Wale Adebanwi on Mama H.I.D. (29)

NEWSPAPERS reported “multitude of sympathizers sobbing as a promising young man who died at his prime was carried in an embroidered wooden coffin into a partly cemented clay vault”. After the short service, the family and sympathizers moved to the Christian Cemetery in Ikenne, about three-quarters of a mile from the church, for interment.

Even those tormenting the late lawyer’s father sent condolences. The Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa, sent a message from vacation in Bauchi to the Broad Street Prisons, telling Awolowo that he was “deeply shocked by the news of the tragic death of your son,” adding that “May God console you and may his soul rest in peace”. Premier Akintola, who first started the rumour of Awolowo’s alleged plan to overthrow the government, wrote Obafemi Awolowo to say that he, his wife and family “join in sending you and your wife our heartfelt sympathy and condolences for the sad news of the irreparable loss” of Segun. Akintola’s Deputy, Fani-Kayode, also sent messages of condolence to Obafemi and Hannah Awolowo. Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of the Northern Region, also sent his “deepest sympathy”, while the Governor of Eastern Region and his wife, Sir and Lady Francis Akanu Ibiam, prayed that  “God may strengthen and comfort” Awolowo in his sorrow.” Messages poured in from far and wide, as “Every home in the land was deeply shocked at the untimely death of Segun”. As the Chairman of the Western Working Committee of the NCNC, Olu Akinfosile, described it.

As they performed the dust-to-dust rites by Segun’s grave, Tola, Wole, Ayo and Tokunbo bid their elder brother the final goodbye.

And they all left Segun Awolowo behind…. Alone…… forever…..

HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO the Awolowos? And why at this point of their lives? Where was God? These and similar questions were asked by many people who were – as Soyinka captures it in his poem in memory of Segun – “adrift from understanding”. The playwright could not immediately come to terms with Segun’s sudden death too. They had met only recently and had very good discussions that made him see Segun as “a kindred spirit”. And then, suddenly”, writes Soyinka, “after so brief an interval, for a while (1) retained the feeling that (1) had seen (him) only the day before, Segun was dead.” For Soyinka, Segun’s death “was the end of that hope, that promise of transformation. He was left wondering whether Segun somehow “sensed his impending death” and visited him “to erase that (wrong) mental epitaph (he had of him) and bear witness to what might have been if….”

It was not only the writer who bore witness that “what might have been if” Segun had lived. Even in jail, Awolowo received no less than 500 condolences messages from all over Nigeria. The Zikist Movement (Western Zone) described him as “our respected comrade”, adding “Nigeria had lost one of its most useful youth”. His death, the Socialist Youth of Nigeria said, was “the most tragic event of the year”. Awo’s disciple and Acting Chairman of the Lagos Town Council, Ganiyu Dawodu, said “young as he was, Segun was one of the most colourful sons of Nigeria; he was a joy to his parents and a pride to us all”. The Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, TaslimOlawale Elias, whose ministry was overseeing the judicial lynching of Segun’s father said in his condolence message that “Segun was a promising barrister with prospects of a successful career”. Elias added that his “untimely death is a serious loss to the Nigerian Bar”.

While most people were bewildered, in prison, the man who should be consoled was the one consoling others, telling them that it was the will of God. His main concern, he insisted, was his wife. He wanted everyone who could to ensure that she survived the devastating loss.

“AllPapa was interested in”, said Obafemi Awolowo’s “jewel of inestimable value”, “was to console his wife by sending people…. To me (to say) that I must not die because of his knowledge of the love I had for Segun….”

Awolowo knew she was strong and resilient in the long run. But he recognized that initial shock might be unbearable for her. His stoicism surprised many people.

Indeed, Hannah never fully overcame the death of Segun. Up to this day, it remains the saddest day of her life, as she confesses, followed only, but much later, by the death of her husband in May 1987. Even 52 years after, Segun’s absence still represents a yawning hole in the family. There is a certain silence about his death in the family that is paradoxical in that he is at the same time spoken about in reverential tone mixed with wonder. Such is the late Segun’s hold on his mother and siblings that someone even cautioned me not to ask Mama about him in the course of the interview for this book. But I did a couple of times. And the fears of those who advised me to avoid it were confirmed. She always responded briefly that his death was the most tragic thing in her life. Once she says that, she would keep quiet for a while and avoid the eyes of all those present. Her first biographer, Tola Adeniyi, told me that when he interviewed H.I.D in 1991 for his book, she broke down when she talked about her late son.

“I am not so sure she ever got over it”, affirmed her first daughter, Revd. (Mrs.)Tola Oyediran in mid-2015. “Talking very sincerely, even though she doesn’t make reference to it, inside her, I know she has not. I think it will remain a puzzle (for her)… I can’t get over it myself. It was like a dream… a bad dream”. H.I.D’s granddaughters, Funke Awolowo and Kemi Aderemi (nee Oyediran) represent the experience of the grandchildren on matters relating to their late father and uncle respectively. Funke says the way in which she watched her grandparents talk about – or sometimes, avoid talking about – her father, it was clear to her that his death “must have been a very deep and sad experience for the two of them”. On her part, Kemi discloses that “Every July 10 when we remember my late uncle (Segun), they talk about him tearfully. Till today, when Mama remembers him, she cries”.

Unknown to Obafemi Awolowo, at the time Segun was being buried, Hannah had not been formally informed about her son’s death. She was still under sedation when the first fruit of her womb was lowered into the grave. Even though she suspected that something tragic had happened to her son, it was only much later in the night when the truth was revealed to her. Hundreds people poured into the house in Oke-Ado to commiserate with her. The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Isaac Akinyele, was one of the prominent people who visited her later in the evening of the tragedy. He was followed by some of the members of the Awolowo circle of intellectuals including Professor Hezekiah Oluwasanmi, the Harvard-educated agricultural economist who later headed the University of Ife, Dr. (later Professor) Sam Aluko, later one of Nigeria’s most respected economists, Dr. V.A. Oyenuga, the nutritional biochemist and later a professor of Agriculture who has been listed as one of the top 500 scientists of the 20th century, and Dr. A.S. Agbaje. Two Ibadan High Court judges, Mr. Justice Olujide Shomolu and Mr. Justice Richard Ade Doherty also visited Oke-Ado to condole with H.I.D.

Clearly, Segun’s death was considered an unmitigated tragedy for H.I.D in comparison to the other losses she had suffered, and was to suffer later. In parenthesis, the death of her two other children, Ayo and Wole, many years later were mitigated by the fact that they lived to old age and even had their own grandchildren before they passed. In the case of Segun, he had a daughter, Funke, out of wedlock with Adeola Fasanya (who later married Majekodunmi, and whose mother is the famous lawyer and politician, Tunji Braithwaite’s sister), who was then 19. Funke was born on November 5, 1962, eight months before Segun died. Another young woman from Ijebu-Ode, AbahKoku (who later married Iyanda Folawiyo), unknown to Hannah and her husband, was carrying his baby when he died. Abah was 21. The baby, a boy, was born two months after his demise, precisely on September 27, 1963. He was named Omotunde. In his teenage years, he took on his father’s first name, Segun, and thus became Segun Junior.

Abah had met Segun Snr. In 1963 “when I came to Lagos to spend the weekend with my friend, Abike…. Whose father was a staunch member of the Action Group,” the lady told Sunday Tribune in 1987, shortly after Awolowo’s transition. H.I.D was then living in Chief Odeku’s Somolu house which she rented. It was during the treasonable felony trial and Abah had never met Segun Snr.’s parents even though she got to know his sister, Tola.

“I was afraid to tell my mother that I was pregnant and Segun said we should keep it a secret to ourselves for the time being. It was a secret between both of us but he was excited”, revealed Abah. After Segun’s death, the Awolowos were told about a second grand-child that was on the way apart from Funke who had been born earlier. When Segun Junior was born, they made arrangements for the naming ceremony in Lagos. After the ceremony, Chief Adesanya took Abah to Ikoyi Prison to see Awolowo, who was eager to see his first grandson and his mother. It was the first time Abah met her son’s grandfather. Subsequently, H.I.D, said Abah, became “like my mother”. She added that “she is like everything to me. She treats me as her child”.

When they were old enough to live away from their mothers, Hannah accepted to take care of Segun and his elder half-sister, Funke, in their Ibadan home. By this time, their grandfather had been moved to Calabar Prison to serve his 10-year jail sentence. At some point, they lived with the Oyedirans, after Tola married KayodeOyediran, who later became a professor of medicine and vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan.

When they lived with their grandmother, the two kids would ask where their father was from the older people around. “He travelled, he would soon return”, Funke recalls the older people telling them. Unknown to these people and their grandmother, the kids would overhear them telling people who asked who they were that they were “awononoSegun” (Segun’s children). Funke remembers that she always wondered who this Segun was, since her brother was also Segun. They would later ask their grandfather after he returned from jail where their father travelled to…..

TO BE CONTINUED

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