Political heavyweights are expected to throng Nigeria’s former capital, Lagos, today for the burial of Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, President General of Lagos State Market Women Association and mother of former Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The influential trader and grassroots politician died in her Lagos residence yesterday evening at the age of 96 and is scheduled to be buried today in keeping with the Islamic injunction to bury the dead without much delay. After her burial at the Muslim Cemetery in Ikoyi, mourners would be treated to a reception at Blue Roof, LTV 8, Ikeja.

Tinubu, who is the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and a chieftain of the emergent mega opposition party, the All Peoples Congress (APC), has been receiving a flood of condolence messages since the news of his mother’s death broke. Governors of the six ACN-controlled states as well as chieftains of APC member parties are expected in Lagos to show solidarity with Tinubu.

Meanwhile, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has described the death of Alhaja Mogaji as a national loss. The former ACN presidential candidate in a statement issued this morning described it as “the drawing (of) a curtain unto an era of courageous women movement that characterised independence struggle and beyond, in Nigeria.”

Continuing, Ribadu, a leading light of APC, said: “I am sorrowed and shocked over the death of this renowned women leader, who I believe is the last of exemplary amazons.
“Alhaja Mogaji’s doggedness, resilience and selfless community service were virtues that would remain indelible in the face of Nigeria’s history and non-state movements in black Africa in general. I hail her entrepreneurship acumen and how she carried many budding entrepreneurs under her wings into building their own financial empires.

“Her death is not only a loss to her immediate family or the people of Lagos state. Personally, I considered her as a mother-figure and source of inspiration who remained a devout Muslim and committed to improving lives of others up to the time she breathed her last. She was a true nationalist and a bridge builder. We will miss her a lot.

“I pray for the repose of Mama’s soul and extend my profound condolence to the immediate family, the government and people of Lagos state and Nigerian market women and the entire Nigerians over this irreparable lose.”

•Photo, courtesy PM News, shows Tinubu and his wife Remi with the late Alhaja Mogaji.