that snatched him, Awoniyi would not have stopped in telling those who cared to listen to him, the virtues of sharply-focused and public spirited leadership that the late Sardauna exemplified.

Awoniyi had worked with the Sardauna in Kaduna, the regional capital of the Northern part of the country. In appreciation of his commitment and loyal service to the Sardauna and the fostering of unity in the North within the context of the oneness in a larger Nigerian nation, he was unanimously elevated to the position of ACF Chairman in 2003.

While in the saddle, he helped to strengthen the ACF, using his wealth of experience to redirect it in the pursuit of greater unity in the North. He also helped the Forum to get out of its financial insolvency by rallying leaders in that part of the country to make financial contributions to the Forum. His term had expired in December last year, but the leaders of the Forum would not allow him to disengage.

Nevertheless, Awoniyi, acting in concert with other leaders of the Forum, including the Secretary General, Col. Hamid Ali, had set machinery in motion for his disengagement. Awoniyi had confided in this reporter very recently that the leaders of the Forum were looking for a suitable leader to take over from him as Chairman. He had mentioned a prominent Northerner from the North Central Zone as a possible replacement.

Three days to the ill-fated journey, Awoniyi had said that he had begun the process of his planned handover. He was actually putting together a handover note and a speech to go with it, an enterprise into which he had committed so much energy and time.
But as fate would have it, it was along Kaduna road, on which he had being travelling over the past 50 years and through which he had always reconnected with his home in Kaduna, Abuja and Mopa in Kogi State that he got involved in the accident that terminated his sojourn on mother earth.

The elder statesman, no doubt, left indelible marks in the sand of time. As a public administrator, he discharged himself creditably; he left legacies in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Petroleum Resources where he worked as Permanent Secretary for five and two years respectively. In politics, he defined a trajectory and cut for himself the image of an incorruptible politician. He was one of those who signed the resolution to form the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He single-handedly wrote the party’s manifesto.
But when he was rigged out of the election to the position of the national chairman of the party on November 19-21 at the Eagle Square in Abuja, he and other colleagues of his, including Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Alhaji Asheik Jarma and Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke had written a powerful letter to former president Olusegun Obasanjo asking him to disown the largely rigged convention that produced Chief Banabas Gemade.
Awoniyi had said at a press conference: "That such a blatant rigging could have taken place right under the eyes of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his deputy, both beneficiaries of the Jos transparency, is painful to many party members. It is painful to me partly as the Chairman of the Jos Convention; partly as one of the key players in the founding of the PDP; partly as one who believes that the PDP is God's latest donation to Nigeria for the well-being of its people. "

“It is painful also for me as one who coordinated, at the instance of the President, a six-day seminar for the prospective ministers at which transparency and accountability echoed again and again, as virtues on which the incoming Obasanjo administration will not compromise. It is painful for me because I, and other public officers (Permanent Secretaries mainly) of my day, spearheaded and ran an eleven-day seminar for the present generation of permanent secretaries, to prepare them for the new direction of integrity, transparency and accountability preached by the President."

“How disillusioned many of those officers we lectured for eleven days must feel today after the flagrant disregard of honesty at the Eagle Square. I have spoken passionately at the behest of the powers that be to gatherings of people about the need to return to the path of rectitude in public life. I never for a moment thought that there could be such yawning gap between verbal official exhortation to honesty on the one hand and the practice of honesty by example, on the part of officialdom on the other. How can we fulfill a programme of moral renewal without moral exemplary in our own actions."
The insistence of Awoniyi and his colleagues that the party should do what was proper led to their expulsion from the party. It was perhaps the greatest betrayal of his political life. He had withdrawn from politics. He had quoted the words of the Negro Spiritual: “Free at last, free at last, free at last.” He had said that he was blest in that he had left the congregation of the unrighteous and duplicitous electoral manipulators. He had from there on concentrated on his engagements with the ACF where he first served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees before the chairmanship of the Central Working Committee was forced on him by the leaders in a coup masterminded by the late Alhaji Liman Ciroma.
Before the PDP and the ACF outings, he had been a member of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) on which platform he was elected senator in the ill-fated Third Republic. He was in the vanguard of the formation of the unregistered All Nigeria Congress (ANC). He had moved into the PDP with his associates. Perhaps, the greatest service he did to the country before he passed on, was his anti-third term posture in the heat of which he was attacked by gun men on March 12, last year. The gun men had hit his head with the butt of their gun. He survived the attack then. He did not survive the auto-crash in which he was involved penultimate Monday. S.B. Awoniyi, the Sardauna Keremi is gone. When comest another one?
THISDAY ONLINE

Obasanjo, Idris shocked 30/11/2007


Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday expressed shock and disbelief over the sudden death of Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi.

In a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, Obasanjo said: "Awoniyi’s place in the Nigerian polity and development as a civil servant, politician and patriot, will be very difficult to fill.’’

The former President offered his condolences to the bereaved family.

Governor Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State has also expressed shock over Awoniyi’s death.

"It is sad. It is unbelievable," the governor told NAN. "I am feeling so bad. I still find it unbelievable."

"It is a loss not only to Kogi State, but to the nation. He was a national leader."

"I have set up a committee on his funerals. We believe it is our duty to organise the funerals."

The state government has undertaken to offset the hospital bill of the deceased.

The government is also considering declaring a work-free day in honour of the elder statesman.

The former Nigerian Ambassador to Sudan, Alhaji Usman Bello, described Awoniyi as "visionary, hardworking, humane and, above all, a patriotic and detribalised leader".

Bello, a political contemporary of the deceased, said Kogi and Nigeria would miss Awoniyi.

He called on the state and the federal governments to name some important institutions after him.

Senator Smart Adeyemi (PDP-Kogi) described it as "a very bad news to us. He was a leader many of us looked up to."

Adeyemi said: "Awoniyi’s position will be difficult to occupy, because he was a man of strong will and strength of character. We will surely miss him."

Also commenting, a veteran journalist in Lokoja, Chief Idris Obahaopo, described the death of Awoniyi as a great loss not only to the people of Kogi State but the nation as a whole.

"He was one of the greatest assets to the political map of this country, considering his numerous contributions to the socio-economic and political development of the country," he said.

Mr Ihiabe Positive, a member of the House of Representatives, said: "The country will miss Chief Awoniyi’s elderly and gentle approach to issues of tremendous national importance."
Obasanjo, Idris shocked

Arewa: It’s a bombshell 30/11/2007


The pan-Northern socio-cultural organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF) yesterday described the death of its chairman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, as " a bomb shell".

ACF secretary, Colonel Hamid Ali (rtd) told reporters at the 11a, Sokoto road secretariat of the Northern elders forum that the forum and indeed the entire North would miss the commitment and concern of Awoniyi.

According to him, the late Awoniyi devoted his time and services not only to the region but the entire country, adding that nobody could enter the big shoes left behind by the late ACF boss. Said he:"The news came to us like a bomb. It came to us at about mid day. That was the most shocking news to us in recent time. The gentleman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi lived and died serving the people. He was on his way to attend ACF meeting when he had the accident and from then, the result is his final departure to mother earth.

"We in the ACF are aggrieved. This was a chairman who had devoted his time to the services of this organisation and by extension the North and Nigeria as a whole. So, to lose him at this time when we need his fatherly advice and commitment to service is most unfortunate and a great shock to us."

"I must tell you, I am short of words. Honestly, I am in a state of shock in such a way that if I should say anything, I may not be as articulate as I would love to put things. But suffice to say that we are praying fervently for the repose of the soul of the departed and I will pray that God in His infinite mercy will grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss."

"His commitment, service and most especially his advice and articulate ways of analysing issues, including his a foresight in giving direction to the organisation will be greatly missed. Since he became the chairman of the organisation, we have the best administration in terms of focus, commitment in addressing issues that affects the Nigerian people."

"His death has created a big vacuum. I hope that we will gather ourselves together but certainly, we cannot replace him. I must confess that we can’t get somebody that will replace Awoniyi. We can only hope to get someone that will work hard but say somebody to replace him will be very difficult," he added

Arewa: It’s a bombshell

Mark: He was a principled politician 30/11/2007


From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja


Senate President, Senator David Mark yesterday expressed shock and described the death of the foremost elder statesman and nationalist, as a great loss to the nation.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, Senator Mark lamented the death of Awoniyi at the time his experience is needed to further firm democratic root in Nigeria .

Recalling the contributions of Awoniyi as a super Permanent Secretary, and a distinguished Senator in the propagation of democratic ideals, he stressed that Awoniyi was a principled, honest and dedicated Nigerian.

He noted that Awoniyi was a detribalized Nigerian who did not discriminate between Christians and Muslims.

The statement reads: "The position of Awoniyi is always very clear on national issues. He does not prevaricate. He never left anyone in doubt as to where he stood. He did that honestly, objectively and with the fear of God."

"The quintessential, eloquent, and pragmatic Awoniyi would be missed by all." The senate president concluded.

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu said: "Chief Awoniyi will be remembered for his contribution to the development of the civil service, first in the Northern Nigerian Government and later at the centre. He was indeed, one of the true founders of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)."

Mark: He was a principled politician

Sunday Awoniyi, ex-PDP board chairman, dies in London - Kogi gov declares 3-day mourning period, as FG, OBJ, IBB, Atiku, Mark, Saraki, others mourn
By Our Reporters - 30.11.2007

THE Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, is dead. Awoniyi, 75, died at about 11.00 p.m. on Wednesday at a London hospital where he was receiving treatment following a road accident.


The news of Awoniyi’s death was broken on Thursday afternoon in Abuja by his first son, Yomi. A statement signed by Yomi said he died as a result of injuries he sustained in the auto accident on November 19.


According to the statement, the burial arrangement for the late ACF boss would be announced at a later date. A friend of the Awoniyi family told the Nigerian Tribune that the accident which led to the death of the politician, occurred in Kaduna.


He said the accident occured when the vehicle conveying Awoniyi and one of his aides ran into a gully in an attempt to avoid a car ahead of it which had a burst tyre.


He said Awoniyi’s condition was not critical after the accident, though he sustained an injury in his left arm. However, his family decided to fly him to London for intensive care and treatment.


The two other occupants of the vehicle were said to have escaped unhurt. A statement by the Awoniyi family read: “The family of Chief Sunday Awoniyi, the Aro of Mopa, announces his passing away in a London hospital on Wednesday, 28 November, 2007 at about 11.00 p.m. as a result of the injuries he sustained in auto accident on Monday, 19 November 2007."


“Born on 30 of April 1932, he was aged 75. May his soul rest in peace. Burial arrangement will be announced at a later a date”. One of his closest friends, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, expressed shock at the death, describing it as a personal loss and a huge loss to the nation.


Tukur stressed that the deceased was one of the country’s most upright politicians, and that the vacuum his death had created in politics would be very difficult to fill.


A former member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Duro Meseko, described Awoniyi as a political legend that Nigeria could not afford to miss at this point in its political history.


He said Awoniyi’s death was a sad occurrence to the people of Okunland in Kogi State as well as to the state and the entire federation.


The governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, described the death of Awoniyi as a rude shock to the people of the state and the entire people of the nation.


In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Billy Adedamola, and made available to newsmen on Thursday, the governor said that the late politician was a great nationalist that fought for the enthronement of true democracy in the country.


According to the governor, the contributions of Chief Awoniyi to the economic growth of the country were very enormous. “We received the death of Chief Awoniyi with shock and it will be very difficult to fill the vaccuum that would be left behind by the politician and pray to almighty Allah to give the family and his political associates the fortitude to bear the loss.


Saraki said that there was no doubt that the entire people of the country would miss his fatherly advice on the political direction of the country.


Former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, described the death of Awoniyi as a huge loss to the nation. Chief Osoba, in a telephone interview with journalists in Abeokuta, said that the nation had lost a dedicated civil servant and an astute administrator who remained forthright to the end.


The former governor said that he had known the late elder statesman since 1967, saying “he was brilliant, courageous, forthright and dogged. He was a man who held tenaciously to anything he believed in.


“For the 40 years that we have been friends, I have found him to be a dedicated civil servant and an astute administrator. Once he put his hands on the plough to fight a cause, he never looked back”.


Senator Smart Adeyemi has condoled with the people of Kogi State and Nigeria at large over the death of t Awoniyi. The Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs representing Kogi West Senatorial District, speaking with newsmen in Ilorin, described Awoniyi as a man of the people who had the interest of the people, particularly the less privileged, at heart.


According to him, the late Awoniyi brought meaningful development to the people of the state in general and his constituency in particular, adding that the political life of the elderstatesman would always be in the mind of the people.


“Senator Awoniyi was our father when he was alive, he brought meaningful development to our people, we will miss him,” he said. Meanwhile, the Kogi State government has declared three days of mourning over the death of Chief Awoniyi.


In a press release issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Richard Elesho, the state government said it received the death of the late politician with shock.


He stated that the government had decided to pay the medical expenses of the late politician. Also, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said that he received the news of the death of Chief Awoniyi with shock and sorrow.


Atiku described the late ACF boss as one of Nigeria’s leading lights in the present generation, extolling his virtues as a dedicated, honest and patriotic public servant, who, he said, served his country to the best of his ability.


“As a civil servant, businessman, politician and statesman, he was known and respected for his hard work, thoroughness, forthrightness and uncommon candour. He exemplified that rare quality of a true Nigerian who held tenaciously to his religious belief and ethnic identity in the midst of friends and associates of different convictions”


Atiku recounted his last encounter with the late Awoniyi, stating that just a few days before he had a car crash, he had sent “me a text message on my cell phone in which he counselled me not to lose faith in our dear country.

He said “The message, which I have not deleted till date, reads: “Dear Turaki, I know you are very disappointed with this thoroughly abused country. Please don’t lose faith in this country because it is a great country.”


“The message was so touching that I immediately called him back to assure him that “I will never lose faith in our dear country”. I could hear a deep sense of relief in his voice as I spoke.


“As one of those who laid the foundations of this country, I suspect that he was a little disappointed that Nigeria was yet to live up to the expectations of her founding fathers and mothers. But he never lost hope in Nigeria’s ability to redeem herself and become a success story in Africa.”


The Senate President, Senatior David Mark in a statement signed on his behalf by his Special Adviser(Media), Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said that the loss of Awoniyi was a great loss to the nation’s democratic development.


“The position of Awoniyi is very clear on national issues. He does not prevaricate. He never left anyone in doubt as to where he stood. He did that honestly, objectively and with the fear of God,” Mark said


Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, on Thursday in Abuja described the death of Awoniyi as shocking and a colossal loss.


General Babangida’s reaction came through a statement issued by his spokesman, Prince Kazeem Afegbua. According to Babangida, the death of Awoniyi “is not only shocking to me, but made me speechless,” even as he further described the late Awoniyi as a great man, wordsmith, a firm believer in the unity of Nigeria and who was a stickler for principle, rule of law and due process.


Also, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Oladimeji Bankole, on Thursday lamented the demise of Chief Awoniyi, describing it as a great loss to the nation.


The Speaker said the entire members of the House of Representatives were shocked to learn about the death of Chief Awoniyi.


He described the late Aro of Mopa as a statesman, politician of note and senator in the aborted Third Republic and pointed out that he would be remembered as a de-tribalised Nigerian.


Also, former President Olusegun Obasanjo condoled with the family of the late Chief Awoniyi, describing his death as shocking and tragic.


Chief Obasanjo’s condolence was relayed to the Nigerian Tribune through the telephone. He said that the late national chairman of the ACF meant so much to the politics of Nigeria.


He said Awoniyi left large shoes in the Nigerian politics too big to be filled at the moment, even as he described him as a fine politician and seasoned civil servant.


Also, the Federal Government described the death of Chief Awoniyi as a loss to the nation. According to a press statement signed by the Minister for Information and Communication, Mr. John Odey, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Jos, Plateau State, the Federal Government described him as elder statesman and erudite politician and technocrat who would be missed by all.


“Chief Awoniyi was a major contributor to the Nigerian political and economic development and, indeed, one of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria,” the statement read.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE - News

Awoniyi advised me not to lose faith in Nigeria – Atiku
Compiled by Mojeed Muskilu, Niyi Odebode, Jude Owuamanam


Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Thursday reacted to the death of Chief Sunday Awoniyi saying the late elder statesman recently sent him a text message urging him not to lose faith in Nigeria.

In a condolence message made available to our correspondent in Abuja, Abubakar also described the late politician as a dedicated public servant and politician of uncommon candour.

The statement reads, “It is with a deep sense of sorrow and shock that I received today the news of the death of Chief Sunday Awoniyi, the Aro of Mopa and Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum.

“Chief Awoniyi was one of the leading lights of a generation of dedicated, honest and patriotic public servants who served this country to the best of their ability.

“As a civil servant, businessman, politician and statesman, he was known and respected for his hard work, thoroughness, forthrightness and uncommon candour.

“He exemplified that rare quality of a true Nigerian who held tenaciously to his religious belief and ethnic identity in the midst of friends and associates of different convictions.

“A few days before the car crash that would eventually claim his life, he had sent me a text message on my cell phone in which he counselled me not to lose faith in our dear country.

“The message, which I have not deleted till date, reads: “Dear Turaki, I know you are very disappointed with this thoroughly abused country. Please, don’t lose faith in this country because it is a great country.”

The message was so touching that I immediately called him back to assure him that “I will never lose faith in our dear country”. I could hear a deep sense of relief in his voice as I spoke.

“As one of those who laid the foundation of this country, I suspect that he was a little disappointed that Nigeria was yet to live up to the expectations of her founding fathers and mothers.

“But he never lost hope in Nigeria’s ability to redeem herself and become a success story in Africa .

“Looking back now, it would seem that Chief Awoniyi had a premonition of his death and he wanted the assurances of key stakeholders that his beloved country will live and fulfil its manifest destiny as one of the greatest nations on earth.

“I believe that there is no better tribute we can pay to this great son of Nigeria than for all patriots to rededicate themselves to the service of our country.

“I pray to Almighty Allah to grant his soul eternal rest and to give his family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. Chief Awoniyi made our lives richer by simply living his life as a de-tribalised, brilliant, articulate and committed Nigerian.”

Awoniyi advised me not to lose faith in Nigeria – Atiku

[dem]

Yes. Unfortunately another Nigeria big man (some would say one of the owners) died an avoidable death because the Nigerian State over which they had and continue to preside cannot offer effective health care facilities.

Very sad, all around.

[DoubleWahala]

May his soul rest in peace.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday expressed shock and disbelief over the sudden death of Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi.

In a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, Obasanjo said: "Awoniyi’s place in the Nigerian polity and development as a civil servant, politician and patriot, will be very difficult to fill.’’

Was this delivered tongue-in-cheek? Just wondering out loud.

Moving on, something has to be said about us Nigerians. Here was a man, who at 75 years of age was still a major force to be reckoned with. He was strident and scathing in his opposition and criticism, whenever there was need for it. He was also considerably influential.

My major fear and/or concern is that the younger ones are not being groomed to take-over effectively. There is something strangely anomalous about a situation where (age-wise) the likes of Awoniyi and a whole lot of others in his generation, are still calling the shots and framing the issues for consideration.

Look at Adedibu. Look at Enahoro. See Ojukwu, or Ekwueme. Or is it Clark? What of OBJ...or even Anenih and Ogbemudia? These men have been recycled ad nauseum. Soon, the IBB and co. will become members of the over 70 club, and you know what? As long as they're alive, they'll always find ways of remaining at the epicenter of things.

It is as much a testament to a collective failure of the younger generation(s) to take its rightful place in the affairs of our country, as it is to their (older generation) stubborn refusal to bow-out gracefully.

And in a way, who can blame the older ones? Just look at the apparent buffoonery unfolding at the executive level of governance...where the younger generation is supposed to be in charge?

Abeg, leff mata for mathias, o'jare.

DW

[katampe]

The man's life is a metaphor for what is possible in Nigeria. Sunday Awoniyi gives us a window into the potentials of the Nigerian nation. He is neither Hausa-Fulani, nor Muslim, yet he is revered in the North. He had a deep sense of what it was to be a northerner, even though a Christian and a Yoruba man.

I wish someday at the national stage we can have a politician that appeals to share values across the length and breadth of Nigeria. It is something that has been missing in most Nigerian politicians.Awoniyi had that quality, that halo that was effective in the north, I wish that it could be replicated across the country.

May the man's soul rest in peace.

[VOR]

A sad loss to the nation. May his soul rest in peace.

Another death caused by Nigerian roads!! This is one we read about, what about the 1000's gone before and those waiting to happen.

DW
The younger generation that should take over are not allowed to by some of these geriatrics. The old brigade only encourage/assist 'nuisance value' younger Nigerians to power so they can control from the sidelines. That is why you have people like Akala and co running things. Can you imagine people like Akala as Kingmaker, in say 10-20 years? That is scary!!!

When will they give us good roads in that country? How many more souls need to die needlessly?

At least, if these our so-called leaders are not affected by Power (wit)Holding, since they have got their generating sets or poverty and insecurity in the land. They are affected by these roads too abi.

UMYA Baby abeg give us good road networks in Nigeria biko!!

[Anon]

A sad loss to the nation. May his soul rest in peace.

Another death caused by Nigerian roads!! This is one we read about, what about the 1000's gone before and those waiting to happen.

DW
The younger generation that should take over are not allowed to by some of these geriatrics. The old brigade only encourage/assist 'nuisance value' younger Nigerians to power so they can control from the sidelines. That is why you have people like Akala and co running things. Can you imagine people like Akala as Kingmaker, in say 10-20 years? That is scary!!!

I can imagine other future King makers oh outside Akala. Uba, Ibori, Igbinedion Jnr, Fayose, Nnamani ebano. Dem plenty!!!

[VOR]

I can imagine other future King makers oh outside Akala. Uba, Ibori, Igbinedion Jnr, Fayose, Nnamani ebano. Dem plenty!!!

Anon

Biko my broda..........fear dey catch me well well now o. May God have mercy on us.

[gwobezentashi]

PASSAGE: A life: Sunday Awoniyi (1932-2007)
Written by Hussain J. Ibrahim
Saturday, 01 December 2007

He was marked for fame and greatness, even as a young man, having worked closely with the beloved premier of Northern Nigeria, late Sir Ahmadu Bello, as Deputy Secretary. It was a period that witnessed one of the most selfless and most visionary leadership in the country. Even though a Yoruba by tribe and a Christian, Sunday Awoniyi was quickly adopted by the premier in his drive to uplift the people of Northern Nigeria to achieve the best they are capable of. This is in the firm belief that the growth and stability of the North portends greater growth and stability for the whole of Nigeria.

He proved to be a faithful disciple, keeping the faith even after the demise of the great Ahmadu Bello. Higher responsibilities now beckoned. He was made Permanent Secretary, Kwara State Ministry of Finance from 1968 to 1970, and later Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, from 1971 to 1975. He was also Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources from 1975 to 1977.

His mentor, the great Sardauna was a charismatic and grassroots politician, and it was only a matter of time before Awoniyi would trail the same path, like a true disciple. He resigned voluntarily from the public service in 1977 and in the same year contested and won election into the Constituent Assembly to represent the then Oyi local government area. He was elected Senator in 1992 representing Kogi West Senatorial District and served as a member of the Constitutional Conference from 1994 to 1995.

After this a period of political anomie set in with the country threatened by a looming dictatorship probably worse than it had experienced in over two decades of military rule where one after the other some of the cardinal virtues- selflessness, discipline, honesty and transparency- promoted by the Sardauna were rubbished. He teamed up with other progressives from the north and south of the country to form the G-34 which demanded the exit of the military from power. After the demise of Military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, the G-34 metamorphosed into the PDP, now Nigeria’s political behemoth.

But alas the damage was probably too far gone for him and his fellow progressives to make much of a difference. This he realized when he contested in 1999 for the national chairmanship of the PDP. Any political party in the country would have been proud to have him as its chairman, considering his formidable record of achievement in the public sector and as a politician and statesman. But then, not the PDP. He lost the election, a somewhat strange development, crying all the while that he was rigged out.

Prophecy fulfilled

It turned out he was right after all. But at first his protest was dismissed as the ranting of an old man out of touch with the realities and changing fortunes of politics and a bad loser. The PDP became what he accused it of and more: a rigging machinery, a political thug and a conduit for corruption. It now became obvious that such merits as he possessed were not fit for the new political order in the country. Gradually, the country was confronted by another looming dictatorship that reared its head in the form of the controversial third term project of the Obasanjo administration. While some politicians collaborated in the horrorful saga out of greed, and others hid their head in the sands like ostriches out of fear, he openly called on the former leader to denounce his ambition to extend his tenure. His plea was passionate: "I beg of you, for your own good and for our country’s good, make a simple announcement to say that you are not interested in third term and that you plan to go to Ota in 2007." His plea was of course ignored as, once again, the rantings of a loser, but the person for whose benefit it was made would later see the wisdom of it as the move became highly unpopular, prompting the National Assembly to shoot it down, but inflicting irreparable damage to the reputation of the former ruler.

At this period he basically became a peace builder and a bridge builder with his leadership of the Northern Nigerian socio-cultural organisaion, Arewa Consultative Forum. He is now most likely to be found reminiscing about the past and dispensing advice to the youths. In a way he became an icon for the north, reminding the people of that once beautiful era when leadership was driven by vision, purposefulness and selflessness. He brings back memories of that indefatigable symbol of leadership and selflessness- Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto.

Such a sweet irony: he was neither Hausa nor Fulani but here he is raising nostalgic memories of the Sokoto prince. But it is not a surprise; if anyone needed evidence that the Sardauna was never a tribalist but a firm believer in the inherent virtues of individuals all he need do is to take a look at Awoniyi, a Yoruba man but nevertheless Arewa to the core. It was a most revolutionary achievement, both for teacher and disciple, confirming once again that we could build that Nigeria of our dream that will transcend ethnic, selfish and whatever form of parochial divide that has continue to stall our growth as a nation. The dominant virtue should be merit, moral and spiritual integrity, as attested by his life.

At 75 he had a premonition that the time to draw the curtain is well on the way.

His son Dare Awoniyi was reported to have said that his father was "speaking funny things about death" of recent. He had probably made his peace but down to the very end he never wavered in his desire to serve the people as he was on his way on yet another assignment for the Arewa Consultative Forum when the accident took place.

The end came in London, but the beginning of the end came in Kaduna, along the Doka expressway. It is apt, in a way because it is in Kaduna, as a faithful scribe of the Sardauna that the journey to greatness began for him. Adieu, Sunday Awoniyi; the north has lost a faithful friend and the nation one of its truest statesman.

Daily Trust newspaper- the online edition | PASSAGE: A life: Sunday Awoniyi (1932-2007) - He was marked for fame and greatness, even as a... | His, Country, Awoniyi, After, Political

[Abraxas]

Hi, folks!

Seeing that the Nigerian political elite, especially members of the geriatric wing of the status quo, have persistently refused to improve on the healthcare services and roads in Nigeria, it appears like they have willingly opted out to continue to go overseas to obtain excellent medical services whenever they are sick, or even die after being casualties of the gory accidents induced by the bad roads that they and their peers refuse to repair. That is life.

Papa wey say sey 'ihm pikin no go nack, 'ihm too no go get grandpikin!

Muchas gracias.

Don Juan-Carlos ABRAXAS (III)

[EezeeBee]

Three comments:

a) Define 'Legend'
b) Death also occurs in foreign hospitals
c) No matter how many cars/drivers one has, it is still the same roads that we all travel on.

Strive to improve circumstances for EVERYONE; Even YOU may benefit!

[gwobezentashi]

Awoniyi: Exit of Ahmadu Bello’s inheritor
Written by Olaolu Oladipo
Saturday, 01 December 2007

Death has once again bared its ugly fangs in the nation’s political landscape; this time, it has taken away a quint essential technocrat and politican, Chief Sunday Mobolorunduro Awoniyi, who until his death was the Chairman of the pan-northern amalgam, Arewa Consultative Forum. He died in a London hospital from effects of injuries sustained in an auto crash on his way to Kaduna. The crash occurred after Doka village, about 60 kilometres away from Kaduna.

Conflict of Identity

The late politician was a very intriguing personality whose lifestyle evoked a lost contradictions. By birth he was a Yorubaman but rather chose to align politically with the north, on this score he attracted a lot of critism to himself. When asked whether his affinity to the north perceived in some quarters as Islamic in outlook has eroded his identity, he answered, “No one can be more Yoruba that Awoniyi; no one can be more Christian than Sunday.” Awoniyi has never ran short of supporters who have never shied away from defending him when the need arises. A prominent journalist based in the north, Mallam Adamu Adamu wrote thus on Awoniyi, “Neither Hausa nor Fulani, yet (Awoniyi) is recognised by all as the embodiment of the complete Hausa-Fulani personality. Here is this strange man who surpasses Fulani in pulaku, who beats the Hausa at a display of kara; and has retained all the virtues of minorityness (sic) in a pluralist geographical entity.”

His politics

In the build up to the current democratic order, he was a member of the eminent personalities known as the Group of 34, who founded the Peoples Democratic Party in 1998. He was elected the pioneer chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party at its maiden convention. His desire to become the National Chairman of the party could not materialise as he was said to have fallen out of favour with the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who later opted for Chief Barnabas Gemade. On this, he wrote Obasanjo, his former boss, “...rejoice with me as a fellow Christian that from the bottom of my heart I have forgiven those who violated my privacy and wounded me.”

Association with Sir Ahmadu Bello

Although Sir Ahmadu Bello died almost five decades ago, he relished with deep feeling of nostalgia, his working relations with the revered leader. When asked to comment on the man at a public function in honour of Sir Ahmadu Bello, he said, “He was a giant personality. He was imposing in figure and size, and he dressed like a prince. His personality was such that you could not but notice him. He was intimidating for people who did not know him and fear him. But the man was very simple.”

To Awoniyi, the loss of the Sokoto prince was a colossal one as according to him, it slowed down the pace of development in the north. He regretted that the region would have made much progress in its efforts to develop, a fault he readily placed at the door steps of the current leaders of the region. “Most of the legacies Sardauna left behind have not been kept. They have not been kept at all. I drive by the roadside today. I see children and I see flies getting into their eyes and large tummies due to malnutrition. Such things couldn’’t have happened during his life time.”

Childhood and career

Born in Mopa in present day Mopa/Moro Local Government on 30th April 1932 to Pa Solomon Iwalaye and Dorcas Omoboja. He attended Baptist Day School in his native Mopa between 1938 and 1944. In between 1945 and 1946, he was at the Holy Trinity School in Lokoja from where proceeded to the Provincial Middle School in Okene between 1947 and 1949. He also attended the famous Barewa College, Zaria where the creme of emerging elite in the north were trained for future leadership. Awoniyi’s quest for knowledge saw him attending the defunct Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology, an institution that was later upgraded to the status of a university and named after his mentor and benefactor, Sir Ahmadu Bello. He was there between 1954 and 1956. Thereafter, he went to the then University College (now University of Ibadan) between 1956 and 1959. He also went to the then prestigious Imperial Defence College (now Royal College of Defence Studies from 1970 to 1971.

After completing his formal education at home and abroad, he was employed by the colonial government as a District Officer, a rare privilege in those days where such positions are reserved for the British nationals. Upon the attainment of independence, he was inherited by the then Northern Regional Government who appointed him Senior Assistant Secretary (Security) in the office of the Premier. Before finally settling down to work in the regional government, Awoniyi worked briefly with the Ministry of Mines and Power but had to revert in 1962. He was to become the Private Secretary as well as the Secretary to the Executive Council in the same Northern Regional Government of the late Premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello KBE, among other administrative duties and responsibilities he discharged then. He

Fight against third term bid

When the rumour tenure elongation scheme of the former president was assuming feverish pitch, Awoniyi was one of the voices of patriotism who asked Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. In a letter he wrote to the former president, he said, “I beg of you for your own good, make a simple announce to say you are not interested in third term and that you plan to go back to Otta in 2007.”

Leadership of the ACF

At the time his services were dispensed with by the PDP, he found solace in the pan-northen amalgam, Arewa Consultative Forum where he was elected the Chairman. Since then, he had spared no efforts in criticising the party which it accused of not safeguarding the tenets of democracy in its day-to-day activities. Under his leadership he tried to re-invent the old concept of one monolithic north of his boss, the task that was very dear to his heart until he died.
Vanguard Online Edition - Awoniyi: Exit of Ahmadu Bello’s inheritor

[Ochi Dabari]

A few weeks ago, Ian Smith, the racist Rhodesian died, and someone blamed some of us for hailing his death. That is not going to make me shy away from saying that Sunday Awoniyi would only be missed by his masters in the North. To us in the Middlebelt of Nigeria, he was TOTALLY USELESS, apart from the fact that he was among the "elders" that did nothing for the infrastructure of the country. Isn't it ironic that they are dying on the same bad roads as everyone else? You could build your mansion, sink your borehole, install all the security gadgets, and can fly overseas, but you would still move around in Nigeria, full of angry youth that have turned to armed robbery. If these don't get you, the bad roads will, or one of the kabu-kabu planes will collide with your private plane in the air!

May Mr Awoniyi rest in peace, but he was one SABO the middlebelt is glad to lose. The ACF can find another one.

ochi

[gwobezentashi]

Yar’Adua Mourns Awoniyi’s Demise
From Sufuyan Ojeifo and Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 12.01.2007

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday expressed deep sorrow at the death of the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi.

Also, former President Olusegun Obasanjo sent a personal letter to the family of late Awoniyi, yesterday in which he commiserated with his relatives over the death of the elder statesman.

Yar’Adua in his condolence message recalled the numerous outstanding contributions of Chief Awoniyi to the growth of the federal public service where he rose to the rank of permanent secretary; his active participation in party politics and his abiding faith in a united and prosperous Nigeria.

Presidential spokesman, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi in a statement released in Abuja said the President regreted the death of Chief Awoniyi and challenged Nigerians, especially the younger generation, “to learrn from his legacy of dedication to the ideals of democracy and the virtue of displaying integrity in the public arena.

The statement read: "The President wishes his family, friends and the entire nation the fortitude to bear the loss.”
Nigerians from all walks of life continued to pay tribute to the exemplary life lived by Awoniyi yesterday. Their tributes were contained in the condolence register opened in the Abuja residence of the late elder statesman.

Those who signed he register yesterday included Senator Jubril Aminu, Senator Iya Abubakar, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, Lt. General M.I. Wushishi (rtd.), Chief Solomon Lar, Chief Audu Ogbeh and Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, former Minister of Commerce, AVM C.E. Umenwaliri and Minister of State for Health, Architect Gabriel Aduku.

In his tribute, the former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Lar said: “The nation has lost one of its illustrious sons. Dr. Awoniyi will be missed not only by his family but also the entire nation. I remember we formed the PDP together. He was wonderful leader and a bridge builder.”

Another past chairman of the PDP, Chief Ogbeh said, “When one great one passes on, we all die a little too, and in dying slowly, our nation dwindles. Chief, you stood for principles, truth and honesty. Your reward is bountiful.”

In a statement yesterday, Senator Smart Adeyemi, representing Awoniyi's Kogi west senatorial constituency, described the death of the elder statesman as a great loss to the nation.

He said, “his death at this time has robbed the nation of a leading voice in our quest for building a just, fair, united and prosperous nation. The late bureaucrat has served the nation well and contributed immensely to the transformation of the nation's civil service.”
Meanwhile, President Yar'Adua received letters of accreditation from seven new ambassadors and high commissioners to Nigeria at separate audiences at the State House, Abuja.

While receiving the new Israeli ambassador, Mr. Moshe Ram, the envoy as pledged his country’s support for the administration’s seven-point agenda, especially in the area of agriculture, where Israel has better technical know-how.

He said Israel had taken it upon itself to be Nigeria’s partner in development “because of the long-standing cordial relations between the two nations and the desire to further strengthen existing mutually beneficial relations.”

Speaking on the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Annapolis, USA, Ambassador Ram said Nigeria could play a positive role in the peace efforts in the Middle East, because the country (Nigeria) has good relations with Israel and the Arab nations, adding that Nigeria is a regional super-power in peace keeping efforts.
THISDAY ONLINE

We’ll miss Awoniyi’s sagacity – Apugo. 1/12/2007



A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees and chairmanship aspirant, Benedict Apugo, on Thursday declared that Nigeria would miss the immense political experience of the late chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi.

The former PDP chieftain died on Wednesday in a London hospital where he had been flown following injuries he sustained in an auto crash on his way to attend an ACF meeting in Kaduna on Monday, November 19 .

Apugo described Awoniyi as highly principled and a believer in fair play in politics.
"I am personally shocked. He was a man of principle. He believes so much in playing the game according to the rules. He is politically sagacious and I think Nigeria really still needs to learn one or two things from him on how to co-habit. Don’t forget that he is Yoruba and a christain but geographically a northerner. He was able to strike a compromise and find enough time for his Yorubaness, his christianity and perform his role as chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum. From that point of view you see immediately that he was a man of no mean stature".

Apugo said his days in the PDP were marked by openness and cohesion.
He said had the ACF leader emerged the chairman of the party when the presidency then scuttled it, he would have better positioned the party such that all the ills that people associate with the party today would not have been mentioned at all.
He emphasized the determination to restore the vision of the founding fathers of the PDP if he emerged as the chairman of the party in the convention that is to take place later in 2008.
We’ll miss Awoniyi’s sagacity – Apugo.

He was a bridge builder- Balarabe. 1/12/2007



Former civilian governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has described the late chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Awoniyi, as ‘’a bridge builder’’. Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna yesterday, Musa advised members of the ACF to view Awoniyi’s death as a challenge to all those struggling for the unity of the country.

He conceded that although he never had the opportunity of working with Awoniyi, he could still testify that he was "a dedicated civil servant, a very organized, responsible and patriotic citizen’’.

He said that Awoniyi’s death was a loss to the nation, particularly the North, whose interests he had fought for throughout his lifetime.

He, nonetheless, urged members of ACF to promote the larger Nigerian interests, rather than those of the North, saying: "That would be a way of immortalising the late elder statesman.’’

The former governor said that although he was not a member of ACF, he still believed that its promoters were out to draw the attention of the entire Nigerian society to the positive qualities of the North.

"Awoniyi felt that he could act as a bridge, being a Christian and a Yoruba leading the ACF, he could make the South understand the North better.’’

He was a bridge builder- Balarabe.

Fashola says Awoniyi’s death shocking. 1/12/2007

Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Thursday expressed shock over the death of elder statesman and Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Awoniyi.

Chief Awoniyi, who was involved in a fatal accident recently while returning to Abuja from Kaduna , died in a London hospital on Wednesday.

According to a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, Governor Fashola said it was deeply sobering that the elder statesman passed on even after it was reported that he was in a stable condition after the accident.
Describing Chief Awoniyi as a principled politician who stood firm by his convictions throughout his lifetime, Governor Fashola said the nation’s polity would be the better for it if the political class showed more consistency in their thoughts and actions.

Fashola also described the late elder statesman as a seasoned administrator and politician who rose from being a District Officer (DO) to Senior Assistant Secretary (Security) in the office of the Premier and Secretary to the Executive Council in the Northern Regional Government of late Premier, Alhaji (Sir) Ahmadu Bello.
Fashola says Awoniyi’s death shocking.

Awoniyi’s last days – Secretary
Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja, Segun Olatunji, Kaduna and Jude Owamanam

The Private Secretary to the late Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Mr. Philip Adesua, on Friday said his boss did not expect that the accident he had on Monday November 19, would lead to his death.
Adesua, who spoke with our correspondent at the late politician’s home in Maitama, Abuja, said his boss was on his feet barely ten minutes after the accident, and was speaking and walking unaided.

The aide, who gave an insight into the last days of his boss, said in a voice laden with emotion that though the late ACF chieftain momentarily passed on for about five minutes after the accident, he came back to life and spoke to his aides.

He also said that after the initial first aid was administered on him at a private hospital, Awoniyi called several of his followers and political associates, informing them about the unfortunate incident.

Adesua said: “We were however shocked that about eight hours or so later, his condition deteriorated and he was taken to the National Hospital, from where he was flown to London. Before that time, he did not know that the end had come.

“He was joking and did not betray any emotion to suggest that the end had come. In fact, he did not know he was going to die.”

Adesua , who said he had been working for the late politician since 1999, said Awoniyi was no longer speaking as at the time he was being flown abroad.

The aide also informed our correspondent that none of the two wives of Awoniyi was in Abuja. He said while the first wife, Florence, was in London, the second wife, Benedicta, resides in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Buttressing the fact that the accident was not a serious one, Adesua said the driver of the ill-fated vehicle had just driven out of the vast compound, some minutes before our correspondent visited, while the third occupant of the vehicle “was also here a few minutes ago”

The two men, who were said to be around 50 years, were reported to be healthy.
Our correspondent observed that many prominent politicians had already signed the condolence register, that was placed on a big table inside the sitting room. Among them were Second Republic minister, Alhaji Umaru Dikko; pioneer national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Solomon Lar; and Lt.-Gen. G.M Wushishi (rtd.).
Others included the Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke; former ministers of Health and Federal Capital Territory, Prof. Eyitayo Lambo and Mohammed Abba-Gana.

While Dikko said the late Awoniyi “had been a faithful and devoted person,” Lar said that by his death, “the nation has lost one of its illustrious sons.”

Wushishi, in his tribute said Awoniyi’s death “is a great loss not only to the North, but to the nation,” while the duo of Ume-Ezeoke and Lambo described his death as “a great loss.”

It will be recalled that Awoniyi died at a London hospital on Wednesday at about 11pm, as a result of injuries he sustained in a motor accident on November 19.
Adesua said no date had been fixed for his burial.

The atmosphere at the Sokoto Road, Kaduna secretariat of the ACF, which Awoniyi led until his death on Wednesday remained sombre and moody.

As at 4.00pm on Friday when our correspondent visited the ACF secretariat, the building was deserted.

Only nine sympathisers, including the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Lt. General Jerry Useni, had signed the condolence register placed on a table at the secretariat’s reception.

Aside the forum’s Secretary-General, Colonel Hamid Alli (rtd) who was sighted in his office and few other staff of the secretariat, the building was like a ghost of itself.

While Useni who is also a chieftain of the ACF simply wrote in the condolence, “what a great loss!”, Alhaji Saidu Kakangi, an aide of the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi described Awoniyi’s death as the “great loss of an upright, honourable, honest and complete gentleman,” adding that “The North and of course, the whole country lost a true gentleman.

Members of Awoniyi’s Alma Matter, the Barewa College Old Boys Association and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria were also not left out in the outpouring of tributes and condolences.

One of them, Aliyu Ibrahim described Awoniyi as a the epitome of a good characters and an excellent example to the youths, especially members of the association.

A former governor of Plateau state, Chief Joshua Dariye, described the death of the late elder statesman, as a sad loss to Nigeria in particular but to humanity in general.

Dariye in statement by his media consultant, Yakubu Dati, said late Chief Awoniyi would be missed by all as he had been a positive influence on the nation’s politics..

Dariye observed that the late politician had, in the course of his lifetime, not disappointed his mentor, the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello whom he served as secretary.
Awoniyi’s last days – Secretary

Awoniyi, more Yoruba than Arewa – Daniel
•Yar’Adua, Kalu, Fashola mourn ACF leader
By LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja
Saturday, December 1, 2007

Very important personalities including President Umaru Yar’Adua, Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and presidential candidate of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPA) in the last general elections and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief (Dr.) Orji Uzor Kalu have expressed deep sorrow at the passage of the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, who died on Thursday.

In a statement signed by his spokesman, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, Yar’Adua recalled Awoniyi’s numerous outstanding contributions to the growth of the Federal Public Service where he rose to the rank of Permanent Secretary; his active participation in party politics and his abiding faith in a united and prosperous Nigeria.

The president, who regretted Awoniyi’s death, urged Nigerians, especially the younger generation, to learn from his legacy of dedication to the ideals of democracy and the virtue of displaying integrity in the public arena. He wished his family, friends and the entire nation the fortitude to bear the loss.
Describing Awoniyi as a great Nigerian who placed the interests of the nation over and above all other considerations, Kalu said his passing away especially at this critical stage of the nation’s political evolution when his services are most needed is regrettable.

In a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Emeka Omeihe, Kalu recalled wonderful and patriotic roles of Chief Awoniyi at the formative stage of the Peoples Democratic Party, saying, "the nation has lost one of its most dependable, detribalized and patriotic citizens."
For Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, the late ACF leader was a true Yoruba, who used some of the qualities found among members of the race for the benefit of Northern Nigeria, where fate assigned his ancestral home.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Wale Adedayo, reads thus: "His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, mourned the death of another example of a true Yoruba, the Aro of Mopa, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, who he described as a steadfast and principled leader. Being a Yoruba in Northern Nigeria did not dilute the principled nature found among his kith and kin, which endeared him to the key leaders of the region.

"He never changed position for reasons of political expediency. Whatever he believes in, he pursues with vigour and a dogged determination irrespective of whose ox is gored. His life should be an example for the younger generation to follow in these times that we urgently need a value system to make Nigeria move away from the current climate of greed and corruption. We pray that God will grant his family and indeed Nigeria the fortitude to bear this great loss."

On his own part, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State described the elder statesman as "a principled politician who stood firm by his convictions throughout his lifetime’, adding that the nation would be the better for it if the political class showed more consistency in their thoughts and actions.
Governor Fashola prayed that the Almighty Allah would find a suitable replacement for Awoniyi while also granting repose to his soul and fortitude to those he left behind to bear the loss.
The Sun News On-line

[antiobj2007]

God bless his soul. Significantly played his part as an administrator and politician, lets hope his life is a lesson to all.

"The story is told of how following the July 1966 coup, otherwise known as the revenge coup, Obasanjo, then a major based in Kaduna, was apprehensive that the young northern officers who planned the coup may come after him. Obasanjo had every reason to be apprehensive considering his very close friendship with Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, one of the leaders of the January 1966 coup, in which many northern leaders including the premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello was killed. The argument then was that considering their closeness, there was no way Obasanjo wouldn't have known what Nzeogwu was up to. Consequently when the young northern officers began the orgy of blood letting in the revenge coup, Obasanjo was said to have panicked, forcing one of his aides to take him to Chief Sunday Awoniyi, then a top civil servant who had worked closely with the premier, for assistance. Awoniyi, it is said, took Obasanjo to Gen. Hassan Katsina, who in turn, smuggled him (Obasanjo) first to Maiduguri and from there to Ibadan. Over the years Obasanjo's path had crossed with Awoniyi's, the last time the latter holding the short end of the stick. "

[Auspicious]

Awoniyi..

My thoughts are expressed at the Lounge Section.

I don't have access to copy and paste,

Otherwise I'll share it interested parties here.

Mr. Ochi Dabari, you might wanna peruse it;

We seem to be on the same wavelenght on Awoniyi!

Auspicious.

[Auspicious]

Whops!

Admin has acted as requested and moved the thread here @ the Main Section.

Aint trying to steal nobody's thunder, but make una come enlighten me there abeg.

Auspy.

[tonsoyo]

The man's life is a metaphor for what is possible in Nigeria. Sunday Awoniyi gives us a window into the potentials of the Nigerian nation. He is neither Hausa-Fulani, nor Muslim, yet he is revered in the North. He had a deep sense of what it was to be a northerner, even though a Christian and a Yoruba man.

I wish someday at the national stage we can have a politician that appeals to share values across the length and breadth of Nigeria. It is something that has been missing in most Nigerian politicians.Awoniyi had that quality, that halo that was effective in the north, I wish that it could be replicated across the country.

May the man's soul rest in peace.

He gained the so called reverence in the North at the expense of acting anti-South and anti-Yoruba. He was a man with a Yoruba name but who was desperate to be seen as a Northerner and a crusader of Northern interest.

There was nothing wrong with his trying to be a Northern, but he was actively anti-South.

May his soul rest in peace.

[katampe]

He gained the so called reverence in the North at the expense of acting anti-South and anti-Yoruba. He was a man with a Yoruba name but who was desperate to be seen as a Northerner and a crusader of Northern interest.

There was nothing wrong with his trying to be a Northern, but he was actively anti-South.

May his soul rest in peace.

The issue is more complicated than you make it seem.I think it is more about his socialization process than any other issue. There are legions of Yoruba people that see themselves first as northerners than Yorubas. Tunde Idiagbon, Abdlukareem Adisa , both deceased , and Olusola Saraki were heavily socialised in the north. It wasn't their deliberate choice but circumstances of history, it is now more about who they have become, irrespective of their heritage. If there was something Sarduana achieved for the north, it was that block unification of the region irrespective of ethnicity.

Sunday Awoniyi is the product of similar mindset.It is less about the person, but more about the evolution and their cultural outlook of Kwara people. They are different in social outlook compared to the Yorubas than live in the core of the Southwest.

[VOR]

I agree with some of your comments Katampe.

Auspicious. You need to know the politics of the man Awoniyi, read some of the things that have been said by others about him - not Atiku o then you may get an understanding of the type of man - not politician he was.

For example, Fashola wrote:

Describing Chief Awoniyi as a principled politician who stood firm by his convictions throughout his lifetime, Governor Fashola said the nation’s polity would be the better for it if the political class showed more consistency in their thoughts and actions.

It is hard to find principled Nigerians not to talk of a principled Nigerian politician, and one that stood by his convictions.

A lot of our leaders have let us down, however I will not include Awoniyi in that class of leader. I for one give him credit for the gentlemanly way he took his ouster from PDP and how he handled the TT issue.

So he fought for Northern interest, so what? Did he not spend most of his life in the North? Will you then say Awolowo was Anti North?
It is sad to note tribalism still exists even amongst so called 'enlightened' younger generation Nigerians.

[gwobezentashi]

I agree with some of your comments Katampe.

Auspicious. You need to know the politics of the man Awoniyi, read some of the things that have been said by others about him - not Atiku o then you may get an understanding of the type of man - not politician he was.

For example, Fashola wrote:

Describing Chief Awoniyi as a principled politician who stood firm by his convictions throughout his lifetime, Governor Fashola said the nation’s polity would be the better for it if the political class showed more consistency in their thoughts and actions.

It is hard to find principled Nigerians not to talk of a principled Nigerian politician, and one that stood by his convictions.

A lot of our leaders have let us down, however I will not include Awoniyi in that class of leader. I for one give him credit for the gentlemanly way he took his ouster from PDP and how he handled the TT issue.

So he fought for Northern interest, so what? Did he not spend most of his life in the North? Will you then say Awolowo was Anti North?
It is sad to note tribalism still exists even amongst so called 'enlightened' younger generation Nigerians.

Hajiya VOR my Hajiya.

I have been reading the tripe parading as comment on this great man and wondering how our country can progress where ignorance is elevated to a way of life. I have been wondering why our people have such difficulty with being curious. Instead of asking questions where they are deficient so they can receive nourishment, some are instead dripping wanton prejudice couched as objective comment.

There is nothing wrong in not knowing everything, but everything wrong in thinking that you know what you don't know. Infact it is criminal to parade prejudice for ignorance. The EFCC and ICPC should investigate kia kia.

It seems that some have chosen to read his biodata and ignored key headlines that do not suit their blinkered prejudices. It matters not that he left the civil service in 1979 or thereabouts nor that he never held public office after that except as a Senator during the botched Babangida transition. Some here are still blaming him for bad roads as if he were ever Minister for Works. He was Chairman of PDP BOT briefly at a time when the party BOT was the conscience of the party and Obj continued to ignore it. It appears to matter not that he fell out with Obasanjo because he was seen as too principled to be compromised in the misgovernance Obj planned for our country.

That he is of yoruba stock (Kabba Okun to be precise) and northern Nigerian are not mutually exclusive. That he was a uniter and moderating influence in the politics of Nigeria is a testament of his true one nationism. That he is a man of high moral principle and gravitas is a fact. That he is a man of integrity and tireless disciple of Nigerian unity is a fact. That he lived and loved and died is not a crime. That he is small in frame does not negate the fact that here is a GIANT of a man in a land of pygmies. This is why we celebrate him. This is why we acknowledge his contribution to Nigeria. This is why we will not forget Sunday Awoniyi in a hurry.

Thank you for your noble efforts in the enlightenment of the misguided many. May the almighty Allah continue to align your alignment. The zonal security vote has been increased in line with the rumoured rising cost of petrol and weakening dollar. SA Special Duties will effect my directives with immediate and automatic alacrity. Allahu Akbar.

‘Awoniyi Was Instrumental to 3rd Term Failure’
By Ndubuisi Ugah, 12.02.2007

National Co-ordinator of Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Comrade Joseph Evah yesterday said late elderstatesman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, would be fondly remembered for his role in ensuring that former President Olusegun Obasanjo's third term campaign failed.

Also, Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, Friday, described late Awoniyi, who died Wednesday night in a London Hospital, as a true Yoruba, who used some of the qualities found among members of the race for the benefit of Northern Nigeria where fate assigned his ancestral home.

But Evah, who expressed this in an interview with THISDAY, said the third term plot by the immediate past administration of President Obasanjo was almost scaling through until the likes of Awoniyi stepped in to stop it, through contructive and incisive arguments on why it should be aborted and rejected by Nigerians.

Said he: "Former President Obasanjo's third term was on the verge of putting Nigeria on war path but Awoniyi, as intelligent as he was fought against it because he knew that those championing it did not mean well for the nation".

The IMG co-ordinator, who expressed sadness that Awoniyi's demise was a big loss to the nation, stated that Awoniyi belief in the unity of the nation was never in doubt, hence the reason why he was regarded as a detribalised Nigerian.

According to him, "At a time in the history of Nigeria, the unity of the nation was becoming a thing of concern because of the segregational tendencies which were inherent in the polity.” Evah explained that Awoniyi was instrumental in fashioning out a blueprint which made ACF a national platform for different shades of people, interests and opinions.
While calling on the leadership of the association to ensure that a reputable and trusted person was elected to replace Awoniyi, Evah said "his death was not just a loss to ACF, the North but to the entire country as his death was touchy".

However, Daniel, in a statement by the governor's Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Wale Adedayo, said: "His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, mourned the death of another example of a true Yoruba, the Aro of Mopa, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, whom he described as a steadfast and principled leader. Being a Yoruba in Northern Nigeria did not dilute the principled nature found among his kith and kin, which endeared him to the key leaders of the region. "He never changed position for reasons of political expediency. Whatever he believed in, he pursued with vigour and dogged determination, irrespective of whose ox is gored. His life should be an example for the younger generation to follow in these times that we urgently need a value system to make Nigeria move away from the current climate of greed and corruption. We pray God to grant his family and indeed Nigeria, the fortitude to bear this great loss."
THISDAY ONLINE

Aluta!


Gwobezentashi

[emj]

May the Soul of Pa Sunday Awoniyi rest in peace...he's done his part and gone...what have You and I done?.........siddon in our comfort zone and look abi?

The zonal security vote has been increased in line with the rumoured rising cost of petrol and weakening dollar. SA Special Duties will effect my directives with immediate and automatic alacrity

Alhaji Gwobes...inagabata nka alhaji....i dey read about all da alignment and increase in Security Votes, nah wah phor wadoria and watakanta o.....hmmmm

[gwobezentashi]

BarkByte: Goodbye, Good man
Written by Garbadeen Muhammad,
Sunday, 02 December 2007

Chief Sunday Awoniyi liked to say that the most difficult chapter to write in a man’s life is the last chapter. Lo and behold, the old boy certainly had a tough time writing his own. But, to God be the Glory, he worked on that tricky chapter so well that in the end, it is proving to be the leading chapter in his book; the one that people are compelled to read over and over again. Conceivably this would be the last 10 years of his life.

Not that the other chapters of Chief Awoniyi’s life story were any less captivating. By now the outstanding qualities of that remarkable gentleman, from the time he entered Baptist Day School in Mopa, in 1938, through his sojourn at Barewa College, Zaria in 1950 at the age of 18 to the time he breathed his last breadth on Wednesday, 28 November 2007 at the age of 75, are well known. But somehow the brilliant, competent, honest and disciplined student, civil servant, public servant, community leader and irresistible orator all seem to collapse into one formidable personality: Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, the ultimate statesman.

In the coming days and weeks there would surely emerge as many ‘Awoniyis’ as there are commentators; commentaries with far greater anecdotal values than this modest effort would come forth. The most authoritative would be from those who had known and interacted closely with the late Aro of Mopa. I had neither the privilege of knowing, nor of working closely with Awoniyi. But I knew him, and more importantly, he knew me. Important because throughout his life the late Awoniyi tended to elevate anything he was associated with to his superior standards: either that or he disengages himself from whatever it is. He proved this when he quit the near-draconian regime of the late Gen. Murtala, and the promptness with which he parted ways with the lawless regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Unlike most of his countrymen, Chief Awoniyi was never defined by tribe or religion; he was simply an embodiment and a symbol of a set of noble ethos that appealed to all tribes, all religions and all ages. Some time in December 2004, I wrote the first of a 3-part article entitled: ‘Can Awoniyi Unite us?’ (Barkbyte, Weekly Trust Dec. 24). As chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Awoniyi had just then completed an unbelievable marathon tour of the entire 19 Northern states with the sole aim of finding lasting solution to the bloody ethnic and religious conflicts that were then plaguing most parts of the North. Along with some of his colleagues in the ACF, he undertook that grueling, risky journey by road, through rough roads and dangerous terrain and struggling through a lean budget. The articles cited were written to celebrate that singular act of sacrifice undertaken by a 72-year-old man. Part of my observation in that article reads:

"It seems so cruelly unfair that a task so tough should be given to a 72-year-old pensioner whose only ‘crime’ is that he’s tried to live honourably all his life. Doubly so in fact since what the old man is expected to do is to clear up the mess piled up by the excesses of those that chose to live a less than honourable existence. You wonder what Chief Awoniyi thinks about, nowadays, in the privacy of his heart. Does he, like Hamlet, lament his destiny? As in: "The world is out of joint; God cursed the spite that I was borne to set it right"? Or does he celebrate the fact that he is, at 72, still not only relevant but indispensable? Those who know Chief Awoniyi well will definitely frown at the suggestion that he relishes his present circumstance .Indeed, even those of us who came to know the old man only recently, and even then only from a distance; understand enough about him to dismiss such a suggestion. Once I heard him say, publicly and proudly, something like this: "Up till now no one can tell you that he heard me say ‘I have accepted to be the leader of the ACF’ His is the classic case of a man having leadership, if not greatness, thrust upon him.

Imagine what it would take to go round all the 19 northern states in the space of a few weeks! Now if you are looking for contracts, or votes, you might probably find the motivation in the expected outcome. But when you over 70 and motivated only by the desire to serve, then you have to have something ‘extra’. Here permit me to say that there is an extra man in Sunday Awoniyi.

You think I am ‘stretching it’? Think what you will, it’s a free country. But if you were in Lokoja on Saturday, 11th December 2004, you wouldn’t be in a hurry to doubt me. That was when Awoniyi’s home state of Kogi held a reception in his honour. Since it would be tedious to bother you with who said what, here is sample of those that found the time to make the journey to Lokoja for the sake of Awoniyi: BarkByte(in flesh and blood), Sani Zangon Daura, Buba Marwa, Hassan Adamu, Ibrahim Shekarau, Emir of Anka, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Coomasie, Murtala Nyako, Ishaya Shekari, Akanbi Oniyangi, Magji Danbatta, Inuwa Wushishi, Ohanaeze(Ume Ezeoke), Bangboye, Asheik Jarma…and Yakubu Gowon who chaired the occasion. And chaired so well that when he walked up to the podium to deliver his remarks, he sent the well-attended gathering into an uproar when he gave-in to the to the irresistibly tranquil and, excuse me, sensual rhythm of the Tiv melody. Gowon danced to his heart’s, though not to the contentment of the audience; thereby proving right the adage that ‘all work without play makes Jack…an old man?’ And that’s just a sample, see? It is taken for granted that you know who the guest speaker was (Danmasani), as well as the chief host, etc."

After the first of those articles was published, I received a rare phone call from Chief Awoniyi "Garba" he’d said, "I just finished reading your article now and I think it was brilliant. Very brilliant" Because in the article I’d compared him to the Shakespearian tragic hero, Hamlet, he added "and for your information Hamlet is my favourite character". Then he said the most unexpected thing. "I didn’t know that one can still find young men like you with such insight and potential. I’ve been here all along trying to find the right person that will work with me at the (ACF) secretariat, when there are people like you around". I panicked immediately; the great Awoniyi was inviting me to work with him. Completely humbled and flattered, I knew that I would never measure up to his standard.

If the chief was disappointed by my tacit refusal to accept his invitation, he never said so. Typically he never renewed the invitation in any way; but in all my subsequent dealings with him, he remained as accommodating, as fatherly and as humorous as ever. Such was Awoniyi; he didn’t want to know anything about me beyond my name, and beyond the fact that I could cobble together a readable article. He was prepared to take his chances with a complete stranger; to give me a chance to work with him, learn from him and gain from him. He didn’t want to know my village, or my local government, or which feudal palace my father courted. As most of his lesser peers, who messed up the north, would have done.

No wonder that Chief Awoniyi dwarfed his peers. When the northern political and social establishment invited Awoniyi to lead the then floundering ACF, they were communicating two messages: one was that they were admitting their failure, and the second was that they were endorsing the success of Awoniyi. Again permit me an extensive quote from that article of December 2004:

‘So to the question: "Can Awoniyi unite the North? The short answer is yes. If you need to be convinced of this, go no further than the ACF. Ask yourself: Why has the ACF so far remain a failure; or at best unsuccessful? How did one of its principal officers end up answering embarrassing questions on failed contracts? Why was Awoniyi dragged in, kicking and screaming, as a last resort? What does Awoniyi have that the former leadership of the ACF didn’t have?

Like you, I have my own theories about some of the questions above; and like you I will keep them theories to myself. Because it is my honest belief that we have accused, reprimanded, sentenced and insulted our oppressors, elders, leaders—real and imagined—long enough to dissipate our anger, and suppress the vile that comes to our mouth every time we reflect on our wasted past and consider our vacant future. Since 1999, when the fortune of the North plummeted, most of us have done nothing other than to call for the heads of those who have handled our affairs over the years. And what do we get? Instead of their heads, we are beginning to lose our own, as evidenced by the countless ethno-religious conflicts in which the only beneficiary is a dead tribalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo—and his descendants across the Niger.

But let’s not drain the little energy we have in wailing and screaming; and in insulting those who have, at least by their silence, accepted responsibility for their terrible blunder. Time is running out; and already an army of ignorant and deprived youth is threatening to unleash its frustrations on the society. Unless the situation is arrested it wouldn’t matter who is right or who is wrong. Besides the very fact that the likes of Awoniyi are now valued is an act of contrition in itself.

We should also, both as individuals and as group be realistic in our expectations from organizations such as the ACF. In as much as we enjoy the lure of living in a dreamy past, it is difficult, nay impossible, to imagine how we can ever be united again as our fathers and grand fathers were. Not even the Sardauna, if he were to return now can achieve such feat. Then again was the unity in the North ever absolute? Listen to what John Paden, Sardauna’s most authoritative biographer had to say on Sardauna’s relationship with the Middle Belt: "The Sardauna’s relations with the three Middle Belt provinces (Kabba, Plateau, and Benue) range from friendly, to mixed, to hostile. The (United Middle Belt Congress) UMBC is strong in parts of these areas, and is calling for the break up of the Northern Region" (p.343). Nobody was asked to forget or ignore who he was, in order to belong to the whole. In this way a fairly level-playing ground was created whereby the only winning formula was the building of alliances. The late Ambassador Jolly Tanko Yusuf liked to tell the story, as he told me in the company of my Editor in Chief Kabiru Yusuf, only a few months before the Ambassador died about his trip to Iran with the Sardauna. It goes like this: One day Jolly Tanko had accompanied the Sardauna on an official trip to Iran. They arrived on a Saturday. When they were about to retire to their rooms, the Sardauna asked Yusuf if he would be going to Church service the following day, being Sunday. He replied in the negative since he had no idea where to find a Church in Iran to begin with. The Sardauna then bid him goodnight and retired for the night .Early in the morning of Sunday, Yusuf was awakened by a commotion outside. When he looked through his window, he saw three official limousines outside. Then he concluded that the Sardauna must have changed his mind and they were to leave earlier than scheduled. Such change of plan though rare, was not impossible. So he quickly started to get himself ready for departure. While he was getting dressed there was a knock on the door. When he opened it there was an official outside who asked him if he was Mr. Jolly Tanko Yusuf. The official then told him that they had come (with the limousines) to convey him to a Church for his Sunday service!

Call it accommodation, or tolerance, or whatever; for Jolly Tanko Yusuf it was one of the best things that ever happened to him."

And it was this kind of accommodation that attracted all sorts of people to the late Chief Awoniyi. The measurement of how far he’d succeeded in carrying out the difficult task with which he was saddled, can best be obtained by comparing the North he inherited with the North he left behind.

He inherited a North that was down on its knees, gasping for breadth, down and almost out. He encountered all sorts of frustrations and betrayals, often, as some of his closest associates reveal, from the most unexpected quarters; but he trudged on, never saying anything in public (the closest he came, to my recollection, of losing his temper over those Northern hypocrites was when he made reference to "Northern wet blankets").

Working alone and with the ‘coalition of the willing’, he led the renaissance that had seen power, against all odds and against all expectations, returning to the North, his beloved North; and he left behind a Nigeria, his beloved Nigeria, over which a fresh wind of hope now blows. If he would permit himself the luxury, even he would probably be surprised at the level of his success! For that we would remain for ever grateful.

We came from God and to Him we must all return; God knows best how his servant, Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi lived, and God knows best how to reward His good servants. I would like to join his family and millions of Nigerians in celebrating his life.

Adieu, Baba Sunday, the Good Samaritan, from Mopa.

http://dailytrust.com/index2.php?opt...=1&page=0&ac=1

[agbonizuanghwe]

In other climes, these quoted reports would be no more than the minimum expected of men and women in similar positions. Nothing extraordinary really. In Nigeria we elevate them to deeds of heroism. When public figures die, we rewrite every line so that all we have left is good memory and to hold contrary opinion is to run afoul of our unspoken codes, which is that we say only good things (no matter how trumped up or contrived) of every man as long as they have the ill fortune to die before we did.

In Nigeria, death purifies, it elevates mediocrity to heroism and the mundane becomes worthy of praise

[gwobezentashi]

ACF: Awoniyi died serving his people
Written by EMEKA MAMAH
Sunday, 02 December 2007

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has expressed shock over the death of its chairman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, saying that his death has created a big vacuum that would be difficult to fill by anyone within the group and the nation at large. ACF said that the body would never be the same again as Awoniyi was a leader all northerners looked up to for direction.

The national secretary of the Forum, Col. Hamdi Ali, who looked distraught while speaking with newsmen in Kaduna, Friday, regretted that the late ACF chairman died at a period the Forum, the north and Nigeria as a whole needed him most.

Ali’s words: “Certainly, it’s a big gap that will be created by his absence. I hope we’ll gather ourselves together, but certainly we cannot replace him, I must confess. We hope we’ll get people who will work as hard.

“But to say we will get a replacement for Chief Awoniyi, its very difficult. If I say anything now, I may not be accurate and articulate as I’ll love to be. But suffice it to say that we are praying for the repose of the soul of the departed and we pray that God in his infinite mercy will grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss.

“Greatly, we will miss his commitment, service and most especially his elderly advice and articulate attitude of putting things and then his foresight in giving direction to the organization.

“Since he became the chairman of the organization, we have had the best administration in terms of focus, commitment and in terms of addressing the issues that affect the Nigerian people. “The news came to us at about midday (Thursday) and that was the most shocking news I have received in recent times.

The gentle man, Chief Awoniyi, we all know it, lived and died serving his people.
“He was sometime ago on his way to attend an ACF meeting when he had an accident and from then on...the end result is his final departure from this mother earth. “We in the ACF are in so much grief because this was a chairman who devoted all his time to the service of this organization and, by extension, the north and Nigeria as a whole. So, to lose him at this time when we most need his advice, commitment and service is a great shock to us. I must tell you I’m short of words. Honestly, we are in a state of shock.”

...His death, a challenge to opponents of tyranny — Tinubu

THE death of Chief Sunday Awoniyi has thrown a challenge to the ranks of opponents of civilian tyranny, according to the former governor of Lagos State, Senate Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Tinubu, mourning Awoniyi who he described as “an elder statesman, relentless nation builder and a leading icon in the struggle of the Nigerian people against civilian tyranny,” in a statement, yesterday, said the death “is the challenge of carrying on the struggle which defined his contribution to the political development of the Nigerian State.” He continued: “We must never forget that Chief Sunday Awoniyi, a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party rose to the challenge posed by the tyranny of the unitarists and anti-democrats.

“We must remember that many of those who are stepping forward to shed crocodile tears today were the saboteurs whose criminal silence killed democracy within the party and allowed tyranny and dictatorship to swallow the structures of internal democracy put in place by Chief Awoniyi and his fellow democrats. They and their cronies subverted the virtues of openness, fairness and constitutionalism by looking the other way while Chief Awoniyi and his allies fought to defend democracy.

“The courageous role played by Nigeria’s ultimate gentleman of politics in those nights of long knives reminds one of the words of our celebrated Nobel laureate that the man dies in him who succumbs to tyranny. Generations unborn would read from the history books that Chief Sunday Awoniyi challenged autocracy, wrestled with autocracy and won the moral higher ground.

“Is it not significant that after the rot of dictatorship took over the party, it descended on the whole nation in the form of the third term agenda? Is it not significant that if senior citizens such as the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi had not fought gallantly, perhaps Nigerians might not have had heroes to learn from in our struggle against the third term agenda?

“Chief Awoniyi has fought life’s good race. He is departing in a blaze of glory. The challenge to all Nigerians is to never, ever, let the dreams he suffered so much to achieve die. His dreams of a government accountable to the people; a government that respects the rights and dignity of all Nigerians; a government that fulfils its promises to the people.
“May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.”

...The late ACF chairman was forthright—Utomi

Also mourning Awoniyi, weekend, Prof. Pat Utomi, African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate in the last April general elections described the deceased as a principled, forthright, and an extraordinary gentleman committed to Nigeria project.

Utomi, in a statement, expressed shock and sorrow at the news of the passing on of the late ACF chairman, saying: “At the public level, I regret the loss of a man of such standing at a time when the country dearly needed steadiness and wise men.

“On a private level I feel anguish at recalling some things he said to me when I met him and Colonel Hameed Alli at the Kaduna ACF Secretariat in March 2007.

“I am also particularly saddened that he was a victim of the state of our roads which has cost us many statesmen and having had close brushes on our roads myself, my heart goes out to his family and close associates.

“I urge political leaders to learn from Sunday Awoniyi that a man can believe in something and live what he preaches out of a pure and noble spirit.

“I urge the new generation of Nigerians to learn what they can from his career, starting from his days as a bureaucrat working with the Sardauna of Sokoto to his days as a politician where he was actually a nation-builder and not just a political player.
“I urge biographers, historians, and students of politics to study his life, document, and publish as soon as possible for the benefit of young Nigerians and also for the record.”

... He was progressive minded — Owie

Former Senate Chief Whip and a chieftain of the Action Congress (AC), Senator Rowland Owie, equally joined other befitting burial.
“His death is a great loss to us in the north. I am really shocked. I went to greet him at the National Hospital Abuja only to hear that he had been flown out of the country for further treatment overseas.

“We have lost a great man. This is a great loss to the nation. It is an irreparable loss. We have a hero in the north”, Girei said.

In his own condolence, the leader of the Socialist Front, Comrade Shehu Sani stated, “Awoniyi was a detribalized Nigeria , a man of honour and principle. He was among the last tribe of northern leaders of post colonial Nigeria whose life was simple about selfless service and commitment to nation building”.

Former minister of petroleum resources during the late General Sani Abacha’s regime, Alhaji Umaru Dembo, described the late ACF chairman’s death as shocking.

“Chief Awoniyi death shocked me as I was listening to the Hausa Services a few minutes ago. We have just lost a true believer in Nigeria. As God taketh Awoniyi and rewards him for his good deeds let Him give us more Awoniyis”, he stated.

In their own reactions, the former minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and member Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Alhaji Iro Abubakar Dan-Musa and the acting chairman of the Progressive Peoples Alliance, Alhaji Adamu Song, said Nigeria has lost a great and patriotic citizen and prayed God to grant his soul eternal rest.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/index2.ph...3&pop=1&page=0

[dem]

ACF: Awoniyi died serving his people
Written by EMEKA MAMAH
Sunday, 02 December 2007

Which people?

[Eja]

The language used in a lot of the tributes being paid to this man show why the idea of nationhood in the geographical space Nigeria remains as hard to articulate as ever. Person after person pays the man compliments for being 'de-tribalised'. What the hell does that mean? And, when are we going to stop our heedless use of these outdated rented concepts?

I mean, why are we still describing ourselves with the diminutive term 'tribe'? Why are Africans peoples that number in the tens of millions described as 'tribes' while others like Scots, Irish, Flemish, Walloons, Danes, etc. are not described in such a way? The European drops something on us and we pick up and keep running without even looking to see if it suits us or not.

Switzerland, like the UK is a multi-ethnic society yet, you never hear of Swiss tribes or UK tribes. When are we going to stop re-cycling a description that was/is meant to diminish us?

If one does not understand how this works, then re-read all the tributes to this man and pay special attention when you get to the 'de-tribalised'. Nowhere is it stated how this feat benefited Nigeria as a whole. The man was born as a Yoruba human and apparently, he lived as a Hausa (or Fulani) human...from that short description, we are told that he is 'de-tribalised. Are these the only ethnic groups in Nigeria? And, did being de-tribalised mean that he stopped existing as a Yoruba man? Did this mean that no Yoruba person (or community) got any benefit from his existence on Earth?

How are we going to learn any lessons from the lives lived by people like Sunday Awoniyi if we cannot find the language that accurately describes such lives?

We speak of 'tribes' more often as if it were a bad thing. 'Tribalism' is an abusive description, yet it cannot be dropped because, for as long as Hausa will not stop being Hausa and Yoruba will not stop being Yoruba, we will have no other way to describe those who act out of their primary concern for their own ethnic enclave.

We have no word to describe those who do good things for their enclave because we have now throughly imbibed the idea that 'tribalism' can only be bad.

So, a Sunday Awoniyi who acts in the interest of his political enclave is called 'de-tribalised'. He could not have been anything else. Yet, let us use the description 'nation' instead of 'tribe' and the way we look at things begin to change. Can Sunday Awoniyi be described as one who was 'de-nationalised'? How will the mind deal with such a concept? It will have to dig deeper and come up with a more realistic description of the man. He was a politician who acted in what he saw as his own best interests. There are many like him and they are neither 'tribalists' or 'de-tribalised' ones. They are simply people acting out of expediency and sometimes principles.

If we are going to get real, we need to look for more effective ways to describe the components of reality.

So, for example, while we here may say (based on hearsay) that Sunday Awoniyi adopted a culture different from the one he was born into, only those who truly knew him can say if this was true or false. What we can speak on with assurance of being accurate are the concrete things that he achieved while he was at the center of things. We can comment on the effectiveness of his labours and we can seek to learn from the methodologies that he applied. We may find some things that are of use and we may find other things that should never be repeated.

All of this is dependant on the use of appropriate language.

[Felix]

Our condolence to the family and friends of this dead AREWA LEGEND!

[Hakim]

He was a great Yoruba man who served the North till the very end.

May his soul rest in peace.

If you can imagine Chief Anthony Enahoro as the leader of Afenifere, then you will understand what Chief Awoniyi means to the North.
Home is where the heart is, as the saying goes. His home was in Mopa but his heart was in Sakkwato.

[denker]

Eja, my dear, methinks nigerians/africans mistakingly substituting being objective with so called detribalization -personally i dislike dat word(tribe), but i do not see anything derogatorily diminutive in it...i use it sometimes to illustrate certain aspect of germans clannish progeny...!

[Abraxas]

Hi, my good friend, Alhaji Gwobezentashi!

It is indeed supremely ironic that BOTH General (Balogun) Okikiolakan Aremu (I Dey Kampe) Matiyu Olusegun Obasanjo, alias Baba Senator Iyabo, and Chief Sunday Awoniyi are two Yoruba men who tirelessly served the interest of the Sakkwato Khalifate beyond the call of duty and logic, and yet they both hated themselves with unbelievable passion doing the same thing: i.e. faithfully serving the interests of my subjects! What a life!

Muchas gracias.

His Eminence, Sheikh Saddiq D'Fcuk of Sakkwato Khalifate, Dafur & Dubai Emirates.

[gwobezentashi]

Nigerians react to Awoniyi’s death

Sunday, 02 December 2007

Awoniyi’s ex-classmate, Monguno, mourns

From Isa Umar Gusau, Maiduguri

Elder statesman, Dr. Shettima Ali Monguno has described the death of Chief Sunday Awoniyi as a tragedy for Nigeria and a burden on the North.

Monguno, who was chief Awoniyi’s classmate at the College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, said the elder statesman’s death has created a big vacuum which will require so much time to fill up.

He also described the late Awoniyi as "a jewel in Nigeria’s crown" who left while he was admired by all patriotic Nigerians.

"It’s nationally tragic that a highly responsible man like Awoniyi, who had given so much not only to the Northern region but also to the nation died at a time he was needed most, to play his usual role of strengthening patriotic culture.

"His death is a burden to the North in particular and tragedy for the country in general. He had been a very good friend to me mindless of our age differences. He was my classmate in Zaria, and I had always known him to be very patriotic and full of readiness to work toward the firm unity of the north and that of Nigeria as a whole."

"I am still shocked by the news of his death. He deserves to be mourned nationally," Monguno told Sunday Trust in Madiuguri.

He said the late Awoniyi would be remembered for his principles of standing for the truth and being a tireless voice for the common man.



He was a bridge builder –Balarabe Musa
Governor of the old Kaduna state, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has described the late chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Awoniyi, as "a bridge builder".

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Friday, Musa advised members of the ACF to view Awoniyi’s death as a challenge to all those struggling for the unity of the country.

He conceded that although he never had the opportunity of working with Awoniyi, he could still testify that he was "a dedicated civil servant, a very organized, responsible and patriotic citizen".

He said that Awoniyi’s death was a loss to the nation, particularly the North, whose interests he had fought for throughout his lifetime.

He, nonetheless, urged members of ACF to promote the larger Nigerian interests, rather than those of the North, saying: "That would be a way of immortalising the late elder statesman."

The former governor said that although he was not a member of ACF, he still believed that its promoters were out to draw the attention of the entire Nigerian society to the positive qualities of the North.

"Awoniyi felt that he could act as a bridge, being a Christian and a Yoruba leading the ACF, he could make the South understand the North better."

He was greatest man ever, says Malu

From Suleiman Mohammed, Lagos

Former Chief of Army Staff, General Victor Malu has described the late elder statesman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi as the greatest man of modern Nigeria whose departure would have great impact on the polity.

General Malu who expressed shock over news of the demise, told Sunday Trust in Lagos that he heard the news of the auto accident involving the late Awoniyi while he was out of the country. "I heard that he was recovering; and suddenly he was flown out for medical attention, and now the sad news of his death".

He described the late Aro of Mopa as a man of great heart, empathy and worthy of emulation. " He was a man that makes you comfortable. He was admirable, trustworthy and full of intelligence," he said of the late elder statesman.

The former Chief of Army Staff and ECOMOG field commander expressed hope that the legacy of the Awoniyi would be sustained, and prayed God to grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Also in his reaction, former secretary to the federal government under General Babangida military era, Chief Olu Falae, said, " unlike every other civil servant, he [Awoniyi] was not afraid to tell the government what his mind was about a particular policy that would not be in the interest of the generality of the people."

Also the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Abdul lateef Adegbite, described the late Awoniyi as "a true patriot and nationalist" whose death has opened a lacuna.

Other mourners include, former Ogun state governor, Chief Segun Osoba, who described the loss as tragic, leader of the Action Congress, Dapo Sarumi and Chief Bisi Akande who all paid tribute to the late elder statesman.

The late Awoniyi died Thursday in a London hospital, apparently from injuries sustained in a motor accident last week along Abuja- Kaduna express way.

Until his death, he was chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum.

…He did not disappoint Sardauna - Dariye

By Andrew Agbese, Jos

Former governor of Plateau state, Chief Joshua Dariye, has described the death of the elder statesman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi as shocking saying it was a sad loss to humanity.

Dariye, in statement issued by his media consultant, Yakubu Dati, said the late Awoniyi would be missed by all as he had been a positive influence on the politics of Nigeria.

The former governor said he recalls that the late Aro of Mopa strove to discourage the negative tendencies associated with the politics of this country and maintained a high level of discipline and patriotism in his political career.

Dariye said Awoniyi died in active service for his country. "He was in the forefront of the battle for ensuring equity and justice in Nigeria."

He said the late politician did not disappoint his mentor, the late Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello, who he served as secretary.

Okun people mourn

The Okun Unity Foundation has said that its members were shocked by the death of late Chief Sunday Awoniyi.

A statement by the foundation’s chairman, Prof M. B. Ajakaiye, said Awoniyi would be remembered for his doggedness, patriotism, wisdom and humility.

It said the death of Awoniyi was a loss to the Okun people and Nigeria as a whole.

"He was a man of focus who could not be pushed around being resolute in his pursuit of whatever he was convinced was the right path to take.

"He was trustworthy. It is not wonder then that the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) saw him as a rallying point, a suitable material for the chairmanship of the body.

"Now, the fact of his demise seems like a lie being unexpected and sudden for he was not known to be frail, but energetic and agile even at 75.

"Nigeria will miss him, ACF will miss him. Even the PDP from which he was pushed out will miss him. But Okun people and his family will miss him most," he said.

Awoniyi’s primary school wears a new look

Baptist Day Primary School, Mopa, where the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi began his educational career in 1938, now wears a new look, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

A NAN correspondent, who visited the Ileteju neighbourhood of the town yesterday learnt that the school was renovated by the local government council, shortly before Awoniyi’s death in a London hospital.

NAN, however, reports that Mopa was still in a mournful mood, days after the news of the death of Awoniyi, who was the Aro of Mopa, was announced.

Mopa’s traditional ruler, the Elulu of Mopa, Oba Julius Joledo, told journalists in his palace that Awoniyi’s death was a "rude shock".

He said that Mopa’s traditional council would miss his valuable contributions to the town’s development.

The monarch described Awoniyi as a great leader and called on politicians to emulate his good qualities, while promoting the country’s socio-economic and political development.

Lagos lawmakers eulogise Awoniyi

Lagos lawmakers have paid glowing tribute to the late elder statesman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, for his patriotic contributions to nation building.

Mr Agubiade Sanai, Ikorodu 1, said Awoniyi’s death should serve as an impetus for other progressives to do more for the country.

He said rather than being a "demoralising factor," his death should spur other progressives in the country to challenge all anti-democratic principles and acts.

Awoniyi, 75, died on Wednesday in a London hospital where he was receiving intensive medical care, following injuries he sustained in a car crash on the Abuja-Kaduna road on November 19.

Sanai said the late ACF chairman lived a principled life that was opposed to all forms of anti-democratic policies.

The Majority Leader, Mr Kolawole Taiwo, said Awoniyi’s death should serve as a lesson to Nigerian leaders, to strive toward leaving behind good legacies.

"He had shown that it was better to preserve one’s name in gold than to accumulate wealth," he said, noting that the elder statesman died fighting for the oppressed.

Taiwo also said the decision to fly the late politician to London for treatment was an indictment on the government, "which has neglected infrastructure, including the hospitals."

http://dailytrust.com/index.php?opti...6070&Itemid=57

The Awoniyi that we knew, by Gana, Walid, PDP
Written by UMORU HENRY
Sunday, 02 December 2007

Former minister of information and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party {PDP}, Professor Jerry Gana, has described the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi as one who lived a life of service to humanity and a leader who was committed to the ordinary people. Speaking with Sunday Vanguard, Gana, who noted that the nation had certainly lost an illustrious son, said the deceased was a visionary leader, just as he stressed that in terms of community leadership, the late elder statesman was “a colossus”.

According to him, “Chief Sunday Awoniyi was one of the founding members of PDP, he gave so much to the party, he gave his time for the formation of the party and he was the chairman of the manifesto drafting committee that gave PDP the best manifesto. He was a man of excellence, whatever was given to him, he did it well, he was a great achiever and Nigeria will miss him greatly”.

Also speaking, a former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Tunde Lakoju, who described Awoniyi as one of the most authentic Nigerians, said the late elder statesman was one Nigerian who could confront the truth and say it the way it is, just as Awoniyi stressed that he was a clear visionary and celebrated patriot.

According to him, Awoniyi was a man Nigeria as a country would miss his ideas and his fight to help reshape Nigeria , adding that he tried his best to realign the minds of the northerners and the entire nation.

To former minister of national planning, Senator Abdallah Wali, Awoniyi was a man of integrity and a highly respected personality, just as he said he was a true Nigerian who was respected by all Nigerians irrespective of state, zone and status.

Wali, who noted that Nigerians and the north will miss his ideas, which “were the replica of those of the late Ahmadu Bello, the Sarduana of Sokoto, said he worked hard for Nigeria and that the north and the entire country will miss his capacity against the backdrop that he was a symbol of unity."

Senator Walid Jibrin, member, Board of Trustees of PDP described Awoniyi as a good example of the late Ahmadu Bello, saying he was a detribalised Nigerian, just as he called northerners who believe in the ideals and principles of the late Sarduana to emulate the footsteps of Awoniyi.

The PDP chairmanship aspirant, Chief Dan Ikechukwu Ulasi, explained that with the death of Awoniyi, Nigeria had lost one of the patriotic leaders, adding that he provided unblemished service, just as he called on the government to give him a befitting burial.

Also speaking with Sunday Vanguard, the national vice chairman, north central, PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Magaji, said the late elder statesman was a great Nigerian who contributed immensely to the well being of Nigeria and Nigerians, adding, “In the PDP, he played a very prominent role in the party and if he had not handled the 1999 Jos convention properly, the party which people felt was going to split should have scattered. His death is a great loss to the nation, Nigeria has lost one of its best and I urge all Nigerians to pray for his soul”.

The ruling PDP also described Awoniyi as an exemplary and long standing politician who had set examples for both young and old politicians, just as it said his death indicates an era that was gradually winding down.

Speaking with Sunday Vanguard in a telephone conversation, the party’s national publicity secretary, Lady Ime Udom, who noted that it was painful for the deceased politician to die at the time the PDP was preparing for its national convention, said that the party was worst hit against the backdrop that it was losing its founding members.

According to her, “Chief Sunday Awoniyi has created a vacuum that no one can replace, it is era that is gradually winding down. He is a politician of long standing who set examples for many politicians and he has paid his dues in politics; the younger politicians are following his footsteps and it is unfortunate that he died when the party was preparing for its national convention. The party is losing its founding members and the party mourns his death”.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php...2466&Itemid=43

What Did He Want to Tell Me?
Simon Kolawole Live!, Email: simonkolawole@thisdayonline.com, 12.02.2007

One or two months ago – I now can’t remember precisely when – Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, the Aro of Mopa, sent a message to me that I should call him as soon as possible. I was a bit engaged, so I promised myself that I would call him later at night when I would be less distracted and be more focused on a meaningful conversation. It was only when I was told he had an accident that I remembered we had an unfinished business. I was so shocked and downcast when the news of his eventual death was broken to me on Thursday. My mind kept going back to his message and I kept asking: what was Chief Awoniyi planning to discuss with me? I would never know.

Before he sent that message to me, I had spoken with him only once in my life. That was November last year. I was on a bus in London when my UK mobile rang. I was surprised because I was actually on a private trip. Who knew I was here? I asked myself and picked the call. The caller immediately identified himself as “Chief Awoniyi”. I was thrilled. “I just want to commend you on your article today,” he said. “Please do not compromise. With people like you, we old people know we are leaving Nigeria in safe hands. Please keep your focus. Remain principled. God will be with you.”

I was excited. I had never spoken to him in my life. In fact, I never met him one-on-one, except from a distance when I was growing up in the village. We attended the same church – First Baptist Church, Ileteju, Mopa, Kogi State – and so I could claim I had seen him in flesh before. But then that was from a distance. As a little kid in the village, you never dreamt that one day in the future, a “whole” Chief Awoniyi would call you and commend you. Never! Not in my wildest imaginations. He was like a god to us little kids – someone you could only see from a distance, not someone so near. He must have noticed that I was dumbfounded, for I could only utter: “Thank you sir, thank you sir.”

You cannot say Awoniyi died young at the age of 75, but you will never expect that it would be a road accident that would claim the life of a 75-year-old man. You would think the man would, one night, retire to bed after a meal of pounded yam and egusi soup (my people’s favourite meal) and then quietly answer the call to yonder. He had survived an accident before, sometime in the 1970s, when the Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo administration was dualising Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. His car veered off the road into the bush. No help came because nobody knew anything had happened. He was in the Lagos-Ibadan wilderness for quite a while, but he survived.

Awoniyi’s death has hurt me in many respects. One, I never had the chance of a one-on-one with him. I would have loved to sit down with him, share my thoughts with him and learn from him, for he was a wise man. Two, I never knew what he wanted to tell me when he sent that message to me. I will keep asking myself that question forever. Three, I am currently working on a book – my first effort – which attempts to analyse the theme of ethnicity, religion and politicking in Nigeria. The book deals tangentially with the tricky issue of ethnic identity in Nigeria. I had pencilled down Awoniyi as one of my interviewees, given his own experience as a Yorubaman geographically grouped with Northern Nigeria. I had dreamt of a very engaging conversation with him, thrashing all the issues that had always dominated my thoughts over this identity question. I procrastinated and I now have to pay the price.

I loved Awoniyi for one thing – he never ran away from his identity. Northern Yoruba are usually accused by South-west Yoruba of eating from both sides of the divide – claiming to be Northerners or Southerners depending on the circumstance. You could never accuse Awoniyi of that. Charged with being a lackey of the Hausa/Fulani/Muslim North, he once replied with humour, saying: “My name is Sunday Awoniyi. You cannot be more Christian than Sunday. You cannot be more Yoruba than Awoniyi. In fact, Awoniyi and Awolowo mean essentially the same thing.”

He consistently said he was a “very, very proud Yorubaman from Northern Nigeria”. He said when Lord Luggard was mapping Nigeria along North/South lines, “he did not consult my people. I was not the one who told him to group my people with Northern Nigeria. He opposed moves to redraw the map and bring the Northern Yoruba under the South-west. There are Yoruba in Benin Republic,” he said. “There are Yoruba in Cuba. There are Yoruba in Delta [Itsekiri]. I am a Yorubaman from Kogi State. I am okay with that.”

Some Southerners, partly out of mischief and partly out of ignorance, describe anyone from the North as “Hausa”. There are over 200 ethnic groups in the North that are not Hausa or Fulani. In Kogi State alone, you have Igbirra, Igala, Bassa, Ogori, Okun and Nupe. Adamawa State can boast of over 50 ethnic groups! Plateau will count dozens. Are Tivs, Idomas and Igedes in Benue Hausas? Do you classify the Kaje, Kagoro, Jabar, Kataf and Marwa ethnic groups in Kaduna as Hausas? This is one of the topics I intend to treat in my book – but unfortunately without the informed input of Awoniyi. What a shame.

To be frank, I was not a fan of Awoniyi until 1996 or thereabout when he took on the Abacha government over its refusal to register his All Nigeria Congress (ANC). I liked the way he spoke out at a time Abacha was at his murderous best. I liked the way he articulated his points. You could not fault him. Awoniyi was eventually shut up by the goggled terrorist through intimidation and threat to his life, but he had already made his point. Until then, my political sympathy had always been with the other SB – Chief Silas Bamidele Daniyan, the Ojomu of Mopa. As kids, we believed Daniyan was for the masses and Awoniyi for the elite. More so, my grandmother, who brought me up, is eternally an ally of Daniyan.

As a politician, Awoniyi was deft. He always defeated our hero, Daniyan. Awoniyi beat him to the Constituent Assembly seat in 1989. He beat Daniyan again in the Senate election of 1991. I never liked him for that. However, Daniyan turned the tables on June 12, 1993 when Mopa voted for Chief MKO Abiola – although Bashir Tofa won Kogi State marginally. Aside politics, Awoniyi used his influence to help our community. An accomplished civil servant who retired as a Super Perm Sec, he was said to have influenced the decision to bring electricity to our town in 1977. Awoniyi set up a plastic manufacturing plant, Boja Industries – in the Arifun Industrial Estate, Mopa, where there is a cluster of manufacturing firms – to create employment for youths. He contributed significantly to the building of a new structure for our church and the building of a civic centre. Remarkably, too, Awoniyi built a modern market in the town and donated it to market women. That was in 1988. He helped many Okun sons and daughters to set up businesses and secure jobs.

Despite my misgivings about his politics, he was said to be close to the grassroots. Sometime in the 1980s, a friend of mine told me that while he was trekking from our town to the next town, Chief Awoniyi, who was driving a Pajero, pulled up and offered him a ride. To the young chap, it was a dream – not just being in the same car with Awoniyi, but entering a Pajero! My friend recounted how Awoniyi started exhorting him to be of good behaviour and contribute to the development of the town, no matter how little.

Awoniyi was an excellent orator. Even his opponents acknowledged as much. He spoke our dialect – Yagba – with flair. He spoke Yoruba with panache. He spoke English with authority. I don’t understand Hausa, but I know the way the man spoke it sounded sweet. He led the Arewa Consultative Forum as someone who commanded respect, not as a second-class Northerner. While many will see Northern Nigeria as the enclave of Hausa/Fulani Muslims, Awoniyi made a point that a minority can earn his way to the top in the most daunting circumstances. He did not convert to Islam and he did not deny his Yorubaness. Awoniyi was a great man – a man of industry and integrity.

Dear God, what did Awoniyi want to tell me when he asked me to call him? And why on earth did I procrastinate?

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=96800

[gwobezentashi]

Awoniyi’s Body Arrives Today
•Sultan, Enahoro, Makarfi mourn
From Chuks Okocha, Sufuyan Ojeifo in Abuja and Davidson Iriekpen in Lagos, 12.03.2007

The body of the late Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, will arrive Abuja this morning, the family has said.

The body will be accompanied by the third son of the late elder statesman, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, who accompanied his father to London when he was flown out penultimate Saturday for medical treatment.

THISDAY confirmed yesterday night from his second son, Mr. Dare Awoniyi, that the body would arrive the International wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport at 5.30 o’ clock aboard a British Airways flight from where it would be driven to the mortuary of the National Hospital, Abuja.

The family is expected to announce the burial, which will take place in his Mopa, Kogi State country home.

Meanwhile, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saa'd Abubakar, Chairman of the Pro National Conference (PRONACO), Chief Anthony Enahoro, former governors, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi and Dr. Peter Odili, have sent condolence messages to the family of late Awoniyi, who passed away in a London hospital last Wednesday.

In his condolence message, the Sultan said Awoniyi's death was a great loss to the nation.
"The Sultanate Council hereby extends its deep condolence to the family of the deceased elder statesman and entire people of Nigeria over this irreparable loss," the statement read.

The statement said Awoniyi was always firm and frank on all national issues, a great nationalist and always honest in all his dealings.

"Chief Awoniyi was a detribalised Nigerian who had strenuously worked for the Northern region to catch up with the rest of Nigeria, and in line with the aspirations of his late mentor, Sir Ahmadu Bello, that the Northerners will strenuously be guided by the principles of work and worship," it added.

In his reaction, Makarfi said Awoniyi's death was a great loss to the nation.
"His death is a great loss not only to the Northern part of Nigeria for which he was an unrepentant loyalist, but also the entire country for which unity and indivisibility he had an abiding faith. His leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum shall forever remain fresh in our memory for its honest, focus, commitment and unparalleled decency," he said.

"His death," according to Makarfi, "certainly is a terrible blow to all of us who knew and were greatly inspired by his life. He surely has left a huge vacuum that would be difficult to fill."

Odili also spoke glowingly about the late statesman.
“As the leader of one of the building blocks of Nigerian federation whose members participated actively at the Peoples National Conference, PNC, organised under the auspices of PRONACO, our platform is obliged to be part of a befitting immortalisation of the values of the late political leader,” he said.

In separate statements by the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) National Chairman, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, and the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress (AC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the political parties described Awoniyi as a gift to politics and governance in Nigeria.

According to Ume-Ezeoke, "We shall certainly miss his wise counsel. He was a gift to politics and governance in Nigeria. He has created a huge vacuum in our midst and only God knows why it has to happen the way his death happened.
"Our prayer is that God shall grant him perfect rest for his role in the politics and governance of this country. He has left an indelible record in this area and it would be difficult for us to fill,” he said.

Also, the AC in a statement by Mohammed, the party said: ''Those who personified the very opposite of what Chief Awoniyi lived and died for - commitment to the truth, fairness and justice - may view his death as a sort of relief, even as a victory of sorts.
''But the reality is that his death has further exposed their failings and finally placed him among the greats – a lofty ending that many of them can only dream of,'' it said.
The AC recalled that Chief Awoniyi was among the very first prominent Nigerians to warn former President Olusegun Obasanjo against running for an unconstitutional third term, a warning, which Obasanjo failed to heed and which eventually consigned him to the depth of infamy.

Other Nigerians who paid tribute to the late elder statesman were former Information Minister, Professor Jerry Gana, member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and National chairmanship aspirant, Prince Benjamin Apugo as well as apolitical associate of the late elder statesman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
While signing the condolence register at the Abuja residence of the Awoniyis, all of them extolled the exemplary leadership and public life style of Awoniyi and lamented that nation had lost one of his finest and best.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=96889

[gwobezentashi]

Awoniyi: Nigerians react

Written by Bolade Omonijo, Dapo Akinrefon, Gbenga Oke & Charles Kumolu
Monday, 03 December 2007

Awoniyi was a true Yoruba— Gov Daniel Ogun State Governor,
Otunba Gbenga Daniel, described the late Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Awoniyi, as a true Yoruba, who used some of the qualities found among members of the race for the benefit of Northern Nigeria, where fate assigned his ancestral home to.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Wale Adedayo, said: “His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, mourned the death of another example of a true Yoruba, the Aro of Mopa, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, who he described as a steadfast and principled leader. Being a Yoruba in Northern Nigeria did not dilute the principled nature found among his kith and kin, which endeared him to the key leaders of the region.

“He never changed position for reasons of political expediency. Whatever he believes in, he pursues with a vigour and a dogged determination irrespective of whose ox is gored. His life should be an example for the younger generation to follow in these times that we urgently need a value system to make Nigeria move away from the current climate of greed and corruption. We pray that God will grant his family and indeed Nigeria the fortitude to bear this great loss.”

Ayo Opadokun, Afenifere chieftain
He was one of the last vestiges of the glorious era of Nigeria’s public service. He was a respected statesman who was willing to stake his life over matters he was concerned about. A thoroughbred technocrat and he represented his immediate constituency very well even, for the little time he got involved with politics. Eternal rest grant him, Oh Lord, and I pray his family will have the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

He should have waited, his quality is needed at a time like this.

The fact is that he was one of the lieutenants of Sardauna and Sardauna related with all irrespective of their religion and origin differences.

He didn’t feel that there was any need opting out of where he had been located by Lord Lugard.

Chief Supo Shonibare, Lagos State Chairman of Afenifere
Chief Awoniyi was a Yoruba man who appreciated the generosity and inclusiveness of the Northern hegemony for accepting him as part of them. He also supported their concept of controlling the Nigerian power base. He was an exemplary conservative with a strong belief in his group, NPC, NPN, NRC or PDP, you could always know where he would be in any political formation. Frank, consistent and reliable.

Dr Joe-Okei Odumakin, President, Campaign for Democracy
Indeed, it is a colossal lost to Nigeria. The Yoruba Nation will miss him, the Arewas will miss him. It a general loss to the nation. As a prominent leader he was instrumental to the evolution of modern Nigeria. He was a bridge builder, his death has taken another of the veterans. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

Dr Fredrick Fasheun, Founder of Oodua Peoples Congress, (OPC)
It is a very unfortunate thing. He should not have died at this time. It is a big loss to the nation. We hope and pray that Nigeria does something to immortalise his name. I hope the members of his family will have the strength to bear the loss. I sympathise with the nation, I sympathise with his family.

Olurunimbe Mamora, Senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District
Chief Awoniyi is one man that has seen it all and I respect him so much. He was an aide to the first Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, and during the NPC days, he was a prominent figure. Also in the First, Second, Third and Fourth Republics respectively, he was very prominent.

Under the PDP government, he played a major role because h

http://www.vanguardngr.com/index2.ph...1&pop=1&page=0

[Vaya Con Dios]

A few weeks ago, Ian Smith, the racist Rhodesian died, and someone blamed some of us for hailing his death. That is not going to make me shy away from saying that Sunday Awoniyi would only be missed by his masters in the North. To us in the Middlebelt of Nigeria, he was TOTALLY USELESS, apart from the fact that he was among the "elders" that did nothing for the infrastructure of the country. Isn't it ironic that they are dying on the same bad roads as everyone else? You could build your mansion, sink your borehole, install all the security gadgets, and can fly overseas, but you would still move around in Nigeria, full of angry youth that have turned to armed robbery. If these don't get you, the bad roads will, or one of the kabu-kabu planes will collide with your private plane in the air!

May Mr Awoniyi rest in peace, but he was one SABO the middlebelt is glad to lose. The ACF can find another one.

ochi

Kai! Am not sure that everyone in the middle belt would share this view of Awoniyi. By the way, who made you a spokesperson for the middle belt? And in what way is Awoniyi a SABO, to use your own words? For your information, his people in Kogi credit him with the fact that he worked assidously to get towns in his district connected to the National Grid. In fact, his town in Mopa got electricity through his efforts, according to Simon Kolawole an editor with ThisDay, in his op-ed article dated 2/12/2007. Kolawole hails from the same town as Awoniyi.

As a politician, Awoniyi was deft. He always defeated our hero, Daniyan. Awoniyi beat him to the Constituent Assembly seat in 1989. He beat Daniyan again in the Senate election of 1991. I never liked him for that. However, Daniyan turned the tables on June 12, 1993 when Mopa voted for Chief MKO Abiola – although Bashir Tofa won Kogi State marginally. Aside politics, Awoniyi used his influence to help our community. An accomplished civil servant who retired as a Super Perm Sec, he was said to have influenced the decision to bring electricity to our town in 1977. Awoniyi set up a plastic manufacturing plant, Boja Industries – in the Arifun Industrial Estate, Mopa, where there is a cluster of manufacturing firms – to create employment for youths. He contributed significantly to the building of a new structure for our church and the building of a civic centre. Remarkably, too, Awoniyi built a modern market in the town and donated it to market women. That was in 1988. He helped many Okun sons and daughters to set up businesses and secure jobs.

[Vaya Con Dios]

The issue is more complicated than you make it seem.I think it is more about his socialization process than any other issue. There are legions of Yoruba people that see themselves first as northerners than Yorubas. Tunde Idiagbon, Abdlukareem Adisa , both deceased , and Olusola Saraki were heavily socialised in the north. It wasn't their deliberate choice but circumstances of history, it is now more about who they have become, irrespective of their heritage. If there was something Sarduana achieved for the north, it was that block unification of the region irrespective of ethnicity.

Sunday Awoniyi is the product of similar mindset.It is less about the person, but more about the evolution and their cultural outlook of Kwara people. They are different in social outlook compared to the Yorubas than live in the core of the Southwest.

This is what I have tried to explain to several people, on several different occasions. I have lived in the middle-belt as well as in several parts of the South-west, and am often struck by the differences among them. How can people speak the same language (although with different dialects) and yet, be so completely disimilar in orientation?

In fact, among many Yoruba families in the middle-belt, you would discover that many of them have mothers, grandmothers wives, or forebears with a mixed or far Northern heritage e.g. Fulani, Kanuri, Nupe, Gwari, Kataf etc. An exposure to this kind of mixed cultural heritage, is obviously likely to have influenced their outlook.

So we are still back to that age-old question of identity.

[Vaya Con Dios]

He gained the so called reverence in the North at the expense of acting anti-South and anti-Yoruba. He was a man with a Yoruba name but who was desperate to be seen as a Northerner and a crusader of Northern interest.

There was nothing wrong with his trying to be a Northern, but he was actively anti-South.

May his soul rest in peace.

Just curious. In what way was he actively anti-South? Can you cite dates, times, facts. . . .and instances?

[gwobezentashi]

Remains of Awoniyi Arrives
• He triumphed over his enemies – AC

The remains of elder statesman and chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, were due to arrive Abuja in the early hours of today.The corpse was scheduled to arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 5:30 a.m., aboard British Airways, LEADERSHIP was told late last night.Dignitaries who must have received the late politician were leader of the Kogi State delegation and deputy governor of the state, Chief Philip Salawu, former military governor of the old Kwara State, General David Jemibewon, the deceased’s children and his political associates, media adviser to the ACF, Malam Bukar Zarma, told our reporter. Awoniyi died last Wednesday in a London hospital where he was taken for intensive medical care following injuries he sustained in an autocrash along Abuja-Kaduna road. Meanwhile, condolence messages have continued to flow in torrents for the family of the late Aro of Mopa.The latest is coming from the Action Congress (AC), which described Awoniyi as a rare gem who "triumphed over his enemies" even in death. The party said in a statement issued yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed: "Those who personified the very opposite of what Chief Awoniyi lived and died for - commitment to the truth, fairness and justice - may view his death as a sort of relief, even as a victory of sorts. "But the reality is that his death has further exposed their failings and finally placed him among the greats - a lofty ending that many of them can only dream of," it said.

AC recalled that Chief Awoniyi was among the very first prominent Nigerians to warn former President Olusegun Obasanjo against running for an unconstitutional third term, a warning which Obasanjo failed to heed and which eventually consigned him to the "depth of infamy".Speaking further, the party said Awoniyi was the first person to detect the dictatorial tendencies of the former President, whom he did not spare for attempting to take Nigeria on the road to perdition. His warnings and frank advice to Obasanjo, which were widely publicized, have proven to be prescient. It said though Awoniyi was not a member of AC, he espoused the "same principles which our party stands for. "Chief Awoniyi had no army, but he fought Obasanjo consistently on issues of national importance. The success of that fight could be seen in the incredible outpouring of sympathy, a great sense of loss and an appreciation of his rare qualities expressed by Nigerians from all walks of life since his death. "Since retiring from the public service in 1977 as a Permanent Secretary, he never stood for elected office, yet his influence and imprint on the Nigerian nation are unmistakable."Though his critics saw him as an ultra-conservative northerner, even a protégé of the late Sardauna, but the truth is that those qualities that made the Sardauna a towering leader were the same ones that Awoniyi lived and died pursuing. ''We make bold to say that if every region had an Awoniyi, the fight against oppression and tyranny, corruption and lawlessness, lack of development and poverty would have been won long ago. Nigeria is fortunate to have had a visionary leader like Awoniyi and all will definitely miss his wise counsel," AC added.

Also, elder statesman and leader of the Pro- National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), Chief Anthony Enahoro, has commiserated with the Awoniyi family and the people of Nigeria over the demise of Chief Awoniyi. In a statement issued in Lagos and signed by the spokesperson of PRONACO, Mr Olawale Okunniyi, the leader of PRONACO said the demise of Sunday Awoniyi was coming when the nation needed him most to join hands with other credible national leaders for the overhaul of the 1999 constitution. Commenting on his past, Enahoro remarked that though Awoniyi started as a Northern nationalist, he died as a democrat. He recalled his last encounter with the late politician in Abuja sometimes ago, when they both agreed that there was the need to work together to change the current system. Enahoro also condoled members of both the ACF and the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), including others in Yoruba land who saw Sunday Awoniyi as their own, praying that God should give them the fortitude to bear the loss."As the leader of one of the building blocks of Nigerian federation whose members participated actively at the Peoples National Conference (PNC), organised under the auspices of PRONACO, our platform is obliged to be part of a befitting immortalisation of the values of the late political leader," he said. Meanwhile, the PRONACO secretariat said it would send a delegation to formally convey its condolence to the Awoniyi family and that Alhaji Shettima Yerima, the chairman of AYCF and leader of PRONACO action group has its mandate to liaise with other Northern leaders over burial matters.
http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/

[gwobezentashi]

THE PASSING AWAY OF A GOOD MAN : The Politically Essential Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi
Written by Jide Ajani, Political Editor
Monday, 03 December 2007

Simply known as S. B. Awoniyi, here was a man who elevated politics of principles to a wonderfully attractive level. His passing away would definitely leave a big gash in Nigeria's political firmament. A politician for whom there can never be two versions or interpretations of his every and any action, this tribute merely takes a look at the major role he played in the transition which led to this republic.

For a Christian, it is, perhaps, fitting that the Traditions of Prophet Muhammad - kaana fi-qaolu naasi, huwa fi qaolu Llahu, the voice of man is the voice of God, best sums up the tributes pouring in for Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, as a man who would rest in perfect peace.

Not many would so rest after their death. Awoniyi’s middle name, Bolorunduro, translates as one who stands with God. With that Islamic injunction about the sum of the voices of men about an individual is as good as God Almighty’s appreciation of the same individual, then Bolorunduro Awoniyi should rest pretty.

Awoniyi was not the politician for whom there would be many versions or interpreta-tions of his every action. Reason: Awoniyi was a good man, a very good man. From his quasi nationalistic roles of pre-independence and the First Republic, Awoniyi was not a man to be introduced over and over. He had his career well cut out.

As published by Vanguard last week, “Soon after retirement from the Federal Civil Service in the 70s, he began to take part, rather reluctantly, in political activities. Although he always insisted that he was not a politician but merely a simple public administrator sucked into political activities, nonetheless, he won an election to the Constituent Assembly in 1977 to represent the then Oyi Local Government Area of old Kwara State.

In 1992, he was drafted to stand, and was elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the West Senatorial District of Kogi State on the platform of the National Republican Convention (NRC), 1992. He was a Federal Government Nominee to the Constitutional Conference - 1994 to 1995.

After the Constitutional Conference, he was among eminent Nigerians who sought to change the political landscape of this country; and when the government lifted the ban on political activities, Chief S. B. Awoniyi, along with politicians of note, formed the All Nigerian Congress (ANC) with him as its chairman. Of the dozen or so associations that sought registration from the Abacha regime, the ANC was generally credited with being the best organised and leading association.

This was because of the likes of Awoniyi in the party which was later to be described in some quarters as a distinguished party. When the ANC, along with other credible associations were denied registration, Awoniyi, on behalf of the ANC, spoke the minds of millions when he issued what became generally regarded as a courageous and prophetic valedictory statement on behalf of the members of his association and refused to take part in the transition programme that was hatched by the administration.”

Many continue to refer to the February 1999 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as being the freest and best convention every organized by the party. Well, Awoniyi was the chairman of the convention planning committee.

That convention was organized in what can be termed a flawless manner. Chief Awoniyi was also the chairman of the committee that produced the Party’s pioneer Manifesto. He was also a member of the Party’s original Board of Trustees of 37. In 1999, Awoniyi again offered himself for the service of the country as a candidate for the office of the National Chairman of PDP. His belief was that the PDP needed some transformation.

He had hoped to carry through what he did in February of that same year. Unfortunately, those who had come to own the PDP then refused to allow him be.

Though the convention and the voting which took place for the election of the PDP national chairman appeared transparent, it was really skewed in favour of Barnabas Gemade, the then darling of the Presidency.

When it became obvious in 2002 that then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, was set in his ways, ways which Awoniyi considered anathema to his own beliefs, the latter excused himself from PDP and politics. But, he kept a close watch on events in the national interest.

Which explains why he had to, on April 10, 2006, write an open letter to the then President, Obasanjo when the third term issue became maddening. In that letter, Awoniyi provided what could be described as an avuncular counsel to Obasanjo, asking him to leave office gracefully, saying:

“As we prepare for the great beyond, we should work and pray to be remembered for sowing the seeds of good accord and not for fanning the embers of discord between and amongst our people. We should not protect the South against the North or vice versa; nor should we manufacture new areas of disharmony where none existed before. Let us help the young to grow and grow alright.

The future is theirs. They are bright and impressionable. Let us give them good example for their inter-personal and communal relation-ship. We owe them this debt.” He wrote the letter from his sick bed in London where he had gone for treatment following an armed robbery attack on him in his Abuja residence on March 12, 2006.

Ironically, Awoniyi had served as one of the “super perm-secs” of the then military era of General Obasanjo. Awoniyi died last Thursday in a London hospital. Until his death, he was also Chairman of the National Executive Council of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), eminent politician and respected administrator, Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi (CON), he was aged 75.

News of his death was broken by his family in a terse statement yesterday. His death, according to the family, was “as a result of injuries he sustained in a motor accident on Monday, 19th of November 2007.”

He had first been treated at the National Hospital, Abuja, before he was transferred to a London hospital only last Saturday for further treatment. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Olusegun Obasanjo as saying: Awoniyi’s “place in the Nigerian politics and development as a civil servant, politician and patriot will be very difficult to fill.”

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, one never to miss a political opportunity when he spots one was at it again last Thursday after Awoniyi’s death. As was published last week: “Also reacting to Chief Awoniyi’s demise, the immediate past Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, said:

“Chief Awoniyi was one of the leading lights of a generation of dedicated, honest and patriotic public servants who served this country to the best of their abilities. As a civil servant, businessman, politician and statesman, he was known and respected for his hard work, thoroughness, forthright-ness and uncommon candour.

He exemplified that rare quality of a true Nigerian who held tenaciously to his religious belief and ethnic identity in the midst of friends and associates of different convic-tions." “ A few days before the car crash that would eventually claim his life, he had sent me a text message on my cell phone in which he counseled me not to lose faith in our dear country.

“The message, which I have not deleted till date, reads: 'Dear Turaki, I know you are very disappointed with this thoroughly abused country. Please don’t lose faith in this country because it is a great country.’ “The message was so touching that I immediately called him back to assure him that ‘I will never lose faith in our dear country.

I could hear a deep sense of relief in his voice as I spoke. As one of those who laid the foundation of this country, I suspect that he was a little disappointed that Nigeria was yet to live up to the expectations of her founding fathers and mothers. But he never lost hope in Nigeria’s ability to redeem herself and become a success story in Africa.

“Looking back now, it would seem that Chief Awoniyi had a premonition of his death and he wanted the assurances of key stakeholders that his beloved country will live and fulfil its manifest destiny as one of the greatest nations on earth.

“I believe that there is no better tribute we can pay to this great son of Nigeria than for all patriots to rededicate themselves to the service of our country. “I pray to Almighty Allah to grant his soul eternal rest and to give his family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. Chief Awoniyi made our lives richer by simply living his life as a de-tribalised, brilliant, articulate and committed Nigerian." Even the Federal Government of Nigeria could not but pay effusive tributes:

The Federal Government, in a statement by Information and Communication Minister, Mr John Odey, said: “Chief Awoniyi was a major contributor to the Nigerian political and economic development and, indeed, one of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria.

He was a man who demonstrated passion and great zeal in the political formation of modern day Nigeria. During the time he served as the Secretary to the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the late statesman was known to have worked for policies and programmes which enhanced the unity and progress of this country.

The Federal Government is saddened that just as efforts are being made to reform the electoral system in the country, the invaluable contributions of the sage would not be available for the benefit of Nigerians any longer.

The Federal Government sympathises with the Government of Kogi State, the people of Okunland, the people of Mopa and Nigerians in general over the monumental loss to the nation." “The government, however, takes consolation in the fact that Chief Awoniyi did not die in vain as his works, both as administrator and as a political leader, would continue to serve as guide and directional map for continued unity and peace in this country.”

Many tributes came in for this good man. For Awoniyi, the voice of man is the voice of God.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php...=2500&Itemid=0

[gwobezentashi]

Family Members, Associates Receive Awoniyi’s Body
From Sufuyan Ojeifo in Abuja, 12.04.2007

Body of late Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, was flown into Abuja yesterday aboard a British Airways passenger plane, at 6.15 a.m.

The body was received by members of his immediate family, Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Mr Philip Salaudeen, who represented the state government, former Minister of Police Affairs, Major General David Jemibewon (rtd) and former Commissioner in old Plateau State, Mrs Catherine Hoomkwap, among others.

Vice President Jonathan Goodluck yesterday visited the family members of the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi in Abuja during which he extolled the leadership qualities of the late elder statesman.

Jonathan, who got to the Plot 626 Rhine Street, Maitama residence of the Awoniyi’s at 6.15 p.m., said very few Nigerians, living or dead, could compare with him in terms of selflessness, dedication and commitment to the good of the nation.

He wrote in the condolence register: “Chief Awoniyi lived his life for our country. He was steadfast, dedicated and committed to the good of this country.”

“Very few Nigerians, living or dead, can be compared with him. The Lord who has taken him from us should provide a replacement. May his soul rest in peace.”

The Vice President was received by Mr. Dare Awoniyi and Architect Yomi Awoniyi along with other members of the family members.

The casket bearing the body, was driven from the International Wing of the Nnamidi Azikwe Airport straight to the mortuary of the National Hospital, Abuja.

Meanwhile, tributes have continued to pour in for the late elder statesman who died on Wednesday in a London Hospital, as a result of injuries he sustained in an auto crash on Abuja-Kaduna road on Monday, November 19.

Former Senate president, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who arrived at the Abuja residence of the late elder statesman at 5.05 p.m., said Nigeria lost a great man.According to the tribute he wrote in the condolence register, “the loss of a great man means a lot to the nation. The nation mourns you, sir. May your soul rest in peace.” In its condolence message to the Awoniyi family, the Ijaw Elders’ Forum under the Chairmanship of Chief Edwin K. Clarke, said it was saddened by the demise of “this great leader of our time, who in following the traditions of the founding fathers of this nation, stood firmly for the truth, anchored on the pillars of justice, equity and fairness.”
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=96983

TUESDAY COLUMN: AWONIYI, OUR AWONIYI!
Written by Muhammad Al-Ghazali
Tuesday, 04 December 2007

"Barka da Sallah. PLEASE DON’T give up on this potentially great but thoroughly misused country. It’s a luxury we can’t afford." - Late Chief Sunday Awoniyi

In the end, going by the last text message I received from the Chief last month - on the 14th of October to be precise, and which I have taken the liberty to reproduce above in its exact wording and casing, I am tempted to agree with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that the late Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum [ACF], Aro of Mopa, and elder statesman of repute Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, probably had premonition of his death on Thursday last week.

As could be expected when I received news on that fateful day that the great man was no more, I was overcome with emotion and numbed beyond belief because although our various faiths teach that death is often nearer than our next cup of tea, his demise, even at the age of 75 and well above the average life expectancy of Nigerians which stands at 45, was so unexpected.

Only three days earlier I called his bosom friend and compatriot of several decades, the former Head of Service of the federation Alhaji Adamu Fika the Wazirin Fika to commiserate with him on the accident, in which the Chief was thought to have sustained only minor injuries, before he was eventually flown abroad in an air ambulance. I told the Waziri that I dispatched two get-well messages to the Chief from my mobile phone but received no reply. I wanted an update on the state of the Chief’s health since I was unable to see him before he was evacuated abroad.

The Waziri did his best to lift my spirits but I could tell from the tone of his voice that something just did not seem right because it lacked the usual resonance and optimism. I became even more down-cast when the Waziri told me he wasn’t surprised that my text messages to the Chief went un-replied because the man was not in a position to answer them! That seemed to fly in the face of all the news reports I read about the accident nearly all of which suggested that the Chief sustained only minor injuries from the accident, and was able to walk away from the scene.

Anyhow, the reality that stares us in the face today is that the dean of that nearly extinct colony of genuine Nigerian patriots, an excellent human being by every standard, and the repository of all that can be said to be our finest values, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, is no more. The truth, so brutal in its reality, is that we will never again encounter the Chief in flesh, or gyrate to his timeless sermons on the essence of integrity or selfless public service. Very painfully, all that we are left with now are memories of what the man stood for as accentuated by the mosaic of his rich legacies so evident in resistance of tyranny, evil, and the corruption of both the mind and our public institutions.

Quite inevitably, since his death, I have read many tributes to the Chief which, while in compliance with our timeworn tradition of honouring the dead, also in typical fashion tended to suggest that the only good Nigerian is a dead one. Like vultures, eulogies have continued to pour in most cases from people intent on making political capital out of his death, even when we know most of them hounded and frustrated the Chief when he was alive for their selfish ends. Some of the tributes, especially the one credited to disgraced president Olusegun Obasanjo, were so patently hypocritical that I didn’t even know whether to laugh or cry. We shall return to this point in due course. In the mean time, how does one even begin to write a tribute to the memory of a man like Chief Sunday Awoniyi? If we don’t know where we are coming from, is it even possible to discern with any degree of certainty exactly where we are headed? That certainly seems to be the case with most of the reactions I have read so far.

Unless you had the good fortune to have sat down with the Chief to discuss Nigeria and its numerous problems; unless you were subjected to the potent realism so obvious from his thoughts and uncommon nationalism; unless you experienced, first-hand, his persistent yearning for a better public service system to lift the nation from the squalor of rabid underdevelopment brought about by decades of unbridled corruption and incompetent leadership; unless you saw the undying passion and love he had for his beloved country in his very eyes; and, unless you were drawn by that special magnetism or the tenacity in his resolve to make a decisive difference to improve the lot of ordinary Nigerians wherever they lived, you risked mistaken the Chief for just another regional icon or mere leader of a socio-cultural group like the ACF, when, in fact, his ideologies had universal appeal.

Contrary to the pedestrian and thoroughly unschooled view in some quarters that he lived and died for northern Nigeria , Chief Awoniyi was a genuine nationalist who stood for the triumph and emancipation of the black race from Nigeria to the Diaspora. He once told me in the presence of the Wazirin Fika that Nigeria , with its immense potentials, actually represented the last hope for the black man. The more I listened to him the more it occurred to me that the Chief was undoubtedly way ahead of his time because, unless we delude ourselves, even his membership and Chairmanship of the ACF were hugely symbolic.

Chief Awoniyi wanted, and successfully proved, that he, a Yoruba, albeit from the geographical north, could lead the region and, in the process, challenged his compatriots and peers from the other geographical zones to demonstrate similar courage by exploding the myth of ethnic supremacy. It was clear from his reactions to national developments that the Chief recognized that nepotism and politics of ethnocentrism, often the veritable tool of many Nigerian politicians since the first republic, were the harbingers of mediocrity in public service. We could also glean from his nationwide contacts that he appreciated that competence and ability had no clearly defined boundaries.

Can we, for instance, ever imagine someone like Wole Soyinka, even with his dubious international image taking up temporary residency in Kano to preach against ethnic and religious intolerance? Never, he would prefer the comfort of a news studio in New York or somewhere in Europe to declare that Nigeria is a failed state worthy of balkanization. When he eventually returns home, he would gather the usual newsmen from the Lagos-Ibadan axis and preach about the inevitability of a sovereign national conference from the luxurious home of another fellow anarchist. Awoniyi’s vision abhorred such narrow, short-sighted sentiments. He believed in Nigeria in its totality and rejected each and every attempt by selfish and less visionary politicians to reduce him to an ethnic jingoist.

It is true of course, that the Chief lived in awe of the late Premier of the Northern Region Sir Ahmadu Bello under whom he cut his teeth as a public servant. I once asked him what the late Premier’s reaction would be like if he were to return to Nigeria in its present state. Awoniyi stared blankly at me for what seemed an eternity and replied that the Sardauna would have been so mortified by the quality of our contemporary leaders and the degree of endemic corruption in the land that he would actually prefer to be returned promptly to his sleep!

Therefore, if at all Chief Awoniyi was beholden to the legacies of the Sardauna till the end it was because he had so much nostalgia for the good old days when the public service operated on its own momentum and was defined by much higher values of efficiency, due process, selflessness, and the integrity of all stakeholders. It was because he wanted the same values replicated in the conduct of our leaders and public servants at all levels for the good of the general citizenry. In other words, Awoniyi had his hopes for a great and prosperous Nigeria , to achieve that dream however he believed the Sardauna School of public service was the best vehicle.

Sadly, here we are, once again, at another crossroads in our evolution as a nation, mourning the demise of the great man who defined nobility by his actions and associations. He is yet another loss from our near extinct tribe of genuine patriots. Our loss would have been less painful if the Chief had lived to see the gestation of the type of efficient public service he yearned for to the very last, but alas, such dreams were frustrated by the primitive antics of a chicken farmer on the now deserted farm house in Ota.

So much has been written about Obasanjo’s eight years of misrule and his preference for the company of sycophants and all sorts of scavengers, who swiftly turned the nation’s treasury, like much of our national patrimony into a virtual Aladdin’s cave, into which only his closest cronies had the password. So much was also said about the role of the former president in denying Chief Awoniyi the chairmanship of the PDP when he desired it. But it was Obasanjo’s serial emasculation and abuse of the civil service that agitated the chief more than anything else.

Obasanjo may have been what he was, but Awoniyi seriously believed that if the Nigerian Civil Service had been so equipped and fortified the way it was in the first republic his excesses would not have been easily contained, the timidity of the National Assembly notwithstanding. I still recall the pain in the Chief’s eyes when he narrated the various efforts he made to get the former president to reform and return the civil service to its glorious past, how Obasanjo pretended to welcome the idea and actually encouraged the Chief to bring forth an elaborate proposal only to consign all to the trash bin thereafter.
Yet, it wasn’t as if the Chief, who endured a 39 year relationship with Obasanjo, was so naïve or that he knew little about the former president’s notorious treacherous character or even his tendency for speaking with both sides of his mouth. If at all he was guilty of anything at all, it was that like the good Christian that he was, he accepted Obasanjo’s entreaties on bent knees that he was a reformed person worthy of another chance and opportunity to lead this potentially great nation, a promise the tyrant subsequently reneged on with reckless impunity. Today, rather shamelessly, he leads the queue of those shedding crocodile tears for the Chief! How pathetic!

Anyhow, in the end we are all consoled that the Chief lived an enormously fulfilled life by any standards. He religiously kept track of commentaries in the media and I know he had a mini library in which he meticulously kept newspaper cuttings that interested him. Long before I met him in the flesh, we had already encountered each other on this page, but in the end I was glad to count myself among his many non-biological children!

Only few weeks before the fatal accident that led to his death, he called to encourage me yet again, for my resolute stand over the Etteh affair in the National Assembly, which, to him, was another unfortunate example of the state of public service as demonstrated by the profound impotence of the NASS bureaucracy to curtail the scandal. But this time I was surprised that the Chief spent nearly three minutes laughing graciously at the other end for what he jokingly called the naughtiness in my choice of words.

May God almighty look upon his sojourn on earth with mercy and compassion, and may he give his immediate family the strength and fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.
http://dailytrust.com/index2.php?opt...=1&page=0&ac=1

Ijaw elders condole Awoniyi family
Written by Muideen Olaniyi
Tuesday, 04 December 2007

The Ijaw Elders Forum has commiserated with the family of late chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Awoniyi.

A letter sent to the family yesterday by the leader of the forum, Chief Edwin K. Clark described the deceased as someone who stood firmly for the truth anchored on the pillars of justice, equity and fairness.

The forum noted the support of the late Chief Awoniyi in the clamour for the creation of the first twelve states in the country.

The forum said: "The Ijaw Elders Forum is deeply saddened by the demise of this great leader of our time who, in following the traditions of the founding fathers of this nation, stood firmly for the truth anchored on the pillars of justice, equity and fairness.

"These fundamental principles are the cornerstone upon which the late Chief Awoniyi supported the cause of the Ijaw nation as he stood in defense for the clamour for the creation of the first twelve states in Nigeria as promoted by our late sage and patriarch, Pa Harold Dappa-Biriye and his associates."

The body said that the contribution of late Chief Awoniyi at that time has led to a mutually beneficial political relationship between the people of Niger-Delta and Northern Nigeria.

While stating that the forum will stand by the family at the period of grief, Chief Clark stated that the late sage has bequeathed worthy legacies which they will continue to promote.

The group prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased and also condoled the government and people of Kogi State, the leadership of ACF and President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

http://dailytrust.com/index.php?opti...6122&Itemid=57

The North without Sunday Awoniyi
Idowu Samuel

Chief Sunday Bolorunduro AwoniyiSO suddenly, Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi passed on. His death was untimely given the circumstances in which it occurred. The late leader of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) was on his way to Kaduna for a political meeting when he had an accident which made him to be admitted in a London hospital where he died.

He died in active service, doing what he knew best. Although Awoniyi died at a ripe age of 75, his death could not have been timely in view of the programmes he had lined up for himself, all of them bothering on national politics. If there is a set of people in Nigeria who would miss Awoniyi so much, it is indeed the Hausa-Fulani North. The reasons are many.

Since the days of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the North has never had it so smooth running politics as a co-coordinated house and gliding along with high measure of intellectualism. Awoniyi ensured just that. Interestingly, he was never born with the blood of Hausa-Fulani running in his veins.

Awoniyi, an urbane first class politician, blended with the North willingly as a Yoruba from Mopa in Kogi State. He never said he regretted doing so. He had openly professed love and admiration for the North and its politics and had elected to play a part in strengthening it the more.

If Awoniyi was very passionate about the North, he got the inspiration to do so from the late Sardauna, Ahmadu Bello. In the entire North of Nigeria, Sardauna was a great icon, a mobiliser, a prophet of some sort and a good source of inspiration. Sardauna discovered Awoniyi as an asset to the North and ensured that he brought him closer. Indeed, Awoniyi recalled the memories of the Sardauna’s fondness for him, and once disclosed that the Sardauna once bought him a Bible. It was very instructive for the Sardauna to have done that.

Awoniyi’s closeness to the Sardauna was never misplaced. It ensured his rapid rise in the civil service of the North about the time Nigeria was craving for self rule. First, he began his career in the Northern Civil Service as an administrative officer and worked as divisional officer, Bauchi Division. Even then, he was offered the scope to run the administrative divisions of Lafia and Nasarawa in the then Benue Province concurrently, while the divisions were in a crisis situation.

If Awoniyi had missed the Sardauna who lost his life in the military putsch of 1966, all he could do was to start displaying the strong virtues he had internalised from the political icon. He did that to a fault by sniffing North, dreaming North and fighting the North’s battle. He was more encouraged doing this in view of his deep association with prominent Northern indigenes with whom he grew up.

For every known Northerner, the Barewa College Zaria has always been a melting pot. So also the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. But the Barewa College had very profound influence on Awoniyi so early in life, offering him the chance to associate with other icons such as Alhaji Aminu Kano, Maitama Sule, Liman Ciroma, Adamu Fika, Yahya Gusau, Justice Muhammadu Uwais Justice Mamman Nasir, General Yakubu Gowon, General Murtala Muhammed and a host of others.

Awoniyi started fighting the North’s battle the moment he took politics as a career after retiring from the civil service. In doing so, he was able to bring his administrative and management skills to bear in his approach to partisan politics. He hit the limelight with the formation of All Nigerian Congress (ANC) in the mid-1990s along with prominent Northern politicians and emerged the national chairman. He branded the ANC as an “all-inclusive on democratic, people-oriented and broad-based political formation”, positioning it to transform into a power wielding political party.

With the advent of democracy in 1998, Awoniyi led the ANC to form the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In addition, he took active part in ensuring the emergence of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the president of Nigeria in 1999. He had to tour the North to make Obasanjo acceptable. As a leading figure in Northern politics, Awoniyi’s idea was to offer Obasanjo a support by the North and then make it serve as the buffer and the fulcrum of his administration.

For the gameplan to work, Awoniyi led a group of Northern leaders to meet with Obasanjo shortly after he emerged as the PDP presidential candidate. The venue was the then Nicon Hilton Hotel where the Northern leaders entreated Obasanjo to recognise and help protect the Northern interest if he was to emerge as president. The Northern leaders were to make Obasanjo sign a pact with an agreement that he would serve a term in office for power to return to the North.

It was not certain whether or not Obasanjo signed the pact, but the unsettled issues at the meeting were to blow open with the attempt by Obasanjo to go for a second term in office. With that attempt, the North accused him of botching the pact he had with them about power rotation and distribution. Obasanjo denied signing such a pact. Interestingly, that seemed to have broken down the confidence between Obasanjo and the North.

Before the issue of pact cast the two parties apart, Obasanjo had had a running battle with Awoniyi. The problem began when, rather than helping Awoniyi become the national chairman of the ruling PDP, he shopped for another candidate in Chief Barnabas Gemade and supported him to be. Awoniyi lost at the Eagle Square venue of the national convention of the PDP held in December 1999. The election at the convention was reported to have been massively rigged and hence, angered pioneer party members who immediately withdrew their support for the government of Obasanjo.

Awoniyi too withdrew support instantly for Obasanjo. He had a reason to do so. First, he chaired the committee that produced the first manifesto of the PDP. He also chaired the convention committee that produced Obasanjo as the PDP presidential candidate in Jos in 1999, while he was also a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT).

He was no less devastated that he could not occupy the PDP chairmanship seat as a political gain in spite of what he had assisted the party and its president to attain. Analysts said Obasanjo ditched Awoniyi mainly because he saw through him as a party man with tendency to be overbearing and with the possibility of attempting to impose the North on his administration.

Awoniyi never relented in his purist of the Northern agenda within the larger political framework of Nigeria. In 2003, he co-formed the ACF with which he mainstreamed the interest of the North in national politics. With the ACF in place, the North began to approach its politics with intellectual touch, holding seminars conferences and talk-shops on its endemic problems of inadequate infrastructure, education backwardness, desertification and the waning interest of the people in agriculture.

A mobiliser that he was, Awoniyi drafted state governors of the North into all programmes of the ACF and imparted ideas meant to catalyse the growth of the North into them. At the instance of ACF, the North was able to streamline the spate of social unrest in the zone with timely contacts that Awoniyi and other ACF members kept with the Northern intelligentsia. His anger was kindled the more against Obasanjo with the latter’s plot to remain in office for more years.

During the era, Awoniyi toured the North and mobilised all political stakeholders against the third term plot. He equally mobilised legislators of Northern extraction in the National Assembly against the plot in addition to the personal efforts he made in dissuading the then president.

He once said on third term plot ”Mr. President, you know I cannot deceive you. The truth is that you have blown the greatest opportunity given to any man to build Nigeria in which we can all be proud and win the respect rather than the derision of the world. Even those close to you say so in despair.

“You have sworn twice on the Holy Bible to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. As a self-proclaimed born-again Christian, please, do not break your oath.

“We have endured enough deceit, insincerity, vindictiveness, political and crass boorishness in the last six years. We are tired of un-presidential behaviour and the bullying and abuse of innocent citizens and foul language in public in full glare of the media, nationally and internationally. Our children deserve better examples at all levels; we need to change. And as you yourself once advised General Sani Abacha to ‘please go’, its is now your turn, OBJ, please go; just go. We want to regain our balance.”

Perhaps, the last assignment that Awoniyi attempted to accomplish before death struck was the need to reconcile the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, with President Umaru Yar’Adua. The ACF boss reportedly made the attempt about three weeks ago in Kaduna and was looking forward to concretising the talks between the duo when his death occurred.

Atiku attested to the interventionist gesture of Awoniyi in that regard when he recounted his last encounter with him. He said Awoniyi had sent words of encouragement to him through texts over his disappointment with the turn of events in Nigerian politics.

“A few days before the car crash that would eventually claim his life, he had sent me a text message on my cellphone in which he counseled me not to lose faith in our dear country.

The message, which I have not deleted till date, reads: ‘Dear Turaki, I know you are very disappointed with this thoroughly abused country. Please, don’t lose faith in this country because it is a great country’.

“The message was so touching that I immediately called him back to assure him that I would never lose faith in our dear country. I could hear a deep sense of relief in his voice as he spoke. As one of those who laid the foundation of this country, I suspect that he was a little disappointed that Nigeria was yet to live up to the expectations of her founding fathers. But he never lost hope in Nigeria’s ability to redeem herself and become a success story in Africa.

“Looking back now, it would seem that Chief Awoniyi had a premonition of his death and he wanted the assurances of key stakeholders that his beloved country would live and fulfill its manifest destiny as one of the greatest nations on earth,” Atiku said.

The ACF chairman is gone forever now, thus opening the chance for the Northern political elite to immortalise him and look for a successor. Will the North, for which he had fought life battles, do just that? Then, the pertinent question is: What would the North be with the exit of one of its greatest defenders and fighters?
http://www.tribune.com.ng/04122007/politics.html

Enahoro, Makarfi mourn Awoniyi. 4/12/2007

From Godwin Isenyo, Kaduna

The body of the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, who died in London last Wednesday was brought back yesterday.

The body arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, around 7a.m

Awoniyi’s family, who has been meeting on his funeral, is yet to fix a date.

Yesterday in Abuja, elder statesman and Pro National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) leader, Chief Anthony Enahoro commiserated with Nigerians over Awoniyi’s death.

Awoniyi, Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), died last Wednesday in a London hospital, following injuries he sustained in a motor accident on Abuja-Kaduna road.

Enahoro said Awoniyi died at a time when the country needed him most to join hands with other credible leaders in reviewing the 1999 Constitution.

The statement, signed by PRONACO’s spokesman, Mr Olawale Okunniyi, described the deceased as a "very resourceful statesman".

Enahoro said that although Awoniyi started as a northern nationalist, he died as a democrat.

Also, former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi yesterday described the death of Chief Awoniyi as a rude shock.

http://www.thenationonlineng.com/dyn...e.asp?id=39040

[Vaya Con Dios]

May Chief S.B Awoniyi's soul rest in peace.

I can still remember his old model Mercedes Benz (a.k.a 'flat booth') which he drove round the streets of Ikoyi, when I was growing up. It was a pale yellow colour. His friend Chief S.B Daniyan had a metallic green Benz coupe, with shining wheels.

How time flies. This was more than twenty years ago!

May the good Lord console his family, and all the loved ones he left behind.