Death Of Mama H.I.D Awolowo Forced Patience and I Out Of Hiding – Goodluck Jonathan

Nigeria’s Former President Goodluck Jonathan has been rarely seen in public since he handed over presidency to President Muhammadu Buhari but he was at the Awolowo’s residence, yesterday, to commiserate with the family over the death of the matriarch of Awolowo family, Mrs. HID Awolowo.

“We, just like the immediate children, and indeed this country as a whole, have missed her. Within this period, myself and my wife have been hiding; we don’t even go out. We thought we’ll be hiding for at least 12 months,” Jonathan said.

“But in this particular case, we cannot hide. So, we have come for the condolence and to encourage our brothers and sisters that we are together. God brought her for all of us. She just had to be the direct mother of few but she was a mother to all. We shall mourn more than even the direct children would.”

Jonathan was among the dignitaries who visited the Ikenne home of the Awolowos to pay tributes to their departed matriarch, Hannah Idowu Dideolu, who died last Saturday.

The former President was accompanied by his wife, Patience, a former leader in the House of Representatives, Mrs Mulikat Adeola-Akande and former chairman of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Jide Adeniji among others.

While condoling with the family, the former president noted that HID Awolowo enjoyed a rare privilege of living extra 29 years, when compared to the biblical prescription of three scores and ten. He further described her as a rare mother, whose milk of human kindness, milk of encouragement and milk of advice Nigerians still need.

“Me and my wife are not mourning because mama has passed on. For me, we believe that it’s a rare privilege to add extra 29 years to the biblical three scores and 10; it’s not easy.

“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have been mourning but mama was a rare mother. She was a woman of virtue described in the Bible and she was a mother to all of us.

“A mother that her milk of kindness we still need, her milk of encouragement we still need, her milk of advice we still need and today she’s no more with us,” Jonathan said.