As we danced to the beats of exciting Nigerian music at the plush Sky High restaurant of the Eko Hotel, something crossed my mind.
Nigerians may not perfectly situate the historical significance of this lady
In her speech, she made some allusions to it but has not really done herself a lot of favour in championing her rich historical pedigree
I once approached her to do a stage play on her but she insisted on doing something herself and ended up doing a parade during one of those very colourful Calabar Carnivals
Then she invited me to consult on her biography, which a ghost writer is writing
We sat in her plush apartment at Banana Island and had a long session and I wasn’t called back so I can’t tell exactly where that project is right now
At 80, Senator Ita Giwa must do Nigerians a huge favour either by commissioning a very serious work on her or stand aside and allow serious people to better document her for posterity.
In the twilight of her life, she seems to surround herself with Nollywood types and flitting celebrity types which has now given her the public persona of a flitting and ageing Nightingale
The average Nigerian especially the younger ones see her in the garb of a klieglight hugging celebrity type devoid of the strappings of a deep nationalist who has fought so many battles for Nigeria.
Mma Bakasi as she used to be called, earlier was born into a rich pedigree of nationalistic struggle
Her mother was a gifted and influential journalist who saw the red eyes of authority cos of her caustic and principled stance against oppression
For this, she was sent to jail with the young Florence still carrying the image of her mother entering the black maria with the power salute
Last night, media legend, Chief Segun Osoba spoke very glowingly about her mother
Florence grew up in the midst of brilliant journalists and it was not a surprise that she fell in love and married the brightest and most brilliant – Dele Giwa
So apart from being born and bred into the struggle against oppression, she wallowed in the midst of the journalistic renaissance and married into media royalty
This was at the time, MKO Abiola’s Concord was pumping fresh ideas and energy into the colonial-bred media
Dele Giwa was a shining star of the era and both of them emerged as a pioneering power couple with her already making waves as a serious businesswoman dealing in medical supplies
Dele was later bombed out of existence marking another historical turn in our Nation and Florence was there
This was the first time that we as Nigerians were seeing this kind of assassination
What we were used to was ‘waylaying’ people on the road and pumping them with bullets, but a Bomb? It was a new one and Ita Giwa was at the centre too
Then another epoch now came. The epoch of ceding a part of the country to another country
Normally a country can lose part of its geographical component through war or an armistice
Nigeria suddenly woke up to hear that Gen Gowon had ceded Bakassi to our then-aggressive neighbours and we were justifiably angry
But Florence said no and carried it on her head to fight to the end thereby gaining the sobriquet Mama Bakassi
Today, that part of the country remains with us due to her concerted effort
She became a Senator of the Federal Republic and became Presidential Liaison between President Obasanjo and the National Assembly during Nigeria’s best experiment at democracy
Today, the risk Florence faces is the strong possibility that we will remember her by her later-day social engagements and not by what she stands for which is a powerful historical figure who marinated through epochs as we grew as a Nation
She still has the time to do something about it
I wish her well
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: April 13, 2026
