Sunday Awoniyi
{{Short description|Nigerian politician (1932–2007)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Use Nigerian English|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Chief
| name = Sunday Awoniyi
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NG|CON|size=100%}}
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| office1 = Senator for Kogi West
| term_start1 = July 1993
| term_end1 = November 1993
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| successor1 =
| office2 = Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum
| term_start2 = December 2003
| term_end2 = November 2007
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1932|04|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = Mopa-Muro, Northern Region, British Nigeria (present-day Kogi State, Nigeria)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|11|28|1932|04|30|df=y}}
| death_place = London, United Kingdom
| nationality = Nigerian
| party = {{plainlist|
- National Republican Convention
(1990–1993) - Peoples Democratic Party
(1998–2007)
}}
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Florence Ebun
- Benedicta Omowunmi
}}
| children = 11, including Abayomi
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| occupation = Politician
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Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi {{post-nominals|country=NG|CON}} ({{Audio|Yo-Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi.ogg|Listen|help=no}}; 30 April 1932 – 28 November 2007) was a Nigerian politician and tribal aristocrat. He was the Aro of Mopa, Kogi State, formerly Kabba Province. Popularly called
Family and education
Awoniyi was born in what is now the Mopa-Muro Local Government Area of Kogi State to Pa Solomon Iwalaye and Dorcas Omoboja. A Baptist,{{cite news |first= Sunday |last= Awoniyi |title=Leave office gracefully, Awoniyi tells Obasanjo |url=http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/policy_politics/article01/200406 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194909/http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/policy_politics/article01/200406 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-03-03 |work=Open letter to Olusegun Obasanjo |publisher=The Guardian |date= 2004-06-10|access-date=2007-12-02 }} he attended the First Baptist Church in Ileteju, Mopa.{{cite news |first=Simon |last=Kolawole |title=What Did He Want to Tell Me? |url=http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=96800 |work=Thisday |publisher=Leaders & Company |date=2007-12-02 |access-date=2007-12-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204062423/http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=96800 |archive-date=2007-12-04 }} He began his education at Baptist Day School in Mopa from 1938 to 1944, moving on to Holy Trinity School in Lokoja from 1945 to 1946, and Provincial Middle School in Okene from 1947 to 1949. He attended the Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology (now Ahmadu Bello University) from 1951 until 1956, University College (now the University of Ibadan) from 1956 to 1959, and the Imperial Defence College (now the Royal College of Defence Studies) from 1970 to 1971.{{cite news |first=Olaolu |last=Oladipo |title= Awoniyi: Exit of Ahmadu Bello's inheritor |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2438&Itemid=0 |work=Vanguard Online |publisher=Vanguard Media |date=2007-12-01 |access-date=2007-12-02 }}
Political career
=First Republic=
Awoniyi's first political appointment was as a District Officer for the British colonial administration (he was one of few Northern Nigerians to hold the post, most being reserved to Britons). After independence in 1960, he held several posts in the Northern Regional Government including that of Secretary to the Executive Council, where he worked with Sardauna Ahmadu Bello, Premier of Northern Nigeria.{{cite news |first=Sufuyan |last=Ojeifo |title=S.B. Awoniyi: The Life and Exit of Sardauna Keremi |url=http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=96642 |work=Thisday |publisher=Leaders & Company |date=2007-11-30 |access-date=2007-12-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208050630/http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=96642 |archive-date=2007-12-08 }} Awoniyi often held up the assassinated premier as an example of good governance, and was known as "Sardauna Keremi", or "little Sardauna".
=Third Republic=
During the Third Republic, Awoniyi was a member of the National Republican Convention (NRC), and was elected to the Senate of Nigeria for the Kogi West district.
=Fourth Republic=
Awoniyi was one of the founding members of the People's Democratic Party. He attempted to become chairman in 1999, but was unsuccessful. The party under Chairman Barnabas Gemade expelled him and six others in 2001 for "anti party activities", but reinstated them later that year.{{cite news |first=Chuks |last=Akunna |title=PDP Recalls Awoniyi, Etiebet, Tukur Others |url=http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/11/23/20011123news04.html |work=Thisday |publisher=Leaders & Company |date=2001-11-23 |access-date=2007-12-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051129021638/http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/11/23/20011123news04.html |archive-date=2005-11-29 }}
Ever identifying himself as a Northern Nigerian, he later became Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a pan Northern Nigerian political organization detested by many Southern Nigerians; questioned about his acceptance of this position, he said he was "brought up in my own part of the world to act well our part wherever we may find ourselves."{{cite news |first= Kola |last=Ologbondiyan |title= 'I'm a Northern Yoruba Christian' |url= http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/2003/dec/20/0096.html |work=Thisday |publisher=Leaders & Company |date=2003-12-20 |access-date=2007-12-02 }} He held the chairmanship until his death.{{cite news |first=Emeka |last=Mamah |title= ACF: Awoniyi died serving his people |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2463&Itemid=0 |work=Vanguard Online |publisher=Vanguard Media |date= 2007-12-02|access-date=2007-12-02 }}
Awoniyi opposed the Third Term Agenda proposed by supporters of President Olusegun Obasanjo in favor of his re-election, and was attacked at his Abuja house on 12 March 2006 during the debate. In April 2006, he wrote an open letter to Obasanjo, saying "I beg of you, for your own good and for our country's good, make a simple announcement to say that you are not interested in a Third Term and that you plan to go back to Otta in 2007."
Family
Awoniyi had two wives, Florence Ebun Awoniyi and Benedicta Omowunmi Awoniyi, and eleven children. Among his children is Abayomi Awoniyi, an architect and politician.{{cite news |last=Agbana |first=Ralph Omololu |date=2007-06-09 |title=The 'Ibro Family' Factor In Kogi Politics |url=http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/life_style/article01/090607 |access-date=2007-12-02 |work=The Guardian}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
Death
On 18 November 2007, while being driven from Abuja to Kaduna, Awoniyi's car flipped over. He was taken to the National Hospital in Abuja and then flown to London, where he died on 28 November.{{cite news|first=Abdullahi M |last=Gulloma |author2=Hamza Idris |author3=Sani Babadoko |author4=Aliyu Machika |author5=Muideen Olaniyi |author6=Hassan Karofi |title=Awoniyi dies at 75 |url=http://dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5935 |work=Daily Trust |date=2007-11-30 |access-date=2007-12-02 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
On 11 December 2007, a one-minute silence honoring him was observed in the Senate.{{cite news|first=Sufuyan |last=Ojeifo |author2=Chuks Okocha |title=Senate Observes 1-Minute Silence for Awoniyi |url=http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=97702 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070621015143/http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=97702 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-06-21 |work=Thisday |publisher=Leaders & Company |date=2007-12-12 |access-date=2007-12-16 }} His funeral was held at Mopa on 15 December 2007, and was attended by former heads of state Yakubu Gowon, Ibrahim Babangida, and Abdulsalami Abubakar, and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, who represented President Umaru Yar'Adua.{{cite news|first=Chucks |last=Okocha |author2=Wole Ayodele |title=Yar'Adua: I Owe Awoniyi Purposeful Leadership |url=http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=98089 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070621015143/http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=98089 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-06-21 |work=Thisday |publisher=Leaders & Company |date=2007-12-16 |access-date=2007-12-16 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite news |first=Chukwudi |last=Nwabuko |title=Awoniyi's PDP Faction Floats New Party |url=http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/04/19/20010419news01.html |work=Thisday |publisher=Leaders & Company |date=2001-04-19 |access-date=2007-12-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050921075631/http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/04/19/20010419news01.html |archive-date=2005-09-21 }}
- {{cite news |first=Demola |last=Akinyemi |title=Don't politicise Awoniyi's death — Son •Family to meet on burial |url= http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2465&Itemid=43 |work=Vanguard Online |publisher=Vanguard Media |date=2007-12-02 |access-date=2007-12-02 }}
- {{cite news |first=Emma |last=Ujah |title= Yar'Adua, others laud Awoniyi's virtue |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3057&Itemid=0 |work=Vanguard Online |publisher= Vanguard Media |date= 2007-12-13 |access-date=2007-12-16 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Awoniyi, Sunday}}
Category:Kogi State politicians
Category:Ahmadu Bello University alumni
Category:Members of the Senate (Nigeria)
Category:Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians
Category:National Republican Convention politicians
Category:20th-century Baptists