BERMUDA took a giant step in its march towards self-determination Monday when the L.W.Wade International Airport came into being. Premier the Hon. Dr. Ewart Brown, keynoting the ceremony renaming the airport, told an applauding audience of several hundred that it was recognition of "the immense contribution Mr. Wade had made to his native land and beloved people".

"Opportunities for meaningful change are few and far between in a colonial system," Dr. Brown said.

"So often there are historic barriers to progress required of a sophisticated country like Bermuda. However through persistence and sheer will we can do something to that marks the true measure of us as a people. It is a fact that L.F. Wade never held the office of Premier, but make no mistake about it, L.F. Wade did lead this country."

After detailing some of the significant elements in Mr. Wade's life, the Premier called on his widow Mrs. Ianthia Wade to join him in the ceremonial unveiling of a replica of the signage now displayed at the entrance to the airport memorialising the Wade name. Seven of his children along with their mothers viewed with pride the history being made.

It was August 13, 1996 that Mr. Wade in his capacity as Bermuda's Official Leader of the Opposition, died suddenly after collapsing outside his residence in Pembroke. With his wife by his side, they were about to leave home for the airport and a flight to Malaysia to represent the country at a conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

His death at the relatively young age of 57 shocked the nation and caused an outpouring of tributes from friends and political foes alike at home and from abroad.

It is only because of my profound respect for the late Mr. Wade and with humility that I draw on excerpts from the special tribute I wrote for the Mid-Ocean News on the eve of his funeral, and which was later reproduced by the Dale Butler Writers Machine in its Legacy of L. Frederick Wade> As a Foreword, I wrote that to his everlasting credit he stayed the course, kept the faith, "and above all other things, he was an uncompromising nationalist whose burning ideal was ensuring that Bermuda became a truly democratic and independent country.

"He was fourth in a line of astute Parliamentary Leaders of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party, all of whom were barristers-at-law like himself, who dared to usher in a new era of political thought and action through the parliamentary process, his immediate predecessors being Arnold Francis, Walter N.H. Robinson and Lois Browne-Evans, now Dame Lois.

"In assessing their leadership roles," I wrote, "it must not be forgotten that the PLP's formation in 1963 as Bermuda's first bona fide political party was the culmination of generations of struggle by various factions against exclusion of the masses of Bermudians from democratic participation in the running of their country, and struggle against racial bigotry and exploitation of workers. Wade with his keen sense of history was not about to break faith."

I went on state that, "it may seem trite to say that he died with his large-size boots on, as none of his eminent predecessors had done over the decades". And I noted that "special honours and distinctions should be reserved for exceptional people who die in the service of their country, and moreover, whose lives deserve to be prominently highlighted for their extraordinary contributions".

"Constitutional issues aside, Frederick Wade weathered many storms during his political career. Throughout I was able to observe his progression, firstly as a working journalist, then as Chairman of the PLP during the first five of the eleven years he was party leader, and subsequently as one of his appointees for a four year term in the Senate."

And I noted that Mr. Wade had experienced the full blunt of all that was implicit in the contention by the great American builder Robert Moses that "Public Service is a Dangerous Game," (the sub-title of his autobiography). Mr. Wade surely paid the price.

Those were only excerpts from the tribute I wrote in the Mid-OceI>. So perhaps it could be understood I were to say how much pride I felt being amongst the hundreds Monday observing his family and the Premier participating in the proceedings.

Our pictures, through the courtesy of the Department of Communications and Information, show part of the crowd at the airport ceremony; and Mrs. Ianthia Wade at the podium voicing her gratitude and that of her husband's family for the honour being bestowed. On the left is daughter Michelle and her siblings, the Wade triplets Freddie, Kamela and Ceola, son Gregory and grandsons Markus and Khalif and son Yusef.