Some lawyers in Lagos on Tuesday described the death of Dr. Tunji Braithwaite as painful and an irreparable loss to the radical and progressive movement in the country.
The lawyers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that Braithwaite was “a patrician who dedicated his life to the masses and extermination of cockroaches and mosquitoes in the Nigerian polity”.
Prof. Akin Oyebode, a law teacher at the University of Lagos, said that the passage of Braithwaite marked “the end of an era in Nigerian politics”.
“He has left a legacy of struggle for all those yearning for a better Nigeria. May the tribe of people like him never cease to multiply in our long suffering society,” Oyebode said.
Mr Femi Aborisade, another lawyer and human rights activist, told NAN that the voice of the late Braithwaite represented the voice, wishes and aspirations of common people.
“It is most painful for me to hear of the death of the great Dr Tunji Braithwaite.
“His death is without doubt, an irreparable loss to the radical and progressive movement in Nigeria.
“He will best be remembered for his politics of eradication of mosquitoes.
“He saw them as those feeding on the blood of the masses.
“Hence, Dr Braithwaite joined the masses for example in 2012, protesting against fuel price increases in spite of his age.
“He defiled tear gas and police brutality at old age to identify with the masses.
“He would be sorely missed and may his soul rest in peace, “Aborisade said.
He said that Braithwaite was one of the sincere and forthright politicians Nigeria produced.
“He reminds me of the words of Plato that politics should be reserved for the guardian. Dr Braithwaite was a real guardian.
“For many years, he championed what he dubbed a Nigerian revolution which he hoped would enthrone a new moral renaissance for the uplift of the downtrodden in society.
“Pity that his dream did not come to fruition before death struck. We will miss the great ideals which Dr Braithwaite brought into Nigerian politics, “he said.