It was like a valley of tears, uncontrolled tears that flowed from thousands of genuinely grief-stricken members of the ruling Togo People’s Rally (RPT) and bereaved Togolese who turned out to mourn the sudden passing away of the man who was fondly referred to as the baobab (a giant tree found in Africa). For the brutal manner in which death laid its icy hands to snatch President Gnassingbé Eyadema at the ripe age of 69 on February 5 has continued to dumbfound many Togolese into shocking disbelief.
West African heads of state (first row) attending the late president’s funeral obsequies.
But on Sunday, March 13, during the national funeral obsequies, thousands of mourners came face to face with stark realities when the cortege carrying the mortal remains of the Baobab arrived at the foregrounds of the famous Palace of Congress in Lome, the capital of Togo. As eight spick and span military officers from the Navy, Air Force and Land Force of the army and the National Gendarmerie carried the richly sculpted brown coffin draped in the national colors of Togo (red, yellow and green) with the white star in the center symbolizing peace, the Palace grounds broke into sonorous voice of wailing.
The atmosphere became encapsulated with visible contagion of grief as the spick and span officers marched in calculated snail-pace steps carrying the coffin bearing the remains of the Baobab in harmony with martial music, against the background of a 21-gun salute. Hell broke loose amidst sobbing, wailing and the oozing of melancholy noses.
The atmosphere of grief was so magnetic and stultifying even Prime Minister Koffi Sama could not hold back his share of the valley of tears. He was so affected by the grief that the man with a reputation for political courage broke down in the middle of his tribute to the fallen father of the nation. Not even the visiting heads of state could extricate themselves from the encapsulating atmosphere of deep paralyzing sorrows and melancholy.
General Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian head of state and the current chairman of the African Union, looked sober with affection. President John Agyekum Kufuor was in a state of indescribable shock with grief, carrying a distant morose fixation look of sadness. Legendary Mathieu Kérékou of Benin, wielding his omnipresent short baton and staff of political power wearing a black Marxist political suit, sauntered with a reminiscent elegance full of silent mourning. Current ECOWAS chairman, Mamadou Tandja of Niger, was caught up in a vortex of melancholia as he lumbered his way to pay his last respects to the man who was the founding father of the sub-regional economic organization over whose affairs he now presides with aplomb. Mamadou Tandja moved a few steps from the coffin, stood meditative awhile, raised his hands in brief, momentary prayers to Allah, and then gently lowered them down onto the coffin invoking blessings for the departed soul of Gnassingbé Eyadéma. The hall went dead quiet. Swashbuckling Laurent Gbagbo of Côte d’Ivoire was on this occasion a pale shadow of his usual aggressive war-mongering self as he stepped onto the podium to pay his last farewell to an old ally who sacrificed everything in his mediation arsenal to bring peace to war-torn Côte d’Ivoire. All the heads of state laid wreaths at the coffin and observed a minute of silence each.
The five heads of state, except Obasanjo, all wore black mourning suits. But the man who stole the show was ex-Nigerian head of state, retired Gen. Yakubu Gown. He surprisingly won a spontaneous ovation, the first and last of its kind during the funeral obsequies. Obviously, the mourning Togolese were impressed by the steadfast devotion to the long-lasting friendship that existed between him and the late Eyadema, two giant pillars who laid the foundation stone for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975. Former Mozambican president Joachim Chisano was not to be left out in this roll call of showing respect for a fallen baobab. The French government, long regarded as a true ally of Eyadema, sent along their foreign affairs minister, Michel Barnier, to symbolize their share of grief with the people of Togo. Better yet, French president Jacques Chirac, in the name of “vraie amitié,” (true friendship) sent his own personal representative, Michel de Bonnecourse, to express his sincere condolences.
The mortal remains of Eyadema were later flown back by the Togolese presidential plane to Kara to be laid in a family tomb.
The baobab’s sudden passing away brought untold grief to the people of Togo. Even opposition leaders, some of whom were Eyadéma’s avowed critics, turned out to pay their respect, a rare display of African traditional solidarity and show of respect for the dead. The Togolese opposition leaders who turned up for the funeral obsequies included Prof. Leopold Messan Gnininvi, coordinator of the alliance of six opposition parties virulently opposed to Eyadema, Zarifou Ayeva, leader of the PDR, Edem Kodjo, leader of the CPP, Cornelius Aidam, 3rd Vice President of the CPP, Abi Tchessa, leader of the Party of Socialist Reformers, and Harry Olympio, leader of the RSSD party. “The late Gnassingbé Eyadéma was head of state of Togo for 38 years. Irrespective of our political differences, he deserves our respects in his death. That is truly the African tradition and Togolese culture. We must pay respect to the dead. We must set an example for our children to follow that our political adversaries are not our enemies,” Zarifou Ayeva, leader of the PDR, later said.
Some say the passing away of Eyadéma represents the end of an old political era, and marks the beginning of a new one. Eyadéma, says Prof. Atsutse Agbobli, was a visionary and Pan-Africanist. The historian says Eyadema believed in a strong nation state capable of defending the territorial integrity of Togo. “But he also believes in a powerful military state in character but benevolent enough to offer full protection and rights to its citizens in the context of national unity, stability and peace. Peace and national unity were the overriding principles for which he lived, fought and died. But, above all, he was sincere, frank and honest in his relationship with people,” the historian and political commentator said in an interview.
The view is shared by Gen. Zakari Nandja, Commander of the Togo armed forces. In a tribute to Eyadéma at the funeral, Gen. Nandja said the late president Eyadéma served in Vietnam, Indochina, and saw active military action in Algeria and Niger, and began his military career in Benin in the French Foreign Legion. “He therefore knew the devastating consequences of war. As a result, while he lived, he did everything within his power to avoid Togo plunging into civil war,” Gen. Nandja said. Pastor Kokou Touleassi who preached the sermon at the funeral obsequies said Eyadéma was a God-fearing man who went to extremes to forgive those who wronged him. “Despite several assassination attempts, plots and conspiracies by his enemies to kill him, Eyadéma remained focused, undisturbed and forgave all of them,” the pastor said.
The angle of the story of the legendary magnanimity of President Eyadema has been confirmed by many close associates. They confirm that even ministers who fell out of favor and lost positions still managed to maintain cordial relations with him. “Deserting Togolese soldiers who launched armed cross-border attacks against him from neighboring Ghana in 1986 and those who threw grenades into his living room in Lomé in 1993, were later granted amnesty and unconditional pardon, and some were reintegrated into the Togo army,” said Esso Solitoki, Member of Parliament and chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee.
When Eyadéma suddenly passed away on February 5 while being flown to Israel for medical attention-his plane had to be diverted to Tunis-Lome looked eerie and threadbare. The atmosphere was frightful and looked endangered with widespread panic, pregnant with fear about the future. Some people began fleeing into neighboring Ghana for fear of the unknown. Others went to bed as early as 7 p.m. Matters were made worse when rumors began to float in Lome about some undisclosed coup plots in the making by some unnamed officers following the creation of a power vacuum by the president’s sudden death and the absence from the country of the former Speaker of Parliament, Fambaré Ouattara Natchaba.
As quick as lightening, the Togo Military High Command moved effectively to fill the void by installing Faure Gnassingbé, one of the late president’s sons, cabinet member and member of parliament, as interim head of state. The subsequent national and international cry of outrage was more deafening, leading to violent street protests which left seven dead in confrontation with the security forces. The late president, who had prophesized that “long after we are gone away, there will not be a deluge,” must have turned in coffin. But relative peace has since then come returned to Togo. And the Baobab has been given a peaceful national funeral obsequies. His mortal remains were later laid in a family tomb besides his elder brother Gnassingbé Koromsa who died years ago and Kabissa Gnassingbé who died barely a month earlier.
“The Baobab has indeed gone to his village leaving behind the cherished legacy of peace,” as Prof. Ourso Meterwa, a lawmaker and lecturer in linguistics at the Lome University (who served as personal translator for the late president) said in his tribute to the legendary leader.
