Family, friends, associates in civil society organisation move to immortalise Ariyo Dare-Atoye, plan elaborate burial for him
Family members, friends and associates of the late rights activist, Comrade Ariyo Dare-Atoye have launched a sure-footed plan to immortalise him.
Dare-Atoye died on October 27, 2022 from lung cancer after a luminous epoch in socio-political crusading.
He was the drum major in the civil society space for electoral reforms which culminated in President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022.
Dare-Atoye was aged 41.
Regardless, the magnitude of his contributions to the passage of the Act and his other advocacies for good governance has become writ large given his short but impactful life.
It is on the crest of his significant achievements that have been publicly recognised and etched in the hearts of friends and associates that he is riding to his final resting place at the Anglican Church Burial ground in his hometown, Igbara-Odo, Ekiti State.
The final rites of commital to mother earth will be consummated on Monday, November 7, 2022.
But the final rites of passage will begin in Abuja on Friday, November 4, 2022 with a Service of Songs at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Garki 2, Abuja.
A memorial/evening of tributes will hold at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Saturday, November 5, 2022 to offer a veritable platform for a further validation of Ariyo Dare-Atoye’s exemplary life and contributions to socio-political causes he believed in and committed the totality of his life.
According to a programme released by his family, friends and associates in the civil society organisation, his body would depart Abuja for Igbara-Odo, Ekiti, on Sunday, November 6.
Meanwhile, as arrangements for Ariyo Dare-Atoye’s interment inch closer to completion on Monday, November 7, friends and associates, operating on the platform of #HelpForAriyo, have indicated their readiness to launch an Endowment Fund for the education of his three little children and an annual memorial lecture to boot.
The intellectual perspective to his memory under the construct of the Ariyo Dare Atoye Memorial Lecture on Citizenship and Electoral Democracy derives from his intellectual investments in his struggle for a better socio-economic and political condition for Nigerians.
A preface to the concept note, brilliantly scripted by a renowned public intellectual, University lecturer and Arise TV analyst, Dr Sam Amadi reads: “the late Comrade Ariyo Dare Atoye was a well-known Nigerian human rights activist who worked very hard to ensure the reform of Nigerian electoral system. He led efforts to pressure the National Assembly to pass into law a new electoral regime that includes electronic transmission of results and other innovations to ensure free, fair, and credible elections.
“Comrade Ariyo was sacrificial and patriotic in fighting for the democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
“As part of memorializing his commitment and sacrifice for electoral democracy in Nigeria, we propose to institutionalize an annual Ariyo Dare Atoye Memorial Lecture on Citizenship and Electoral Democracy.
“The lecture series will focus on highlighting the role of citizens and citizen group in protecting democracy from the threat it faces in the age of digital technology and increasing authoritarian impulses across the world.
“The lecture will offer scholars, researchers and activists in the social space an opportunity to reflect on the challenges of democracy and development in Nigeria and on the ways of countering the threats and improving the performance of democracy.”
The note said that the lecture would be delivered every year by a respected scholar researcher and public intellectual with deep roots in civil society.
“The lecture will be published together with responses and comments into a mimeograph or small book to further advance the scholarship and practice of electoral democracy in Nigeria.
The first lecture, as planned, would take place in the first month post interment.
