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President Bola Tinubu has saluted the memory of Dr. Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma, Namibia’s founding titan, painting him as a fierce spirit who rallied Nigeria and a chorus of African nations to back his homeland’s charge toward liberation.
Nujoma, a towering icon who wrenched Namibia free from colonial shackles and set it on a steady course toward democracy, passed away at 95 on February 8, 2025, in a Windhoek hospital, where he’d been battling illness for weeks.
Taking the podium on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at a state farewell ceremony at Heroes’ Acre in Windhoek, Tinubu declared that Nujoma’s death isn’t a fade into oblivion but a spark igniting his eternal echo in the hearts of Africans—a poetic nod to a legacy that won’t quit.
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Standing in for Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima joined a lineup of African leaders alongside Namibia’s President Nangolo Mbumba, offering Nigeria’s final bow to a giant during the solemn rites, a moment thick with continental reverence.
Tinubu eulogised the foremost African statesman, saying he was not just a national hero but a warrior who defied oppression and inspired an entire continent.
“Nigeria was not a bystander in the Namibian struggle. When the world turned its back, we stood. When your voice was drowned by the guns of apartheid, we spoke,” Tinubu said.
President Tinubu, speaking through Vice President Kashim Shettima, conveyed that they had not gathered at the sacred site to merely lay a man to rest but to immortalize a towering legacy. He emphasized that their presence was to honor a life dedicated not to personal gain, but to the service of his people, his land, and the pursuit of liberty, noting that Africa pauses in reverence for him that day.
He described Dr. Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma as more than just the architect of a nation craving a champion, portraying him as a fearless fighter in an era of bondage. Tinubu recounted how Nujoma had stared down tyranny during its most perilous peak, proclaiming that no African should ever be relegated to lesser status on their own turf.
