Segun Awolowo: ‘Mama Left A Legacy Of Service’

Olusegun Awolowo, the Executive Director /Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nigerian Export Promotion Council spoke with DEBO OLADIMEJI on the life and times of his late grandmother, Mrs Hannah Idowu Dideolu (H.I.D) Awolowo and the lessons from her life.

Who was H.I.D Awolowo to you?
Mama, as she was fondly called, was a unique individual and that has been demonstrated by her life. She was a simple woman who married a man like Obafemi Awolowo and fell in love with him. Fell in love with his ideals and stood with him throughout his career. That is just the story of how wonderful that union was. Even after he passed on, she was the rallying point of all his ideals; for his ideology and for all he believed in. She stood by it till she died. That for me is something really extraordinary. From inside, it was easy, because she was just Mama to us. We saw her every other day. We were in her room, we were in the kitchen doing things for her.

But when you have time to look at it from outside, you wonder what kind of woman is this? She lost three children along the way. She still stood strong. She never waivered for one day. She believed in her husband even when he was prosecuted and imprisoned. She lived a remarkable life.

She knew everything about everything. Even before she died, her senses were intact. She recognized people. A friend of mine came here from Benin, he couldn’t even pronounce his last name properly and she corrected him. It is going to be a very big vacuum because at the end of the day, you always thought that mama is there. That is going to be missed by every member of the family.

How did you hear the news of her death?
I was on my way out to South Africa, en route Maputo, Mozambique. We had a Cashew Conference there. That was the first time Nigeria was on the board of African Cashew Alliance. It was very important that I attended that board meeting. I had to continue and came back because if she had been alive, she will also tell you, ‘why you did not go for your work?’ For what Papa and Mama left behind for the Awolowo family was always service. Service to God and service to country before service to self. And nothing was more important than country for them. These are some of the ideals. We are a bit more selfish when we think about children and this and that. But for them, it was always God and country first before family. I think that was their inclination.

Who broke the news to you?
My auntie, Mrs Oyediran, called me. Then, Dr Dosunmu also called me. My sister, Mrs Osibanjo also called me. She asked where I was. Incidentally, I was on my way to see her husband, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, the Vice President, in Lagos. She said she would call him and tell him as well. We sat down and we spoke about it. And the decision was that I should continue with the journey; there was nothing we could do about it anyway.

It is a joyful thing even though sad. Sad in the sense that we all wanted Mama to mark 100 years. We were waiting for that. She died just two months short of that. We were saying, why now God? Why don’t you just wait? I travelled that Saturday’s night that she died. The values that they left us are that of hard work, consistency, devotion , service to country and service to God. That is what they symbolized. We just have to continue to do our best.

Recall your memorable moments with Mama
She shared so many things about her life. I was privileged among her children and grandchildren because I actually lived with them here in Ikenne. I attended Ogun State University so I had a lot of time with them. Even though many times I will want to run away to Lagos, to go and enjoy myself, I sat with them. They had very interesting relationship.

I was just saying, what do I write about this woman? The first thing that came to my mind was she taught me how to pray. She taught me how to memorize the Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 123, 91 in Yoruba.

I also lived with Papa and Mama in Lagos when I was at Igbobi College. Before we go out in the morning, we pray. I knew the Lord’s Prayer in Yoruba before I got it in English. And then, some very nice church hymns I know them not in English. When that came to my mind, I said this was a woman who taught me how to pray.That is weighing heavily in my mind as I recollect my thoughts about her.

Lessons from her life?
After marriage, everybody has to face hiccups and challenges in their marriage. You wonder how she managed. Papa was not an easy man. He must have been very hard. How she stayed is total devotion. Total submission. Again, it is love for a person that makes you stay strong with him all the time.

Papa himself said Mama is “My jewel of inestimable value.” Papa coined it for her with deep thinking. That was what she was really to him. The lesson there is: May we all find our jewel of inestimable value.

I believe that I have found mine. That is just the lesson. She was also an entrepreneur. She dabbled into so many things to keep family growing. So any time Papa was weak, she was strong. There was no time they were both weak. He was jailed, she was working. She was keeping up the party’s flag. She was also doing business.

When Papa decided to go for Law, she was working and sending him money abroad to pay his fees. It is a big lesson for marriages, for women on how to stay devoted to your partner. Share in his ideals, believe in them and then champion them. It is a very difficult thing to do. No matter how rough it was, she never wavered. Always supporting. It is a big lesson for women all over the world.

She was not a philosopher king like her husband. Mama was more practical and down-to-earth. She was very practical. Mama was 2 plus 2 is 4 kind of a woman. She supported her husband in all those things. I have learnt that life is not free and easy. Life is hard. The grace of God is particularly very important. What you put into it is really what will come out of life. When you put in hard work and sacrifice, you will enjoy life. That is what I have learnt from Mama.

What is it that you would miss most in her?
I will say her strength, the feeling that she was there, always strong. The whole family is going to miss that. That there is a woman there in Ikenne who was strong. The back bone of the family.

What about your own children?
Mama was lucky. She saw her children’s children. She saw her children’s children’s children as well. Which the Bible did not promise us. The Bible promised us that: You will see your children’s children. By the grace of God, Mama was one of the few lucky people. She had interaction with her great grand children. She knew them by voice, name and face.

When my son was going to study law at Warwick University, United Kingdom she prayed for him. She advised him how to handle Law at Warwick. She was really a rare breed of privileged woman. At that age, going to100 years, her facility was still intact. We were not taking her from one hospital to the other. She just sat down slept and died. She was very lucky. I think she is happy wherever she is.

What about her role as a community leader?
She was the kind of a woman that will light a candle to look for family members. Many people don’t have the time. She was for the community. She was very strong in the community here in Ikenne. After church on Sundays, people were visiting her when she got very old.

She was very community based. That was also one of her strengths. Also very strong in the church. I grew up in a Methodist church and ended up in an Anglican church. At one point, I asked her what are we exactly. Are we Methodists or Anglicans? She replied: “Don’t they all pray?”

She was also strong with the Apostolic Church which her mother was a staunch member. Mama was more practical, she did not discuss her death. When Papa pointed to the spot where he should be buried, Mama said, “no, don’t tell me that”. When we discussed her 100th birthday, she said: “Would I be strong enough to go to church?” We said: “We would carry you to church.” She said many things she wanted, the hymns she wanted that day.

That was why majority of the family members decided it is that day that she will be 100 years that she will be buried; November 25. She will be buried in the Mausoleum, next to her husband. It is a prayer of every child and duty of every child to bury his or her parents and bury them well. That is what we are trying to do, to give her a befitting burial.

What about your defining moment with her?
I am trying to put that in my tribute. I am trying to see the defining moments with Mama. I think it was when she called us, my sister, Funke and I, she said: “Do you know that your Papa is not your father, I am not your mother. That you lost your father?

The story is that they were always calling her Mama Segun. That is my late father. And Papa was Papa Segun. So when Mama was addressing Papa, it is Papa Segun and Papa will say Mama Segun. I didn’t see any Segun around so I just assumed that I am the Segun. I was a small boy then. My name is actually Omotunde, meaning the son that came back. That was how I became Segun. She now told us how our daddy died in an