Human rights activist and popular constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome has described the death of Afenifere spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin, as devastating and untimely.
In a release on Sunday, Ozekhome, said when he read the news on social media; he thought it was an April Fool prank.
“I am devastated by Yinka’s untimely death. Yinka spoke to me only last month. About the struggle, the need not to tire or give up. The need to fight on like Trojans.
READ ALSO: Odumakin Died Of COVID-19 Complications, Afẹ́nifẹ́re Confirms
“When I saw a posting concerning Comrade Yinka Odumakin’s death, I thought the poster was still carrying out the pranks of “April Fool’s Day”. So, I told him to back off as April Fool’s day normally stops at 12 midnight on 1st April of every year,” Ozekhome said.
He further described the deceased as a fearless and courageous wordsmith adding that he was a genuine comrade and unflagging struggler, who, in his lifetime, inspired a whole new generation of rights crusaders.
Odumakin died on Saturday at the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where he has been on admission for a week.
His wife, fellow activist, Joe Okei-Odumakin told journalists that he just survived from COVID-19 and had tested negative to the virus, before developing respiratory complications which eventually led to his death this morning.
She was quoted to have 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.”
See his full statement below…
YINKA ODUMAKIN- THE IRREPRESSIBLE WARRIOR GOES HOME
When I saw a posting concerning Comrade Yinka Odumakin’s death, I thought the poster was still carrying out the pranks of “April Fool’s Day”. So, I told him to back off as April Fool’s day normally stops at 12 midnight on 1st April of every year.
Out of sheer curiosity, and to fulfill all righteousness I, however, I called one of our soulmates in the human rights and pro-democracy world, Dr Joe Okei Odumakin, who has been a life-long Yinka’s wife and heartthrob. I wanted to hear her deny the story and say it was false and fake. I yearned for her to burst out laughing with her accustomed baritone guffaw, saying Yinka was alive, hale and hearty. I just desired her to say it was a mere rumour, a “tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
But, alas! She confirmed Yinka’s passage, giving me eerie graphic details. I have not found my clarity of thought since then. I am devastated by Yinka’s untimely death. Yinka spoke to me only last month. Yes, you guessed right! About the struggle, of course. The need not to tire or give up. The need to fight on like Trojans. We spoke about the pending South-West, Middle Belt, and South-East case, which was instituted against President Muhammadu Buhari and his government over the nepotic, cronystic, lopsided, sectional, and prebendalistic appointments he has so far made, to the consternation and marginalization of other sections of the country.
Chief E.K Clark, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Dr Nnia Nwodo, Dr Kpogun, et al, lead the plaintiffs in this regenerative and self-defining suit. I am one of the lead Counsel. We talked. We exchanged ideas on strategy. We discussed Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria’s challenges. State of nadir. Despondency. Anger. Hunger. Melancholy. Sorrow. Tears. Blood. Pains. Pangs. Nigeria’s pain. And, of course, a possible panacea. Solutions.
And this gadfly and searing pain in successive government’s flesh has gone? Just like that? This pear? This gem of a pan-Nigerian? This Yoruba Nationality Crusader for self-identity and self-determination? This shinny and incandescent example of a genuine Comrade and unflagging struggler, who, in his lifetime, inspired a whole new generation of rights crusaders? This bold, fearless, courageous wordsmith, whose pen was mightier than the sword? Good, God! Our loss is the heavens’ profit. Our pain is paradise’s gain. Odumakin championed the people’s cause.
He fought on behalf of the voiceless and the beleaguered. He was not materially rich. But, he was a trillionaire in integrity, honour, and dignity. His legacies are trailers-load. Yinka was not just an Activist per Excellence; he was an uncommon public Affairs analyst, social critic, politician, and political strategist, who shot from all cylinders on matters of National interest. He was fecund cerebral. He walked the talk. He fought wars and battles. He won most. Odumakin, with his accustomed “Awo Cap” ever perched on his head, spoke truth to authority. He challenged power and impunity. He left no stone unturned and no turn unstoned in his desire for a better Nigeria. A Nigeria imbued with mutual respect, Ethnic Nationalities’ self-determination; inter-religious harmony, egalitarianism and social justice. This gladiator may have lost this war of mortality to Covid-19 complications, at LASUTH, Lagos. But, he won the greater war of immortality. Because Yinka has conquered death. He scorned death; laughed at it derisively in the early hours of Holy Saturday when he transited. So, death, where is thy sting? Yinka was gentle as a person. As gentle as a lamb. But, he was a lion and tiger combined together, in wars against injustice, oppression, and repression. Mark Anthony (Julius Caesar Act 5, Scene 5, by William Shakespeare), summarizes my grief when he said: “his life was so gentle, and the elements mixed so well in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world, This was a man”. Yinka, rest in eternal peace in the Lord’s bossom. Don’t bother to kick and fight from the grave, as I know you would readily want to. Just rest, rest and rest in perfect peace, till we meet on resurrection day. Then, we will part no more. For those of us strugglers you left behind, including your irrepressible wife of an Activist and Comrade, Dr Joe Okei Odumakin, we would continue the battle. It is a case of no retreat, no surrender. Aluta continua, victoria acerta. Goodbye, Yinka. Fare thee well, compatriot.
