CHIEF Obafemi Awolowo++’s response to his toast on leaving General Gowons’ Military Government on 30th June, 1971. I thank the Commander-in-Chief’ for his very generous remarks. By these and other similar remarks already made public, the Commander-in-Chief has, quite frankly, launched me on a sustained course of endeavours.
For, however deserved they may be, it is incumbent on me to see to it that, hereafter; I continually strive to justify the encomiums which he has so richly showered upon me. I want to assure him and my fellow-Commissioners, as well as those loyal and dutiful officials with whom I had worked or come in contact, that the step which I had had to take, in resigning Illy two posts in this Government, has not been an easy one.
My decision to go was easy to take: it was strictly a matter or principle, and dependent on the happening of an event – the end of the civil war.
But to implement the decision when the happy event on which it was dependent had occurred became a difficult matter. The reason for this is simple. Apart from the opportunity for serving our people in a ministerial capacity which would be missed, I had so much enjoyed working with General Gowon, and with my other colleagues, that the pull to stay became more powerful than I had thought possible.
The pain of parting is, however, considerably assuaged by the memories of an exciting and happy association with all of you over the past four years. We had together served Nigeria, to the best of our respective ability, in her hour of dire peril; and we had, by the Grace of God, triumphed.
For the opportunity which we had all had to serve Nigeria in that momentous and crucial period in her history, we are all indebted to God and to General Gowon.
Speaking of General Gowon, I am sure we will all agree that as a soldier and Supreme Head of a military administration, he is unquestionably in a class by himself. He is an exceedingly good-natured person lie is accommodating and understanding; patient almost to a fault; naturally fair-minded, and discerning.
He is an embodiment of tolerance, always conceding to others the rights which he claims for himself. In his dedication to the cause of Nigerian unity, he has been unanimously accorded a safe place among frontline Nigerian nationalists. But it is his wisdom in correcting the structural imbalance of our great Federation that sets him apart from and far above all Nigerian rules before him.
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It is perhaps superfluous to say of a soldier that he is courageous. But those of us who worked closely with him during the darkest days of the civil war cannot fail to testify to the indomitable spirit, calm, and exceeding resourcefulness of General Gowon in the midst of dangers.
Time does not permit me to pay individual tribute to my colleagues, and to all the officials with whom I had had dealings. Suffice it for me to say, in all sincerity, that in all my career as a public man, I have never worked with any group which is more totally committed to the cause of one, united, prosperous, and happy Nigeria, than the Honourable Commissioners and top officials of this Federal Government.
Since the attainment of independence in 1960, we have travelled very far indeed. In the course of our eventful journey, we have scaled dizzy frightening heights, and leaped across yawning gulfs, which threatened to impede our march and swallow us. We have arrived at the present pass severely battered and bruised, but erect and unbeaten. In terms of events – both certain, contingent, and unexpected—the journey between now and 1976 will not be less difficult or exacting.
Be it so. We had been fortified and sustained in the past by God’s providence, by Nigeria’s inherent and self-generating bounteousness, and by the native good sense and forbearance of our trusting people. These are unique advantages on which we can always count: and with them, we can approach the future with hope, confidence, and faith.
In venturing forth into the immediate future, however, there are a few things which we must observe with the utmost seriousness and realism.
and then