The day Awolowo lost his son while in prison
It was a black Wednesday, July 1963! Chief Obafemi Awolowo was in prison at Broad Street, Lagos. Mama HID, his beloved wife, was at the time in a temporary apartment in Somolu, from where she looked after her husband who was in detention.

Segun had just returned from the United Kingdom and was living in their Oke-Bola residence, Ibadan. He was a legal star, a marvel to behold in the legal profession. His sister, Tola, who was working with Shell as secretary to the regional manager, lived in the same residence. Tola had a car and driver, Ogunjimi Odunlami nicknamed No Paddy.

A day before the ill-fated trip, he had spent time with his friends hanging out. Segun also told Tola to allow No Paddy to take him to Lagos for an official engagement. He had also discussed with his mum and they both agreed to visit his dad.

They embarked on the trip. Unfortunately, one Rashidi Ayinla who was said to have been managing the brakes of his own car suddenly rammed into them. That would be the second time. Rashidi already had a case in court for an earlier fatal accident he caused.

Kayode Oyediran, Tola Awolowo’s fiancé, was with a friend in Molete when he overheard some people lamenting that Awolowo’s son had been involved in a serious accident on the road to Lagos. After getting sketchy details about the incident, he dashed out, rushed to UCH. Surprisingly, he met Tola there. Tola said she heard the rumor. Kayode also met people and learnt that they were there to fetch one Professor Latunde Odeku, a neurosurgeon of international repute, to go to Adeoyo Hospital to attend to a road accident victim who had sustained a head injury.

Kayode and Dare, his friend, took off to Adeoyo hospital. With their hearts in their mouth, they got to the hospital. They were told it Segun and they were directed to the room where he was. Already dead.

You can only imagine Kayode’s reaction on seeing Segun’s lifeless body being packed.

Back in Lagos, Chief Awolowo was with Pa Abraham Adesanya, who had brought some documents by Chief Anthony Enahoro’s leading counsel. The counsel wanted Awolowo to review the documents and return them to him the following morning for Enahoro’s defence.

Then, S. T. Oredein and J. O. Lawson came in. The look on their faces betrayed them. Awolowo sensed that something was wrong. Oredein moved close to the Awolowo and whispered to him in barely audible sound telling him that Segun had an accident and that the driver died, but that Segun survived and was at Adeoye where doctors are battling to save his life.

Instinct already told Awolowo that it was beyond what they had told him. “In an emotion-laden voice, he exclaimed: ‘The boy has died!’ His mind went to his wife. How would HID cope?” Onigegewura said about the incident.

Awolowo “requested to the use of the prison phone to make some calls. The Superintendent of Prison declined. Order from above. Calmly and without betraying any emotion, Awo requested Adesanya to get in touch with their family doctor to attend to his wife before the tragic news reached her. It was after Adesanya had gone that Awolowo turned on the transistor radio in his cell and heard the news no parent wanted to hear,” Onigegewura added.

Again, just imagine how Awolowo felt, all alone in prison with the transistor radio where he confirmed the news!

But, this man braced up, picked up the documents Pa Adesanya brought and worked on them all through the night. Next day when Pa Adesanya came to console him, he was shocked that Awolowo was done with the documents.

That same Wednesday morning, Mama Segun was feeling uncomfortable when Segun failed to turn up as agreed. She called her driver and off to Ibadan she went. Someone had also hinted her about the accident at Abanla, near Ibadan on the old Shagamu-Lagos road.

It was said that when Mama got to the old Sahagamu-Lagos road, she asked Elijah to slow down because she saw many people at the scene of the accident. Her maternal instinct told her the worst had happened. She became apprehensive. By the time she got to her Oke-Bola residence, T. O. Ogunlesi, Afolabi Ogunlusi and Muyiwa Adebonojo, both medical doctors, were waiting for her with their injections. “Mama asked them not to bother. The doctors were shocked when Mama told them that she knew what had happened,” Onigegewura wrote.

However, Kayode Oyediran still formally broke the news to the grieving mother. Professor Oyediran painfully recalled: “We went upstairs to Mama’s room where I held her tightly and told her the truth. It was a most awful moment and experience.”

Segun was buried in Ikenne the same day. A memorial service was later held for him at St. Saviour’s Church, Ikenne.

Rashidi Ayinla, the 35 year old driver who caused the accident, was later arraigned before Iyaganku Magistrate Court, Ibadan and was charged with manslaughter.

When the court was informed that Ayinla was already facing another charge arising from a fatal accident at Abeokuta which he committed with the same vehicle, he was remanded and made to face the law.

Segun Awolowo, who was born on January 20, 1939, had two children including Pastor Funke Awolowo and Mr. Segun Awolowo, Jnr.