YESTERDAY’S morning sun cast long and sombre shadows while hundreds paused in emotive silence to honour one of Fiji’s most distinguished and loved sons, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, as his flag-draped casket, on a gun carriage, made the final journey through the streets of Suva.
The funeral cortege left the Colonial War Memorial Hospital morgue slightly after 6.30am, marking a slow and uniformed procession through the capital, where the hum of Suva’s bustling traffic was replaced by a spell of hallowed silence.
Along the route, ordinary Fijians gathered with bowed heads. Some sat on the dusty pavement and others broke down in tears, their eyes following the entourage of marching men pass through Mark, Usher and Scott streets before making a left turn to the famous Victoria Pde.
For many, each fleeting moment seemed to reflect on Ratu Epeli’s own colourful lifetime of public service, one that spanned decades and demarcated roles at the highest echelons of national service.
A former Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, Speaker of Parliament, diplomat and President, Ratu Epeli’s leadership during pivotal moments in Fiji’s history, earning him the highest levels of respect that transcended barriers.
The only thing that disturbed the noiselessness was the cadence of soldiers’ feet tapping the road with impeccable precision and the woeful strains of the military band.
The streets were the very road Ratu Epeli once walked, with pride, and where he mingled freely among the people.
In life, he was known for abandoning the formal and stringent decorum of high office.
He declined the presence of protective guards so he could move about like ordinary citizens — visiting banks, shopping at supermarkets, getting his shoe shined at QBE Building and even punting at Grants Betting Ltd, where he was not a Head of State, but simply one of the men — enjoying the everyday rhythms of Suva.
At Government House, the official residence of Fiji’s Head of State, the cortege’s final leg for the day came to a dignified close as Ratu Epeli lay in State, an enduring symbol of the reverence accorded to him for being both a dignified leader and a true servant of Fiji.
