The Awo we knew

Alhaji Amoo Taofeek, businessman

Everybody enjoyed Awolowo’s kind of administration when he was the premier of Western Nigeria and during the Second Republic when he formed the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). He was a good family man with a high sense of humility.

His kind of politics was quite different from the contemporary period as he loved the masses more than his immediate family. The contemporary politicians are self-centred and greedy. All of us benefitted greatly from him when he was in the corridors of power.

“He touched the lives of many people positively during his sojourn on earth. He was an ardent believer in socialist government with pragmatic application of the rule of law.

I used to go to him at his Oke-Bola, Ibadan residence when he was alive. Awo will advise you to take proper care of your kids, because of the future. He was a wonderful politician who had the interest of the poor masses in mind.

Above all, his four cardinal programme: free education; free healthcare delivery service, rural integration and good network of roads, allowed him to excell during his political career which nobody has been able to surpass during the period and 30 years after his death.

 

Chief Atanda Yussuf, a retired PHCN staff

“Awolowo performed excellently in the education sector as he established Universal Primary Education in 1955, and this gave many people in Nigeria the opportunity to be educated. The programme gave the Yoruba nation an edge over other regions. It was due to his efforts that other Nigerians embraced western education.

We have never found his type of politics in the South-West, even in Nigeria since then. He liberated the Northern people, most especially the Southern Kaduna people.

“He introduced infrastructural development into the country. Apart from being an apostle of free education, he established radio and television stations, Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, free medical care service, rural integration as well as good road transport network.

Awo was an economic manager as he tried a lot for the General Yakubu Gowon-led administration during the civil war. His wise counsel brought the war to an end. He was a transparent and dutiful politician with a high sense of vision for the future generation. He was a great man of courage.

“When he was the Premier of the Western Region, he used to go from his Oke-Bola residence to the Government House as part of effort to cut cost which the contemporary politicians will never do.

“I left primary school in 1953 when my parents could not afford the payment of fees; but when he introduced free education in 1955, I returned to school. We should all be grateful to Awolowo. He did his best, most especially, on Western education.

 

PASTOR  J. F. Odunjo

Awolowo was an issue and a major pillar of democracy in Nigeria and globally. We admired him due to his welfarist schemes and followed his footpaths, unlike contemporary politicians who only used his name for personal gains.

He thought on a daily basis on ways to improve the lots of his people, more especially, the poor but the situation had changed in Nigeria today. He was a man of foresight with long-term development plan

The Idi Ayunre/Ijebu Ode Road constructed over 50 years ago is a perfect example of his legacy in road network. Rural integration, free medical healthcare, establishment of the Liberty Stadium now the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, WNTV/WNBS now NTA Ibadan, made him stand taller among his equals.

During his days as the premier of Western region, schools started mostly in churches with adequate teaching materials and then, there was the fear of God and discipline was maintained in all institutions but now moral decadence had pervaded the entire system

He was synonymous with democracy. He discovered leadership qualities in his followers and shanned acquisition of   wealth. He was a leader who believed that governance is a matter of sacrifice

If contemporary political office holders had followed his footsteps, Nigeria would have been more developed than it is today. It is unfortunate that leaders of today are more interested in material acquisition than people’s welfare.

He actually reformed the education sector in the South-West and that was the main reason the region had more educated elite than other regions.

The South-West became the envy of other regions during his premiership.

 

Otunba Kunle Olasope, veteran broadcaster

Baba Awolowo’s demise is like a bullet in my heart. This is so because Baba was an important figure that played significant role in my life. I was like one of his biological sons. I attended the same primary school, Agbeni Methodist School, Ibadan, with his first son, Segun. We also attended the same secondary school, Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos. I was a year ahead of him both in Agbeni Methodist and Igbobi College but we were best of friends during those days.

I am very proud to have associated with the family. Till date, we still maintain the good relationship. I also worked in Nigerian Tribune as Advert/Business manager after which I was seconded to Dideolu Specialist Hospital, Ikenne. His kind of  leadership is difficult to come by again. He was always ahead of his contemporaries in the North and East.

This can be seen in the many firsts he recorded in provision of infrastructural facilities, namely the first Television station in the whole of Africa, the first modern sports stadium in the Liberty Stadium which was later renamed ObafemiAwolowo Stadium. The Cocoa House is still standing erected at Dugbe; so also are the Ikeja Industrial Estate and Bodija Housing Estate. Baba was a trail-blazer in all ramifications.

However, it is quite unfortunate that the current generation of leaders is a contrast to what Baba stood for. Corruption is too pronounced in every facet of our daily life. What we have today is a bunch of self-serving leaders whose only business in government is to enrich themselves and their families and leave the office worse than they meet it. There is no way the likes of Baba Awolowo, Nnmadi Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello, Osita Osadebey and other notable politicians in the 50s and 60s will not be missed when terrible things like this are happening.

I am also reiterating what the late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu said after the passing on to glory of Baba in 1987. Ojukwu said Baba was the best president Nigeria never had. General Ibrahim Babangida also said that after independence, Awolowo still remained the main issue. If you analyse these descriptions, you will further understand the high esteem with which Baba is held even by those who were not in his political party. The likes of Baba Awolowo don’t come to the world often.

It is unfortunate again that Nigeria failed to fully explore the opportunity we had in him. Baba was a Christian, yet he set up Muslim Pilgrims Board when he realized that such a board was what the Muslims who went on pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina needed to be more organized and perform their pilgrimage without hitch. That was what we call leadership. Leadership is not discriminatory. It is rather a call to service, irrespective of faith, sex, colour or qualification. Nigeria needs restructuring.

We need to return to true federalism with which Awolowo is noted. It is then the country will move away from this spot.

 

Oluwo of Iwo, Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi

Chief Obafemi Awolowo lived a life of service, which is difficult for any fair person to fault. He represented the symbol of what humanity should be in terms of his commitment to the welfare of the public while he was the first Premier of the then Western Region of Nigeria.

It is even difficult for me to refer to him in the past tense because of the legacies he left behind which are still relevant till today. That he has left us in the last 30 years has not obliterated his footprints from the sands of time. He demonstrated that if you lived for the people, future generation will come and also celebrate you.

I believe in his leadership style, which placed the downtrodden forward as evident in his free education, free health service and other achievements that make the South-West a pace-setter in Nigeria. I can say he is missed since he left in 1987 but that is how God created life. Nobody will live forever. What is important is the reference point for the generation unborn.

If God had spared his life to still be around now, he must have retired and be watching politics from the comfort of his residence. But his presence would have served as a check of sorts on politicians because they would always go to him for consultations, at least as far as the South-West is concerned.

Reading Nigerian Tribune everyday too is a reminder of Baba Awolowo as a leader who was blessed with foresight. That Nigerian Tribune established in 1949 is still operating in 2017 is a testimony to Awo’s legacy.