HID Awolowo clocks 93 tomorrow

SHE is called the “Jewel of Inestimable Value” and jewels send a sparkle of delight. Indeed, for the past 92 years, Mama Hannah Idowu Dideolu (HID) Awolowo has been sending out lively sparks that are illuminating the Nigerian socio-political landscape. Mama, like the jewel in the crown that she is, has proved her inestimable worth, that she is truly a rare gem.


On Tuesday, November 25, this rare gem that has defied human estimation will wear her divinely granted 93rd crown. She will mark the anniversary of the nine decades and three years that she has spent in the course of humanity and, importantly, in the service of God.


Of course, as the matriarch of a great political dynasty, it is expected that she should wear the crest of gold and an armour of great responsibility. But having learnt the lessons of perseverance and drunk from the rich fountain of wisdom with the Sage, the inimitable, Papa Obafemi Awolowo, Mama has had no cause to nurse any fear after Papa transited into the spiritual world of fellow sages. She easily filled whatever void Papa’s absence might have created and carried on the great responsibility of administering Awo’s vast political empire and catering for the downtrodden, whose interests the Sage spent his entire life protecting.


She was the strong pillar of support that Awo rested on in his political quest. And this woman of valour has spent a greater part of her life serving the cause of humanity. The greater part of her life with Papa was spent on recreating the Nigerian society and providing it with new directions. She stood strongly beside her husband and supported him in his dreams of a greater Nigeria, where every citizen would be free.

She used her womanhood and resourcefulness to nourish his dreams. She was always there for him when others had gone. Though Mama is Hannah, could she have been the great Esther whose inspiring stories were some of the reference points in the Holy Bible? The stories of her valour and kindness to support a drowning humanity hark back to the biblical Esther, who deployed her royalty and used it for the cause of humanity.


She is a jewel, no doubt, and the sought-after uncut diamond that has redefined aesthetics and added value to human beauty. Mama HID has given new meaning to philanthropy by improving the quality of human lives and giving hopes to the hopeless. The exceptional contributions of Dideolu Hospital are only a few of her noteworthy efforts to bring succour to helpless Nigerians.


There are rewards, though, for those who walk in the divine path and use their God-given resources to uplift God’s creations. One of such rewards is the gift of longevity that God has generously given the Yeye Oodua and which will make her to see many more years.