Obafemi Awolowo: How Dad Died In Bathroom— Daughter

Obafemi Awolowo: How Dad Died In Bathroom— Daughter

Obafemi Awolowo: How Dad Died In Bathroom— Daughter

Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, daughter of late nationalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, has narrated what led to her father’s death in 1987.

The late first Premier of the Western Region under Nigeria’s parliamentary system, died in his bathroom.

She disclosed this in a recent interview with Edmund Obilo at the Awolowo family home in Ikenne.

Recalling her mother’s explanation of how Awolowo died, Mrs Awolowo-Dosunmu said, “She said Papa had woken up in the morning but he locked the door to go to the bathroom. But after a few minutes she thought he should have come out of the bathroom and she knocked gently, no answer; knocked loudly, no answer.

“Then she called his driver of 40 or 50 years and they took a big stick. At that point they knew there was something seriously wrong.”

In the morning of his passing, Awolowo-Dosunmu said she arrived at the family home and laid on her father’s body in tears.

“I simply fell on his body and lay there. They had to pull me off,” she said.

“It was a bad day and I knew I had lost a vital pillar in my life,” she added.

Awolowo-Dosunmu said she saw her father on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday he died.