Chief Deinde Fernandez, the bureaucrat died on Tuesday at age 86. One of Fernandez’s closest associates, Chief Dele Momodu, who spoke with Punch correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday, said he had a premonition that the business mogul, who had been reportedly hospitalised for an undisclosed old age-related illness, might not make it.
Momodu said he spoke with Fernandez on Saturday when the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, put a call through to the ailing businessman in an hospital in Belgium.
“This was a man who had such a strong and booming voice. He found it difficult to pronounce my name. I guess he had been ill for some time. He was 86years. This was a man who had flogged his body and worked tirelessly all his life,” he said.
Momodu further eulogised Fernandez as a great African, asking Nigerians to emulate his work ethics and flair for recognising opportunities.
“He was one of the greatest Africans. He was never a global champion. He was a global player. This was a man who owned an island in New York and the road leading to the island is named Ambassador Deinde Fernandez Avenue. He hosted Nelson Mandela privately in his house. Everything about him was larger than life.
“The first lesson was his ability to recognise opportunities. He made his first million after reading an advert in a newspaper and his ability to connect with leaders. He was representing other countries as ambassadors. He was busy until about two years ago,” he added.
Although there was no official statement from the family as of Wednesday evening, Abimbola, a musician and one of the children of the late billionaire, took to her Twitter page to break the news of the death of her father, who was 86.
She said, “Daddy’s girl for life. I just lost my hero. Rest in paradise with mum. Only God is holding me together now.”
She later turned to her friends online, saying, “Tonight, I ask for your prayers. My father has passed to glory and is now resting. Keep his memory alive. Kings never die.”
Abimbola, however, described her father- when he was alive – as the “most amazing man. He did everything for his family. My mother was his queen and my sister and I were his little princesses. He gave us everything and so much more. If you try to attack, he will bite. But behind closed doors, he is loving. ”
While efforts to reach other members of the deceased’s family, including her first child, Mrs. Teju Phillips, a former commissioner in Lagos, proved abortive, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday expressed sadness over his death.
In a condolence message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, Ambode described the deceased as a bureaucrat and an experienced diplomat who gave his all to the service of the African continent during his lifetime.
Ambode also eulogised Fernandez as an Africanist who had the rare privilege of serving many African countries as an ambassador.
“Among other virtues, Chief Fernandez dedicated himself to the service of the African nation and will be remembered for his contributions to promote peace, harmony and, above all, equity. He has surely left his footprints on the sands of time. I wish to convey my deepest condolences to the family of the deceased, the good people of Lagos State and Nigerians on this painful loss,” he said.
Fernandez was little known in the political space and was certainly far from the field of activism. But he was one of the biggest players in industry, opulence and diplomacy. The billionaire, who was said to be worth $8.7bn, hated to hug the limelight, limiting his outdoor engagements to the pent houses of his castles and the privacy of his yachts.
But the international businessman, who died on Tuesday in Brussels, Belgium, was also an experienced bureaucrat with an international acclaim. Though he largely remained a mystery to many Nigerians, especially the youths, the late oil tycoon carried the emblem of some African countries as an ambassador.
The reserved billionaire with Cuban roots served as the adviser to the Angolan Government on Economic Matters and was appointed Mozambique’s permanent representative to the United Nations in 1984. He held the post till 1992 when he was appointed a Special Adviser to Mozambique’s President on International Economic Matters.
-Punch
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