Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief Olusegun Osoba with Hannah Awolowo in March 2013 after Oluwole Awolowo’s death

More and more tributes have poured in  for Chief Hannah Dideolu Awolowo, who died Saturday afternoon in Ikenne, Ogun State.

She was 99 years old, less than two months to her clocking a century on 25 November.

Among the latest was the one from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress and a former governor of Lagos State, who described her as a great jewel of the people.

“Our Mama, HID Awolowo exemplified the best of the progressive spirit and concern for all of humanity. We pause to mourn her passing but we also must continue to move forward in order to celebrate her life and the ideals for which she stood. I don’t believe she would have wanted us to respond in any other way”, said Tinubu in a statement by his Media office.

“She was a devout Christian and her life touched many. May her soul rest in peace. Her life spanned nearly a century of change and challenge in the world and in Nigeria. Through it all, she remained true to great and noble ideas and did so with dignity, spirit and compassion.

“Just a few weeks to becoming 100 years of age, she passed on. However, for nearly a century, she remained committed. In her gentle but strong way, she held forth the banner and nurtured the progressive legacy after her husband, the revered Obafemi Awolowo passed on.

“This great jewel of the people withstood the test of time and weathered the political storms of dictatorships and mis-governance. Never did she bend or reject her principles and beliefs despite the pressures that came. She stood firmly in the courage of her convictions.

“Our Mama, HID Awolowo was the Awolowo philosophy personified. She remained a constant source of knowledge, inspiration and wisdom. Her faith in the Nigerian nation was unwavering and revealed an uncommon, visionary political bearing.  She gave a mother’s love to all Nigerians irrespective of political differences and through her we learned that unity through diversity is the precious gift we must construct and give ourselves.

“While we mourn, we must also take solace in the fact that she lived long enough to see the advent of progressive government at the federal level.

“She has bequeathed to us a great legacy, a political legacy of intelligence, courage conviction, hope and belief in the goodness of the people.  As such, we will miss her presence and are grieved by her departure. Yet, the story of her life commands us to do our best to turn Nigeria into the nation she dedicated her life to and that we all honor her every day by each one of us becoming better citizens, better Nigerians.
September 20th, 2015”