The first Premier of the defunct Western Region, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, bequeathed many legacies to the political class. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines how Awo’s thoughts can assist in tackling the country’s political and socio-economic problems.
Twenty-nine years after his death, Nigerians are still talking about the ideas and legacies of the first Premier of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, with nostalgia. With the benefit of hindsight, many observers believe the thoughts of the late sage are still relevant and can make a difference in tackling Nigeria’s current problems.
Awolowo’s thoughts were the focus of discussion at a recent commemorative symposium to mark his birthday. This is understandable. The ascendancy of the Yoruba people today in the areas of education, commerce, arts and the attendants socio-cultural advancement, emanated from Awolowo’s visionary leadership in the old Western Region. Through progressive social engineering and strategic policies, his government changed the profile of the region for ever. By making election promises and fulfilling them within a few years, Awolowo had led his region to evolve a culture that demands and evaluates a socio-economic programme from those who seek to govern.
Awolowo was a great political thinker who committed many of his thoughts to writing. From 1946, he started a long career in political writing, which flourished whether he was in freedom or in detention, whether he was in power or out of it. His thoughts continue to flourish till today.
It was in Ibadan that his political life began to unfold: he served there as secretary of the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) before he went abroad to study Law in Great Britain. Back home from Britain, Awolowo formed the cultural group known as “Egbe Omo Oduduwa in 1949 and a political party, the Action Group, (AG), in 1951also known as “Egbe Afenifere” in Western part of Nigeria, as part of the programme for the emancipation of Yoruba race.
His party won the first elections ever conducted in the Western Region. As a result of that victory, it formed the first elected government in the region, and Awolowo became the leader of Government Business and Minister of Local Government in 1952. In 1954, he became the first Premier of the Western Region. His party won the elections again in May 1956 and Awo retained his position as Premier. He voluntarily gave up that position when, on December 12, 1959, he got elected into the House of Representatives where he became the Leader of Opposition at the Federal legislature.
Awo, a visionary leader
Unlike many of the present day politicians who regard power as self-serving, he had the correct perspective of the concept of power. He understood it as a means to an end. His welfarist policy was unexcelled. What made this remarkable was that the level of literacy then was far below what obtains today and it was easier to be selfish and corrupt without detection then than now. But, Awo believed that the purpose of governance was for the promotion of the welfare and happiness of the people.
This was the submission of a United States-based university don, Professor Segun Gbadegesin, in his lecture at the commemorative symposium. The professor of Philosophy remarked that through progressive social engineering and strategic policies, Awolowo’s government changed the profile of Western Region for ever.
Gbadegesin said it was in recognition of his superlative accomplishment that the people formally installed him as Asiwaju (forerunner) of Yorubaland; thus becoming the second person after the great Oduduwa, progenitor of the Yoruba race, to be so acknowledged.
He described Awo as a visionary leader that would look at issues beyond the apparent and make pronouncements that invariably turned out to be prophetic. A case in point was the warning he gave to Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s government in 1981that the Nigerian economy was heading for the rock. The potentates in that government tagged Awo a prophet of doom. Two years after the prophetic statement, the Nigerian economy nosedived; the ship of the state tottered precariously leading to a military putsch that swept Shagari out of power on December 31, 1983.
His enduring legacies
Gbadegesin said Awolowo’s greatest achievements resulted from the foresight, clear sense of direction and sheer competence that he brought into government. He said: “At the beginning of his tenure, he quickly reformed the local government system in the defunct Western Region and took revolutionary steps to Nigerianise and improve its civil service. An extremely good judge of men’s qualities, he had also put together a very efficient team of ministers. Having taken those steps, he was set to achieve within five years a string of “firsts” in the history of Africa.
“Between 1954 and 1959, his government evolved, and was served by the most efficient civil service in Black Africa. He introduced and successfully implemented the first free primary education programme in Nigeria; the first free medical service programme for children up to the age of 18. His famous free primary education was so hugely successful that the region became the most literate in the federation.
“Convinced of powers of information as a veritable tool of education, entertainment and social advancement, Awo established the first African television station, the Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) in 1959. So novel was that feat that it was reported that some political leaders of newly independent African countries made ‘pilgrimage’ to Ibadan, the capital of Western Nigeria, just to see the television.
“It was Awolowo’s blueprint that led to the emergence of Africa’s first conglomerate, the Oodua Group of Companies in 1962; the founding of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) also in 1962; the Liberty Stadium in 1960 and the building of the Cocoa House — then the tallest building in tropical Africa — in 1965. He took bold steps to revolutionise the production and marketing of cocoa in the region. He created the infrastructure for rural development by promoting 900 cooperative societies in about three years and provided within five years almost 10 times as many miles of road as he inherited from the British administration.”
He said Awolowo introduced and successfully managed the first minimum wage policy in Nigeria. “The implementation of the minimum wage, which doubled the amount paid to workers of the same level in some other parts of the country, began in October 1954. His government set up Nigeria’s first industrial complex at Ikeja, Lagos; the first commercial housing estates at Ikeja and Bodija, Ibadan,” the professor added.
Lessons for leaders
The summary of Awolowo’s achievement listed above underscored invaluable virtues which made the late icon such a political legend and from which present leaders can learn from.
It is very sad that a nation that has produced the likes of Awolowo is today brimming mostly with selfish politicians who are only interested in self-enrichment, evincing egoism, deceit and callousness. The leaders are regaling themselves with state-of-the-art luxuries, while the national minimum wage for famished workers remained a paltry N18,000 and all human development indices have remained abysmally low. Some states have even threatened to review the minimum wage downward because of what they called paucity of funds.
Gbadegesin said most of the politicians in Yorubaland today are fond of using Awo’s goodwill as a launching pad for political relevance and that most of them end up betraying Awo’s philosophy.
The failure of the Awo’s disciples in and outside the government to emulate his virtues drew the ire of the participants at the symposium held in Ikenne, last Thursday.
The guest lecturer fired the first salvo when he reprimanded the Awolowo’s disciples for compromising the ideals bequeathed to them by the late sage. He noted that they have failed to cooperate to uplift the message of their great master and leader.
He said: “Today, there are original disciples of Awo. There are also second and third generation followers. They all take seriously the man we regarded as Sage, the Averter, Baba, Philosopher, and politician benefactor. The irony is that while they all accept him as their political leader, study his words and truly to emulate his deeds and look forward to a reunion with him some day, while here on earth, they would rather not get together to push the agenda he bequeathed to them.
“The post Awo disciples would not even co-operate to uplift the message of their great leader and master. How are they different from his adversaries? And considering that they would want one day resume their dinner time chats with Awo, what will be their report? How will he respond?”
A discussant at the symposium, Professor Ayo Olukotun, was not happy that resolutions and suggestions made at seminars organised by the Awolowo Foundation, the custodian of Awolowo’s legacies, in the past years were never considered by the states and Federal Government. The recommendations, he said, were based on Awo’s approach in tackling socio-economic problems while in government.
Olukotun, a lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), made particular reference to a document on education published by the foundation, which would have solved the problems in the education sector if applied by the people in government. He called for regeneration of leadership and a return to Awolowo’s philosophy for service delivery in governance. For the nation to make progress, the don emphasised that the country should return to the strategies of Awolowo in addressing national problems.
Can Nigeria get another Awo?
Another discussant, Prof. Alade Fawole, also from OAU, said it is not possible to replicate Awolowo’s philosophy because present day politicians lack the late sage’s qualities. According to him, “Awo built leaders; he assembled leaders who shared his philosophy; and assigned them responsibilities that matched their intellectual capacity”.
Fawole cited the case of the five governors of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the party led by Awolowo in the Second Republic. The governors became reference point for good governance in the country because of service delivery and fulfilment of campaign promises, which was the hallmark of Awo’s governance. The five governors, most of them of blessed memory, are: Chief Adekunle Ajasin (Ondo), Chief Olabisi Onabanjo (Ogun), Chief Bola Ige (Oyo), Professor Ambrose Ali (Bendel) and the only survivor Alhaji Lateef Jakande (Lagos) exemplified Awo’s discipline and implemented the four cardinal programmes of free education, free medical service, gainful employment and rural integration development, despite the limited resources they had at that time, Fawole recalled.
But, Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, disagree with the notion that politicians don’t uphold Awo’s legacies. He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) governments are committed to Awolowo’s ideals. He described members of the party as inheritors of the progressive legacies of the late sage. Awolowo’s legacies. According to him, they are propelling the APC leaders and members to strive as he did to meet the expectation of Nigerians.
El-Rufai specifically mentioned that his government was replicating Awo’s free education policy in Kaduna State. He said: “We have adopted Awo’s free education policy in Kaduna. We have introduced nine years compulsory education. Between September 2015 and now, we have spent more than six billion naira on rehabilitation of primary schools; we have embarked on provision of furniture and teacher training. Education took one-quarter of the 2016 budget.”
The governor recalled that the late sage reached an understanding with some prominent northern leaders who were tired of the hegemony of the then ruling party National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He promised that as inheritors of Awo’s progressive legacies, the APC governments will strive to achieve a corrupt-free and progressive country.
