• Late HID Awolowo
The Senate today commiserated with Nigerians and people of Ogun State on the death of Mrs. HID Awolowo and mandated a 10-member delegation, led by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Senator Ahmad Lawan, to pay a condolence visit to her family.
Other members of the delegation included Senators Shehu Sanni, Ben Bruce, Biodun Olujimi, Stella Oduah, and the three senators from Ogun state.
The decision followed a motion by the Senator representing Ogun Central, Lanre Tejuosho, tittled “The demise of chief (Mrs.) Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo (1915-2015).”
He urged his colleagues to observe a one-minute silence in honour of the woman, among other prayers.
The senate president described the late woman as a detribalised Nigerian and urged women of the country to emulate her devotion and simplicity to her late husband, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who died in May, 1987.
Saraki noted that Nigerians would miss her as a promoter of peace in the country.
Tejuoso, who sponsored the motion alongside seven others, noted that the late HID was a great business woman of great repute, and an astute politician.
As stated by him, the Mama Awolowo followed her late husband on a campaign train across Nigeria in a bid to ensure that he became the president in the Second Republic.
He observed that it was her fidelity and total loyalty that led her Papa Awolowo to describe her as his jewel of inestimable value and convinced that Mama Awolowo was a great nationalist, an icon whose life was one of remarkable service to humanity and great achievement.
Contributing, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu described Mama as a very accommodating woman, adding that she was a progressive who always promoted any issue that concern women, especially those in politics.
Senators Fatimah Raji Rasaki and Abiodun Olujimi, both from Ekiti State, stated that Mama lived an exemplary life and a bridge builder loved by all Nigerians just like her husband.