SUNDAY AWONIYI: A TRUE NORTHERNER HAS GONE
I was really touched, when I was perusing through the
papers on the internet on Friday 30 November, 2007 and
I saw the news that, one of the formidable backbone of
Northern Nigeria and the Mopa Chief Sunday Awoniyi has
passed on in London.
My first interaction or rather meeting with this icon,
was sometimes, in 1989 when I visited my cousin Alhaji
Adamu Suleiman one-time Inspector-General of Police at
No 18B, Lamido Road Kaduna and suddenly, Chief Sunday
Awoniyi came in being both of them are staff who
directly worked with the esteemed Sardauna of Sokoto
and the Premier of the Northern Nigeria.Late Chief
Sunday Awoniyi served Sir, Ahmadu Bello as his
Secretary, while Alhaji Adamu Suleiman served as the
Press Secretary to the Premier before joining the
Nigeria Police Force at the prompting of the legendary
Sardauna Ahmadu Bello.
No doubt, that in the later years after my meeting
him, all what occupied the mindset of late Sunday
Awoniyi was North and the prosperity of the people of
the Northern Nigeria. Chief Sunday Awoniyi does not
have anything than to see to the corporate existence
of the north and the entire people of Northern
Nigeria.
Chief Sunday Awoniyi as a christian served the late
Premier of Northern Nigeria Sir, Ahmadu Bello
diligently and to the best of his ability. As a
graduate, the late Ahmadu Bello find Chief Sunday
Awoniyi worthy and thereby trusted him to be the
Secretary in the Cabinet Office of the Premier of
which, his stay was worthy to the Premier.
Chief Sunday Awoniyi because of his honesty endeared
himself to the late Premier so that, there is no any
decision taken by Sardauna Ahmadu without the inputs
of Chief Sunday Awoniyi.
The second generation of the Northern civil service is
one of the main thing that, Sunday as Administrative
Secretary do so as the people of northern origin took
over the main stream civil service.
Because of this, the Mopa Chief wrote a comprehensive
blue-print to the Premier which without any
hesitation, approval was granted. That was why, a lot
of the second generation civil servant in the regional
service of the Northern Nigeria were sent on
scholarship to various countries of the world and on
their completion, took over the civil service.
Chief Sunday Awoniyi is an epitome of peace. That was
why one sees him in anything that would bring peace
especially within the entire Northern Region in the
forefront.
I recalled with nostalgic, when Gen. Abdusalam want to
hand over the reign of governance of this country to
civilian it was Chief Sunday that Gen. Abdusalam first
contacted to hear his own side on who is the person,
that hold this country together irrespective of
religion or tribal sentiment. It is there, that Chief
Sunday told Gen. Abdulsalam that the only person, who
has such attributes was Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo.
Nigeria and the North has lose a great gem that
throughout his life, especially in the service of this
country was to ensured that,Nigeria and Nigerians live
in peace without any kind of rancour.
Chief Sunday Awoniyi would best be remembered as one
of the apostle, that spent their time and energy
propagating the gospel of "SARDAUNANISM" because of
the conviction, they had that it is the late Sardauna
of Sokoto Sir, Ahmadu Bello that make and made what is
today known as Northern Nigeria as it is the likes of
Chief Sunday Awoniyi that carried to the latter the
Northernization policy of the Premier.
As Chief Sunday Awoniyi has gone, it seems that the
last chapter of the trusted aides of the Premier of
Northern Nigeria are all gone taking into account of
the passage of people like Alhaji Maigari Gwamba,
Alhaji Mahmud Attah, Alhaji Adamu Suleiman and others
too numerious to be mentioned in this tribute.
A special recognition had to made for what Chief
Sunday Awoniyi was able to do to the North and the
people by all the nineteen northern states.
Kogi State government need to immortalized this true
northerner by way of opening of a center, where all
his life collections would be keep for research by
those, who want to know more about the civil service
in Northern Nigeria at pre and post level.
Chief Sunday has touched severally the lives of so
many prominent Nigerians especially the role, he
played when the late Gen. Murtala Mohammed was about
to dismissed Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo as Chief of Staff
Supreme Headquarters where he persuaded him not take
such a drastic action on Obasanjo.
Even, in the emergence of Obasanjo as the President of
this country in 1999, Chief Awoniyi is the principal
actor for the fielding of Obasanjo as the Presidential
Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP.
Adieu Chief Sunday Awoniyi a true Northerner. May God
bless his soul. Amen.
BY
USMAN GARBA SANTURAKI
WROTE IN FROM HOUSE NO 74, TAFIDA STR.
JIMETA-YOLA.
E-mail:usbaturaki@yahoo.com
08036180958