Tunji Braithwaite: A dogged revolutionary, a humanist and hero of the people

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL mourns the passage of Dr. Tunji Braithwaite; a Nationalist, a consistent and persistent fighter against all forms of oppression and repression, a supporter and motivator of our Coalition in the war against corruption. His passage represents a colossal loss to the activist and revolutionary community.

Late Tunji Braithwaite

Dr. Tunji’s monumental contributions to the struggle for an egalitarian society are immeasurable and invaluable. He lived and died for the struggle to liberate the poor and oppressed in spite of his ‘privileged’ background.

As far back as 1978, he formed the National Advance Party, NAP, a political party with the mission of prioritizing the welfare of people; he was of the ‘Awoist’ school of thought, an ardent and outspoken defender of the voiceless and the poor. He believed in Awo’s policies and Fela’s philosophy which led to him volunteering to be lawyer to the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, late Fela Anikulapo Kuti and several others in law courts against military dictatorship.

His passage is particularly painful for us in CACOL, for the roles he played in supporting actively the activities of our coalition including being the Chairman of our past 5 Annual General Meetings; intellectual support and guidance.

A strong advocate for the restructuring of Nigeria Federation, defender of women and human rights; Dr. Tunji dared and confronted the military with every ability he had, until the Khaki boys were kicked out of power and remained intolerable to civilian dictatorship afterwards, especially during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime; this informed his active participation in foiling the illegal and infamous third-term bid of the retired General.

A rare kind and in a class of his own; comparable to Fela Kuti, Beko RansomeKuti, Gani Fawehinmi, Alao Aka-Bashorun etc. who were his ideological soul-mates and like them, he cannot die, for revolutionaries don’t die!