Usman Garba Santuraki

My first interaction or rather meeting with this icon, was sometimes, in 1989 when I visited my cousin Alhaji Adamu Suleiman one-time Inspector-General of Police at No 18B, Lamido Road Kaduna and suddenly, Chief Sunday Awoniyi came in being both of them are staff who directly worked with the esteemed Sardauna of Sokoto and the Premier of the Northern Nigeria.Late Chief Sunday Awoniyi served Sir, Ahmadu Bello as his Secretary, while Alhaji Adamu Suleiman served as the Press Secretary to the Premier before joining the Nigeria Police Force at the prompting of the legendary Sardauna Ahmadu Bello.

No doubt, that in the later years after my meeting him, all what occupied the mindset of late Sunday Awoniyi was North and the prosperity of the people of the Northern Nigeria. Chief Sunday Awoniyi does not have anything than to see to the corporate existence of the north and the entire people of Northern Nigeria.

Chief Sunday Awoniyi as a christian served the late Premier of Northern Nigeria Sir, Ahmadu Bello diligently and to the best of his ability. As a graduate, the late Ahmadu Bello find Chief Sunday Awoniyi worthy and thereby trusted him to be the Secretary in the Cabinet Office of the Premier of which, his stay was worthy to the Premier.

Chief Sunday Awoniyi because of his honesty endeared himself to the late Premier so that, there is no any decision taken by Sardauna Ahmadu without the inputs of Chief Sunday Awoniyi.

The second generation of the Northern civil service is one of the main thing that, Sunday as Administrative Secretary do so as the people of northern origin took over the main stream civil service.

Because of this, the Mopa Chief wrote a comprehensive blue-print to the Premier which without any hesitation, approval was granted. That was why, a lot of the second generation civil servant in the regional service of the Northern Nigeria were sent on scholarship to various countries of the world and on their completion, took over the civil service. Chief Sunday Awoniyi is an epitome of peace. That was why one sees him in anything that would bring peace especially within the entire Northern Region in the forefront. I recalled with nostalgic, when Gen. Abdusalam want to hand over the reign of governance of this country to civilian it was Chief Sunday that Gen. Abdusalam first contacted to hear his own side on who is the person, that hold this country together irrespective of religion or tribal sentiment. It is there, that Chief Sunday told Gen. Abdulsalam that the only person, who has such attributes was Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. Nigeria and the North has lose a great gem that throughout his life, especially in the service of this country was to ensured that,Nigeria and Nigerians live in peace without any kind of rancour. Chief Sunday Awoniyi would best be remembered as one of the apostle, that spent their time and energy propagating the gospel of "SARDAUNANISM" because of the conviction, they had that it is the late Sardauna of Sokoto Sir, Ahmadu Bello that make and made what is today known as Northern Nigeria as it is the likes of Chief Sunday Awoniyi that carried to the latter the Northernization policy of the Premier. As Chief Sunday Awoniyi has gone, it seems that the last chapter of the trusted aides of the Premier of Northern Nigeria are all gone taking into account of the passage of people like Alhaji Maigari Gwamba, Alhaji Mahmud Attah, Alhaji Adamu Suleiman and others too numerious to be mentioned in this tribute. A special recognition had to made for what Chief Sunday Awoniyi was able to do to the North and the people by all the nineteen northern states. Kogi State government need to immortalized this true northerner by way of opening of a center, where all his life collections would be keep for research by those, who want to know more about the civil service in Northern Nigeria at pre and post level. Chief Sunday has touched severally the lives of so many prominent Nigerians especially the role, he played when the late Gen. Murtala Mohammed was about to dismissed Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo as Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters where he persuaded him not take such a drastic action on Obasanjo. Even, in the emergence of Obasanjo as the President of this country in 1999, Chief Awoniyi is the principal actor for the fielding of Obasanjo as the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP. Adieu Chief Sunday Awoniyi a true Northerner. May God bless his soul. Amen.