Dr. Joe Odumakin said: “A part of me is gone. A part of me is gone. He fought hard at the intensive care unit. Pray for me to survive this. My love is gone.
“I appreciate the outpouring of grief and sympathy from home and abroad as I mourn my irreplaceable soulmate. I urge us all to remain steadfast in the cause of the masses to which he dedicated his life.”- Dr. Joe Odumakin
The wife of the spokesperson of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, Dr Joe-Okei Odumakin, has said that she would love to go through her life with the deceased activist if there is reincarnation.
She said this at the lying-in-state and day of tribute held for him at the Police College, Ikeja.
he described her late husband as an encyclopedia of positive activism while noting that it is difficult to speak about him having known him for three decades.
She, however, stated that the encomiums showered on the deceased would serve as a soothing balm, assuring that his ideals will live forever.
“If there is reincarnation, I want to go through my life with you again. It is extremely difficult to talk about Comrade Yinka Odumakin having known him for three decades.
“He is an encyclopedia of positive activism. He was a great live wire.
“We spent 24 years together. Comrade was very selfless. The week before going to the hospital, he told me his itinerary but the physiotherapist said his oxygen was low. But, he still went ahead with his itinerary for the Nigerian course.
Dignitaries from the Nigerian political space, as well as members of various civil societies on Thursday, paid tribute to the late spokesman of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; acting leader of the Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo; were among the prominent personalities that attended the lying-in-state of the late activist at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos.
Odumakin, 54, died on April 2 in Lagos.
Gbajabiamila described the late Odumakin as a man of courage and a true democrat.
He said, “I came to know from the distance a man who has been through so much twist and turns of life but who in all of it stood straight. When you talk of profile in courage, I’m not sure that you can count on one hand whose name will come before Yinka Odumakin. Here lies a man of courage, a man of integrity, a true democrat, a man who stood for truth and nothing else.”
Sanwo-Olu described the late Odumakin as a man who meant different things to different people.
“Different people knew him along the life differently; some people will remember him as a radical student union leader at the Obafemi Awolowo University; some will remember him as a fearless upright journalist that was reporting for national newspapers; there were those who will also remember him during the fierce pro-democracy time as a strong activist, organizer and as someone that stood firm even during the military era,” Sanwo-Olu said.
In the same vein, Adebanjo said it would be difficult to get a replacement for the late Odumakin in Afenifere.
The Yoruba leader said, “He was not a fake activist, but a true activist who believed in a good cause and true democracy. We are not gathered to mourn his age, but to celebrate what Yinka stood for.
photos credit to Shola Omolola Justice and Niyi Babade
By : ‘Jide Adesina
