{"id":20985,"date":"2025-10-16T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=20985"},"modified":"2025-10-16T13:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T12:42:13","slug":"20985","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/16\/20985\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan Mourns Raila Odinga: Africa Loses a Democratic Icon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has paid tribute to the late Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, describing him as a symbol of democratic struggle and a true African patriot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odinga, 80, died Wednesday in India after collapsing during a morning walk, according to reports. His death has sparked widespread mourning across Kenya and the African continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement titled \u201cAdieu H.E. Raila Odinga\u201d posted on his official X account Thursday, Jonathan praised Odinga\u2019s courage, resilience, and lifelong commitment to democratic ideals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am saddened by the news of the passing of H.E. Raila Odinga,\u201d Jonathan wrote. \u201cKenya has lost a patriot, and our continent has lost a great leader, one who understood that leadership is not about self, but about service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Odinga served as Kenya\u2019s prime minister from 2008 to 2013 and was a central figure in the country\u2019s political landscape for decades. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times but remained a powerful voice for reform and unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan described Odinga as a leader who placed public service above personal ambition and embodied the hope of a united, progressive Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI honour him not just as a brother in the cause of democracy, but as a committed pan-Africanist whose light will continue to shine,\u201d Jonathan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that Odinga\u2019s legacy would continue to inspire future generations across the continent, calling him a devoted advocate for democratic governance and African solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMay history remember him kindly, and may Africa continue to be blessed by his hope, wisdom and sacrifice,\u201d Jonathan concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odinga\u2019s body was flown to Nairobi on Thursday, with a state funeral scheduled for Friday and burial planned in his hometown in western Kenya on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has paid tribute to the late Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, describing him as a symbol of democratic struggle and a true African patriot. Odinga, 80, died Wednesday in India after collapsing during a morning walk, according to reports. His death has sparked widespread mourning across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Former-President-Goodluck-Ebele-Jonathan.jpeg?fit=797%2C513&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20985"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21015,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20985\/revisions\/21015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}