30/12/2025
Mystery 101: Two months before he left this world, Obafemi Awolowo gave a speech at his own birthday. The speech got people perplexed because instead of celebrating another year, he was telling the people about his plan for the afterlife.
That day, March 6, 1987 was his last birthday on earth and the event was marked with funfair. The sprawling compound on Ajina Street was filled with guests from all over the country. Awolowo himself was in a bouyant mood. All his four children were present: Omotola, Oluwole, Ayodele and Tokunbo, as well as his 24 grand children. Of special joy to him was Olusegun, 23-year-old son of his first son, Segun, who was passed away in a motor accident July 10, 1963, when Awolowo was awaiting sentence after his trial for treasønable feløny (Olusegun passed away recently).
When it was time for the celebrant to make a speech, Awolowo talked about life and dæth, of his titanic struggle for and his failure to capture ultimate political power in the fatherland. He told his audience that "life is a continuum," and that "there is no dæth but life after life. What I am celebrating actually is the imminence of my transition to eternal life..."
A few days after his birthday, he visited President Ibrahim Babangida at the Dodan Barracks, Lagos. Speaking with journalists at the State House, he said again: “What I am celebrating is not my birthday but my transition to the world beyond. The fact that I am celebrating it must mean that the world beyond is a good place to be."
TWO DAYS BEFORE HIS DEMISE
On Thursday night, May 7, 1987, Obafemi Awolowo sat at his desk to revise his will. The day had been dull. Though he did this review often, but this time, it was his last. He seemed trying to ensure that he satisfied everyone around him. Awolowo may have seen the faces of the gods and with one final effort, he turned his mind to something important: money, property, the comfort of his wife and his off-springs, the care of his only sister, Oluwafunmilayo