Obafemi Awolowo, Letter to Wife, May 1964
Her long awaited day of joy was finally here.
From the splendor and glory of ObafemiAwolowo’s elevation to the position of Premier of the Western Region through the dark disquiet of his days of restriction in Ikenne, Lekki and Ikoyi to the unutterable sorrow of Segun’s sudden death, which was followed by ObafemiAwolowo’s 10-year jail sentence, Hannah had journeyed through them all with grace and self-possession.
Now, the exhilarating bliss of her husband’s release from jail was provoking far greater positive sensations than she had ever experienced in the course of their lives together. Her animated state and the powerful glee that coursed through her mind agitating her limbs this morning of August 4, 1966, were inversely proportional to the numbing emotions and grief heralded by the break of dawn on July 10, 1963.
What was she to do? Where was she to meet her Ever Devoted and Affectionate Husband, as ObafemiAwolowo had described himself to her in his last depressing letter?
She was getting different vibrations. Happiness was overpowering H.I.D. She wanted to travel to Lagos to meet him. But then she received a message that she was stay back in Ikenne to organize a thanksgiving service at the church which will be of help upon his arrival in their hometown. What would she do when she first beheld him in freedom for the first time since November 2, 1962? He had predicted in his letter to her in May 1964 that “In God’s good time we will meet again in a most happy reunion, and that before very long. “Before very long” took three years, nine months and one day. Awolowo was pardoned on August 2, 1966. He was flown to Lagos the next day.
Working with Awolowo’s political associates and members of the larger family, readied her for the challenge of the momentous change in the country which had been signaled by her husband’s release. Alhaji D.S. Adegbenro, Awolowo’s deputy and acting leader of the Action Group, volunteered to go to Lagos with other party faithfuls to welcome Awolowo and travel with him to Ikenne. Hannah could go on with the plans to receive her husband at home, as thousands of people had started to troop to Ikenne as the news of Awolowo’s release spread. It was a new dawn for Nigeria, particularly in the Western Region.
The events that led to Awolowo’s release were a series of responses to the structural crisis of the Nigerian state largely created by colonial rule and the actions and inactions of the inheritors of power at the end of colonial rule in 1960. The massive rigging of the Federal parliamentary elections in 1964 in the Western Region and the Western Region elections in 1965, by the NPC, NNDP coalition, led to a popular revolt in the region, symbolized by Operation Wetie. As law and order broke down in the region, the federal and regional governments under Balewa and Akintola, respectively, responded with greater repression. This escalated the crisis as the region became ungovernable.
Some young military officers, popularly called the “five majors”, led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, responded by attempting to overthrow the civilian government on January 15, 1966. In the attempt, the Prime Minister, AlhajiAbubakarTafawaBalewa, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, his counterpart and ally in the Western Region, Samuel LadokeAkintola, and other key military and political leaders were assassinated. It was later revealed that the planners of the coup had planned to release Awolowo from jail and force him to be the head of government. But the majors could not seize control of government, as the coup failed. The head of the military, Major-General Johnson T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi then assumed powers as the Supreme Commander of the Army and the Head of State. The popular perception in the north that the coup was an “Igbo-coup” motivated by ethnic interests was not helped by Aguiyi-Ironsi’s ill-advised decision to impose unitary rule in the country. All attempts to make Ironsi release Awolowo from jail and heal the wounds in the country fell on deaf hears. In the course of his tour of the country to explain the imprudent Unification Decree which was supposed to end “tribalism” in Nigeria by fiat, northern officers mutinied on July 27, 1966, assassinating Ironsi and his host in Ibadan, Col. AdekunleFajuyi, the Military Governor of the Western Region (Group of Provinces, it was called under the Unification Decree). In what has been described as a “counter-coup”, the northern officers announced Col. Yakubu Gowon as the new head of state.
As part of their strategy to elicit support in the vocal and restive Western Region, the new military regime, headed by Gowon, in a Special and Extra-Ordinary Decree published in Lagos and signed by Gowon on Tuesday, August 2, 1966, unconditionally released Awolowo and seven others convicted in the famous treasonable felony trial, including Anthony Enahoro, LateefJakande, Gabby Shasore, Michael Omiisade, Sunday Ebietoma E.O. Eyo and Samuel Onitiri.
Jubilation broke out in the Western Region upon the announcement of Awolowo’s release. But no one’s joy could match Hannah’s joy.
Awolowo landed at Lagos airport on Wednesday, August 3, 1966, at 9:40 in the morning. He was flown to Lagos in a special Nigeria Airways plane from Calabar where he was serving his jail term. As he stepped out of the aircraft, shouts of “Awo! Awo!! rented the air”. The Federal Government-owned Morning Post declared it “Awo’s Hour of Glory”.
Dressed in a French grey suit, the leader of the Action Group, which had been banned in January 1966 by the military, waved to the crowd as he met the dignitaries, including Army and Police officers who had come to meet him. He was driven straight to the Second Nigerian Battalion at Ikeja in a convoy where he was received by the new Head of the National Military Government, Colonel Yakubu Gowon. The last time Awolowo was driven anywhere in a convoy was when he was first driven to court by Lynn and his team to face charges of treasonable felony in November 1963.
From villain to hero of the federal government, times had charged for the man of destiny.
“Happy to meet you. We would need your stock of experience in our task of national reconstruction,” Gowon reportedly told Awolowo.
“Thank you. I will try my best”, the former leader of opposition reportedly responded……….
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