NIGERIA: ELDER statesman and founder of the defunct Nigerian Advanced Party (NAP), Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, is dead.
GatewayMail learnt that Braithwaite, who was a leading politician in the Second Republic, died on Monday at St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos. He was 82.
Reactions have started pouring in on his death with President Muhammadu Buhari commiserating “with the immediate family, friends, professional colleagues and political allies of elder statesman and pro-democracy activist.”
Similarly, the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, bemoaned that the late politician’s death was a great loss to the nation, just as National Coordinator of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, said that the demise “marks another closure in another chapter in the history of the country.”
Buhari in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity), Garba Shehu, stated that the death of the eminent lawyer and author “came at a time that his wisdom, intellectual depth, vast knowledge and experience were sorely needed by the country.”
The President said that he was not oblivious of “the immeasurable contributions of the late sage to the development of democracy, rule of law and human rights in Nigeria.”
While assuring his family and friends that the political history of the country would be incomplete without capturing
the roles played by Braithwaite, Buhari charged political leaders to emulate the virtues of the deceased during the Second Republic, “who perceived politics as a platform for honest service to the nation rather than an opportunity to make money.”
According to him, the late politician “was quintessentially selflessness, patriotic and committed to national development as his passion to serve the people never waned despite not winning in the presidential elections.”
He, therefore, prayed God to grant his soul eternal rest, and comfort his loved ones.
Also, Amosun, in a statement signed by his Senior Special Adviser (Media), Adejuwon Soyinka, said that the late politician would be remembered for his contributions to the country’s growth in all ramifications.
The Governor said: “He will be remembered, not just for his contributions to the legal profession, but also to the development of democratic ethos in Nigeria.”
Amosun, in his condolence message to the deceased’s family, recalled how Braithwaite founded the NAP in 1983, adding that since then he remained faithful to the Nigerian cause through his words and deeds.
“We can only take solace in the fact that Dr. Braithwaite lived a purposeful,
impactful and successful life,” the Governor said.
Adams, however, said: “The death of Elder statesman, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite marks a closure in another chapter in the history of our great country Nigeria.”
He lamented that though Braithwaite died at 82, “but his death at this point of our political life has robbed Nigerians of the opportunity to drink from his rich pot of wisdom.”
The OPC leader stressed: “As the last man standing from the political titans of the second republic, during which he founded the Nigerian Advance Party, NAP, Dr. Braithwaite surely contributed his quota to the growth of his fatherland.”
Adams recalled that the last time he saw the deceased closely was as a delegate at the 2014 National Conference in Abuja, “during which he canvassed for a confederal constitution.”
He stressed: “His robust contributions to deliberations and discussions on the floor of conference contributed in no small measures to the success of the National Conference.
“With his death, let those in authority go back to his advice that the Conference must be as much a development conference as a constitutional one.”
“I will urge the Federal Government to set to work the machinery to immortalize this great nationalist,” Adams said, while praying: “May his soul rest in perfect peace.”
- By Femi Shodunke
