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General News of Sunday, 4 April 2021

Source: thenationonlineng.net

Tinubu mourns ‘departure of a bright star’

The late Mr. Yinka Odumakin The late Mr. Yinka Odumakin

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Saturday went down memory lane to recall the role played by the late spokesman of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria.

Odumakin died on Saturday of complications arising from COVID-19.

Tinubu, in a tribute, called Odumakin a bright star, committed fighter for democracy, dedicated civil society activist, courageous and outspoken defender of whatever ideals and principles he believed in.

He said the story of the “emergence of democracy” in Nigeria would be incomplete without the inclusion of the role played by the deceased.

Tinubu said like millions of Nigerians, he received the news of Odumakin’s demise “with profound shock.”

Odumakin, according to him, “participated actively at the forefront in the various students and youth struggles against successive military dictatorships in the 1980s and 1990s. In the process, he was arrested, harassed and even detained several times. Yet, he never allowed himself to succumb to tyranny or be pressured into submissive and pliant silence.

"In the struggle against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the perpetuation of military dictatorship, Odumakin was never found wanting. He was at the vanguard of the battle even at the risk of his life and liberty. It is impossible to credibly tell the story of the emergence of the democracy we enjoy in this dispensation today without emblazoning Odumakin’s name in gold. He was a doughty fighter for freedom and the rule of law.

“Odumakin never held public office. But he has been a constant feature and part of our public consciousness over the last two decades of this unbroken democratic dispensation. He epitomised the true definition of the citizen; a patriot who was ever conscious of the fact that his life could not be complete or his humanity meaningful if he did not take an active interest in and join likeminded fellow citizens in seeking always to promote the common good of his community and country.

“In the course of the last two and a half decades, Odumakin and I had cause to collaborate in various organisations and in pursuit of different political causes at different times, and I can testify to his capacity for hard work, his brilliance, his tenacity and his loyalty to his cherished principles. Even if we differed politically, I had no cause to doubt his sincerity in charting his chosen path.

“His life vividly demonstrates once again, in the immortal words of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, that ‘it is not life that matters but the courage you bring into it’, and that it is not how long we live but how well and productively that matters.

“Odumakin is gone. But he lives on in the memory of millions of his compatriots.”

Tinubu commiserated with Odumakin’s wife, Joy, and Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo.