The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FAMILY, friends and prominent political figures yesterday paid their final respects to former Governor General and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Dion Hanna, a man who was described as a fierce patriot, brilliant scholar and “true national hero”.

Mr Hanna, the ardent progressive who was instrumental in the move to independence and the development of the Bahamianisation policy, died at his home on August 3 at the age of 93.

 At a state funeral service held at Christ Church Cathedral in accordance with the COVID-19 emergency orders, close relatives, friends and political colleagues paid tribute, reflecting on his life and legacy.

 Speaking of his memories of Mr Hanna, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he remembered when he fought for equal rights for all Bahamians and helped create better economic opportunities during his time in politics.

 Dr Minnis said it was his love and dedication to the country and the Bahamian people that especially stood out to him as a young boy.

 “As a boy, and then as a young man growing up, I well remember A D Hanna, especially his steely belief in the talents and gifts of Bahamians,” Dr Minnis said at yesterday’s service.

 “As a man who was born on Acklins Island, he instinctively knew that every settlement, cay and island possessed Bahamians with world-class gifts and talents, such as a Steven Gardiner growing up on Moore’s Island, with a population of less than a thousand, who showed the world the manner of our Bahamian character and bearing. Our beloved former head of state constantly fought for opportunities for all Bahamians in every sector of society.

 “He knew that though talent was equally distributed in a society, opportunity was not. As a Cabinet minister, and especially as minister of finance, and as minister of education, he ensured that thousands had access to economic opportunities, jobs, scholarships and social care. This fight for opportunity and equality continues in our generation, inspired by A D Hanna and others,” the prime minister added.

 Progressive Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis praised Mr Hanna as a scholar and statesman who was “the very personification of patriotism”.

 Referring to Mr Hanna’s fight for Bahamianisation, he said: “As far as A D was concerned, no foreigner should be given a work permit for any job that a Bahamian was ready and able to do. No exceptions.

 “It is hard for young Bahamians to imagine it now but ‘back in the day’, as the expression goes, you had Englishmen in Freeport serving as hotel doormen and as waiters and bus drivers too, and there were hundreds of English, American and Canadian secretaries and personal assistants and glorified bank clerks with work permits throughout the country.

 “AD Hanna, as the Minister of Home Affairs with responsibility for immigration, brought all that to a grinding halt. To the dismay of some of his own colleagues, over the objections of nearly all of his political opponents, and to the horror of his numerous detractors in the media and in the tourism and financial service sectors, he instituted a level of strict immigration enforcement that has never been replicated,” Mr Davis added.

 Mr Davis said no one was more passionate than Mr Hanna when it came to reserving jobs strictly for Bahamians.

 “Make no mistake about it, it was the policy of Bahamianisation, as conceived by the Honourable A D Hanna and administered on his ministerial watch, that was with his earlier pioneering groundwork as Minister of Education, the twin-catalyst for the emergence of a large and authentic black middle class in The Bahamas in the 1970s,” Mr Davis continued.

 “A D Hanna would go on, in the ensuing decades, to deepen and diversify his contributions to Bahamian nation-building. However, there is no doubt in my mind that future generations will look back and hail his contributions to the attainment of national sovereignty and his policy of Bahamianisation as the major reasons why he deserves to be held aloft, for our collective praise and thanks, as a true national hero,” Mr Davis said.

 Dr Minnis said when the COVID-19 emergency orders end, he believes the country should host another national tribute in celebration of Mr Hanna’s life and extraordinary contributions to Bahamian society.

 Over the course of his political career, Mr Hanna served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1967 to 1984 and held a variety of ministerial portfolios during his time in office, including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance with responsibility for public service, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Home Affairs with responsibility for immigration.

 He was also Governor General from 2006 to 2010.

 Following Mr Hanna’s death earlier this month, Dr Minnis revealed that his face will replace that of Queen Elizabeth II on the $100 bill starting next year.