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| Azikwe |
The following is full text of the
funeral oration delivered by Mr. Nnamidi Azikiwe, at the grave side when the
remains of Herbert Macaulay were interred at the Ikoyi Cemetery on Saturday,
May 11 1946.
Come and mourn with me, heroes
and heroines of the New Africa. The beauty of Africa has been desecrated by the
cold hands of death; how are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war
perished!
An illustrious son of Africa has
received his summons to join “the innumerable caravan, that moves to that
mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death
This African immortal has
answered the home call not, “like the quarry slave, at night, scourged to his
dungeon,” but 'sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, he has approached
the grave "like one that draws the drapery of his couch about him, and
lies down to pleasant dreams"
Mr. Herbert Macaulay died
peacefully in his sleep, without qualms and without
worries. In his life-time, Africa
entombed by the forces of evil, had faith, cruelty and oppression, and Africans
were enveloped in the darkness of intolerance, prejudice, poverty, ignorance
and superstition; but he had one life; yet this has been sacrificed for the
redemption of Africa.
Verily, he died on active service
- battling for the revival of the stature of man-in-Africa.
CHEQUERED LIFE
Born on November 1864, Herbert
Samuel Heelas Macaulay was seventh son of the founder of the Lagos Church
Missionary Society Grammar School, Rev. Thomas Babington Macaulay. His mother
was second daughter of the first African Bishop, His Lordship the Right
Reverend Samuel Ajayi Crowther, D.D.
After his education locally, he
proceeded to the United Kingdom for studies in Civil Engineering. At the age of
29, he completed his professional education and graduated as and associate
member of the Institute of British Architects.
For five years he served the
civil service of Nigeria as Surveyor, being among the first to hold what,
today, is regarded as European appointment; afterwards he established private
practice.
At the age of 40, Herbert
Macaulay entered the political arena of Nigeria and subsequently distinguished
himself as a great journalist. It was his wish that he should die in harness,
and in spite of his advanced age, he led the delegates of the National Council
of Nigeria and the Cameroons on a nationwide tour, only to succumb when was in
sight.
NATIONAL CALAMITY
The demise of this Doyen 'of
Nigerian politics is a racial disaster; at this critical stage of human
history, when the fate of millions of the Negroid races is being decided at the
conference tables of the western nations, his encyclopedic knowledge would have
been invaluable to many African political embryos.
His death is a national calamity;
at this crucial milestone in the history of Nigeria and the Cameroons under
British Mandate, when the destiny of our country has been "Made
Abroad" in a cut and dried fashion and we are expected to accept same as
an immutable and revealed law handed down to us from Mount Sinai, his
'political sagacity could not but have a chastening effect.
Indeed, what William Wordsworth
said of John Milton, is applicable to the great man whose last remains we
deposit here today:
"Milton thou shouldn't be
living at this hour.
England hath need of thee; she is
a ten.
of stagnant waters: alter, sword,
and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of
hail and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient
English dower of inward happiness.
We are selfish men.
Oh rise us up, return to us
again;
And give us manners, virtue,
freedom, power.
Thy soul was like a star, and
dwelt apart:
Thous hadst a voice whose sound
was like the seat.
Pure as the naked heavens
majestic free.
So 'didst thou travel on life's
common way
In cheerful godliness and yet
they heart
The lowliest duties on herself
did lay."
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
It is not within the ken of man
to judge his fellow man without prejudice; the toga of imperfection with which
mere mortals are clothed makes any adverse judgment by any human being on the
life of our dead leader futile.
None is perfect, otherwise should
no t be human. If, in spite our imperfection to man, and thereby vindicate the
imperfections, of humanity.
William Shakespeare said:
"Blow, blow thou winter
wind, 'Thou art not
so unkind As man's ingratitude
"Freeze, freeze, thou better
sky,
Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot".
SUPREME SACRIFICE
With apologies to the Second Book
of Samuel:
The beauty of Africa has been
desecrated by the cold hands of death; how are the mighty fallen, and the
weapons of war perished!
Spread this national calamity
throughout the continents of the earth publish the news in West Africa;
disseminate it in the streets of Nigeria
- so that the world will know that Africa has lost a hero in the fight.
Mountains of the Cameroons, weep
not for Herbert Macaulay; but hold high
your heads in pride - that our country has produced a patriot whose life has
been enshrined in the hearts of all who adore freedom.
Let the tears shed by the River
Niger and the River Benue irrigate the plains of this blessed soil of our
country so that the realms of Herbert Macaulay for Nigeria might become a
reality.
Ye sons and daughters of Nigeria,
weep over our fallen leader, who has sacrificed his life so that we may have
food, raiment, shelter and the necessities of life in abundance.
And as you weep, take heart and
remember that
"Lives of great men all
remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And departing leave behind us
Footprints on the sand or
time."
THANATOPSTS
We come now to the parting of
ways we, to depart to our various homes
until our individual calls to our Thanatopsian doom; and dead leader to return
to the womb of Mother Earth, the Alma Mater which gave him birth and enabled
him to enjoy the beauties or this life, ere his eyelids were closed in death
and his lips sealed forever.
As we lay this feeble and mortal
frame ill the bosom of Mother Earther let us realise that this place has now
become a hallowed spot in our national history.
Let us remember that the occupant
of this hallowed parcel of earth once lived like us he ate, slept, woke,. worked, joked and
fretted, lo today he lies down here, cold, mute, forlorn and inert.
When he lived, he generated ideas
which have inspired millions to look forward to a new life conceived in the
ideology that man that is born of a woman is not destined to be ill servitude
for ever.
As we. commit Herbert Macaulay to
the physical element which inhabit this
hallowed ground, let us dedicate our lives a-new to this conception that our leader shall not have died in vain,
that the ideals for which he lived and the ideas which the propagated shall not
be obliterated from this continent.
A LEGACY
Herbert Macaulay has left us an
imperishable legacy - the struggle for the attainment of social equality,
economic security, religious tolerance and political freedom.
Ours it is to hold aloft this
torch of democracy so that our posterity shall not repeat the fatal mistake of
yesteryears and continue to live in servitude and in want in the midst of
plenty.
Let us venerate the memory of our
fallen hero; he has paid the penalty of leadership.
Let us perpetuate his ideas of
freedom; they can be realised in our life- time.
Let us erect a monument on this
hallowed spot, as a fitting climax to his glorious life, so that this chapter
in our national history, which has now closed, will open a new page in our
onward march towards the crystallization of a new Africa.
OUR LEADER
Oh, our leader, we mourn for you;
oh, our hero, we weep for you.
To leave us at this stage of the
battle is a bitter pill to swallow, but man cannot stay the hand of destiny
Fare thee well, my political
father, the candle of liberty that you have lit shall never, never be quenched.
My thoughts are now one with Edna
St. Vincent Millay's "Dirge without Music", the last stanza of which
reads:
"Down, down, down, into the
darkness of the grave Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave
I know. But I do not approve. And
I am not resigned",
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1 comments:
Great oratory dexterity
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