Tafawa Balewa’s wife laid to rest

Jummai Tafawa Balewa, the last surviving wife of Nigeria’s first and only prime minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was buried today in her home town in Bauchi following her death Sunday.

Mrs Balewa, 85, died at a Lagos hospital. Mr Balewa was assassinated in 1966.

Her body were flown to Bauchi on Monday afternoon and a funeral prayer was performed at the palace of the Emir of Bauchi.

Governor Bala Muhammed and the Chief of Air Staff, Abubakar Sadique, led other officials to attend the funeral right.

Her remains were buried at the Bauchi Central cemetery located in Dungulbi village along Gombe road.

Mrs Balewa was until her death the rallying point of the Balewa family. She had eight children.

Mrs Balewa returned from India last week after spending time there getting medical treatment for her failing health.

She made it back to Nigeria and decided to rest with her kids in Lagos to shake off the jetlag. But her improving health condition relapsed again, according to family sources.

Her granddaughter, Hajara Yakubu Wanka, confirmed the development in a report published by The Nation newspaper.

At the Emir’s palace where her funeral rights were performed, Governor Mohammed said her passage was a “loss to the people of Bauchi State and Nigeria in general.”

While recollecting the active participation and contributions of the late prime minister to the Nigeria project, Governor Muhammed “prayed that Allah will forgive her shortcomings, bless what she left behind, grant her Aljanna Firdausi and give her family, the people of Bauchi State and the entire nation the fortitude to bear the loss.”