The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and President
Muhammadu Buhari might have lived at
different times but, like identical twins,
possess many things in common-dynamism,
pragmatism, integrity, self- discipline, vision and
passion-to make Nigeria work. The impeccable
past of these tested leaders has proved that the
bane of the country’s slow development since
independence has been lack of purposeful
leadership. Unlike the reluctant leaders who had been
imposed on us, Awolowo and Buhari, both
armed with impeccable records of performance,
the former as Premier of the old Western
Region as well as Vice Chairman of the Federal
Executive Council in the regime of Gen.
Yakubu Gowon, and the latter, as a military
Head of State, etc, adequately prepared for the
leadership of Nigeria. Three times were each
unsuccessful- Awolowo in 1959, 1979, 1983
and President Buhari in 2003, 2007 and 20011.
Their paths might have crossed in one form or
the other, that may been the unseen hand of
God in their lives preparatory to the task ahead
that :”You Obafemi Awolowo is my Moses and
you Muhammadu Buhari, my Joshua, for the
libration of your people from the ‘rats and
mosquitoes’ of your country”. Or could it be by
sheer coincidence that, for the first time since
independence, both the North and the South
West are in effective political alliance? The
Thomas’s may continue to doubt.
Like the Nostradamus that he was, Awolowo, in
a paper delivered in Kano in 1970,had
proposed a seven- point agenda which he
called national objectives that should be
implemented simultaneously in all the states of
the federation for the rapid and even
development of the country. He explained that
the revenue allocation formula should be based
on the implementation of the seven objectives
and, by so doing, put an end to the “endless
search for the appropriate allocation formula”.
He was speaking in a paper titled, Revenue
Allocation Must be Based on Even Progress and
Needs, delivered in his capacity as the Federal
Commissioner of Finance, to the annual
conference of state commissioners of finance. President-elect Muhammadu Buhari reviews a
document in Abuja on April 1, 2015. Nigeria’s
new president-elect Muhammadu Buhari hailed
polls that will lead to the first democratic change
of power in Africa’s most populous nation as
“historic” hours after he secured a decisive
victory. AFP PHOTO
By Gboyega Amoboye
The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and President
Muhammadu Buhari might have lived at
different times but, like identical twins,
possess many things in common-dynamism,
pragmatism, integrity, self- discipline, vision and
passion-to make Nigeria work. The impeccable
past of these tested leaders has proved that the
bane of the country’s slow development since
independence has been lack of purposeful
leadership.
Unlike the reluctant leaders who had been
imposed on us, Awolowo and Buhari, both
armed with impeccable records of performance,
the former as Premier of the old Western
Region as well as Vice Chairman of the Federal
Executive Council in the regime of Gen.
Yakubu Gowon, and the latter, as a military
Head of State, etc, adequately prepared for the
leadership of Nigeria. Three times were each
unsuccessful- Awolowo in 1959, 1979, 1983
and President Buhari in 2003, 2007 and 20011.
Their paths might have crossed in one form or
the other, that may been the unseen hand of
God in their lives preparatory to the task ahead
that :”You Obafemi Awolowo is my Moses and
you Muhammadu Buhari, my Joshua, for the
libration of your people from the ‘rats and
mosquitoes’ of your country”. Or could it be by
sheer coincidence that, for the first time since
independence, both the North and the South
West are in effective political alliance? The
Thomas’s may continue to doubt.
Like the Nostradamus that he was, Awolowo, in
a paper delivered in Kano in 1970,had
proposed a seven- point agenda which he
called national objectives that should be
implemented simultaneously in all the states of
the federation for the rapid and even
development of the country. He explained that
the revenue allocation formula should be based
on the implementation of the seven objectives
and, by so doing, put an end to the “endless
search for the appropriate allocation formula”.
He was speaking in a paper titled, Revenue
Allocation Must be Based on Even Progress and
Needs, delivered in his capacity as the Federal
Commissioner of Finance, to the annual
conference of state commissioners of finance.
As if confirming the link between these great
national heroes, Buhari recently implemented
item seven of the Awolowo’s seven- point
objectives for national development of 45 years
ago and, by so doing, been praised for
“bailing” out states that could not pay workers
salaries. The late sage had said under this item
that it was imperative to put the federal
government in sufficient funds to enable it not
only to perform its allotted functions but also to
come readily to the aid of any state in need
while arguing: “But perchance any state falls on
evil day, it would be the duty of the federal
government, acting as an accredited agent of
all the states, to come to the aid of such a
needy state without delay…Before leaving this
topic , one may ask Buhari’s critics where they
were when former President Goodluck
Jonathan granted some members of the private
sector a bail out. For instance, Arik Airline got
600m dollars, Aero -200m dollars, Air
Nigeria-225.8mdollars, Chachangi-55m dollars
etc.(AMCON) in addition to an attempt to buy
aircrafts for them but for adverse public
opinion.
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