Chief Obafemi Awolowo: National Hero Or Villain?

All those shouting tribalism and all other jargons, go and ask your parents if they are educated whether they never enjoyed the free education which Awolowo made provisions for.

But the Free Education was not given by Awolowo with his personal money.

Ok,
the FreeEducation was then not a gift from Mr Awolowo, rather he delivered what he was paid by the electrorate to do for them.

are we getting tribalistic here?

Believe it or not, Awo was simply a national hero - history is full of facts to this effect!
It is easier to say that he was doing what he was elected to do, with the tax payers money.
How many of the present day politicians are doing the same?
Rather they are master looters who over amplified unworthy achievements.
They can't even maintain institutions and infrastructures put in place by our founding fathers.
In fact, they have perverted justice, institutionalised corruption and entrenched poverty at all levels.
They are even planning to take all these vices to "the next level" - may God help us all!

whether Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba.

when an individual is corrupt, his tribe does not come into play

stupidity at its very best, u don't strike me as an intellectual or an intelligent person. must be wallowing in ignorance with your likes.

"Yorubas honour corruption, thats why 99.99% of their leaders are corrupt and even FeLA said it", the Fela that said it, was he Ibo, Hausa, Fulani, Niger-Delta or what? wasnt he a yoruba man? so why didnt he honour corruption or was he not a leader in his own right, ok maybe he is the 0.01% u are talking about.

I wonder how many yoruba leaders we have had ruling this country, i guess the only one we had is the man solely responsible for corruption in the country.

guy wake up, get yourself a brain and stop making unguarded statements, no be by force to comment on issues u have little or no knowledge about. Try and use this medium to educate and enlighten yourself and stop flaunting your ignorance for all to see.

as this quote says:
“He who knows not and knows not he knows not: he is a fool - shun him.
 He who knows not and knows he knows not: he is simple - teach him.
 He who knows and knows not he knows: he is asleep - wake him.
He who knows and knows he knows: he is wise - follow him.”

u are one to be shunned, so i am even disappointed in myself for not doing that, but for the sake of being my brother's keeper and the sake of others u might misinform, i have decided to assume to u the second part of the quote so that u can seek knowledge and be taught, to end up being the man described in the last part of the quote and make constructive posts to benefit of yourself and others.

well said bro, for this your statement u sound like a man worthy of being followed. keep it up. May God give u the strength to continue educating the likes of willy*2

Your right on those quotes, Are those quotes from 99.99% corrupt Yoruba Leaders?.Mmm!!! Now i really know why other Nigeria are finding it difficult to decode the secret code used by Yoruba corrupt Leaders to perpetuate corruption. No wonder Fulani/Hausa sey nay Yoruba leaders teach them how to be corrupt.

I'm completely disappointed that a self proclaimed intellectual/Intelligent man like you, because of your ethnic affiliation and to answer a brother's keeper decided to defend your 99.99% corrupt Yoruba Leaders, Instead of you helping other Nigerias find a means to end this their Bad behaviour that are causing the decaying of this country.

So, all those Yoruba Area Boys that are paid for filling Ibadan and Abeokuta potholes, because they delivered on filling properly the potholes are also National Heroes,
I'm sorry Sir, i no no before sey Yoruba get plenty National Heroes

still displaying ur ignorance right? i would even try to engage u in any tribalistic discussion because for my person its totally uncalled 4 and demeaning. don't care which tribe u are, a corrupt man is a corrupt man regardless of his race/ tribe. All i'm telling u is u shouldnt be guilty of generallization esp when u know little or nothing.

If i choose to agree with u, then the likes of Ibori, Chris and Andy Uba, Ngige, Odili, Orji Kalu, Nnamani, Muazu, IBB, Abacha, ,  are all yoruba men. if thats ur stand then this discussion is highly unneccessary. I believe in the Nigerian dream, where every nigerian will have access to at least basic ammenities, not interested in coming on the net and trading words with an illitrate like u who has no idea of what he is saying because of his ignorance.

please try an think outside the box, the more u use ur brain the more it develops, don't be happy with being shallow in ur thinking because its not a good sign. Tried my best to at least help u realise ur folly, but i was wrong because a fool wouldnt have any idea of identifying help when it even stares him in his face, so believe me i wouldnt be responding to ur posts again because i've decided to shun u. like some people say ignorance is bliss so maybe that is why u ve decided not to learn.

I rest my case, maybe other people would help u out.

were they VOTED into any government office?

No point discussing further with you!

bibiking1 (m), he was not been tribal, he just ask a question. And honestly give him an answer. Let frame the question again, how many Nigeria leader could we compare with Awo,� Please give us one name and why.?.

The problem i see in Yoruba leadership is 20 years after Awo we have not found a replacement. It show lack of character of those that follow. Yoruba leader have become more of contractors,� they says thing to please the give to get contract. This men can't represent the Yoruba people, they form group that represent themself and business partner.

At the moment , Yoruba� can't find anyone to leader yet,� No leader , NO vision.� been a follower of Awo , I tell you it takes more than just wearing Awo hat, like the governors and former governors have done. It takes the heart.� If you want to know about Awo, I have read and put some of his works online at Http://� undergreat speak section. check it out. I have read most book about him,� That is why I pull mostly for the satellite picture Awo was rob of been president of Nigeria. He won.

What did Egbe omo oduduwa stand for??? It is not only among yorubas, igbo too,� do not know any igbo leader or when did they define contractors as leaders?. What we have in place now is a shame. Look tell me, it is� 7 month of the Nigeria senate and house, which major bill have they passed.

If the Nigeria senate and house have for 7 month. first month , no major� bill, seond month no bill, third month no bill, fourth month no major bill, firth month no bill, seventh month,� Look 2011 they would never pass a bill,� �It looks like you people either lack ideas or what is wrong,� Our people are suffering and you people are dinning in Abuja,� waste tax payer money. So who care for the common man in Nigeria??? federal have not executed any major project too in 7 month.� I read egbon who refuse to build new� school in lagos say that slow pace is good for� Nigeria, the same way he slow pace eko for 8 years. Look una go make me agree to come run for office in Nigeria,� but Oyigbo land sweet, Old boy,� no UP NEPA for here.
 
 Imagine in the 60s. Una want me to come back home to show una how to run the system. come let see creative. You all can't be that dull in Nigeria?.

last question , do children in Nigeria still shout UP NEPA??? So you want your children and children generation to continue to shout UP NEPA?,� I thank God for delievering my own children and grand children for the shout of UP NEPA,� Here is my question would Yar Adua deliver generation of your children from the shout of UP NEPA. or sit in ASO rock and going with slow motion. At least Obasanjo can look back and say in my time,� we solve telephone problem,� what would Yar Adua call his achievement? What would Yar adua claim Nigerian should reelect him for when he sit on slow motion. Nigerian like the Yorubas would say RONU or think, what ever you leave for your children is what they would inherit.

 To God if by december this years, you people refuse to help Nigerian , i would run for office and deliever our people from your hand.

regardless of what you think, what makes or breaks a man is what he did with opportunities he had. It becomes more intriguing if those around him had the same opportunities too.

Obafemi Awolowo like three other men (one in the eastern region, another in the mid-west and the last in the north) had opportunities to serve their fatherland. what they did with these opportunities is history today. their results are subjects to debate by generations born and unborn.

Awo stood tall. he offered free, qualitative, basic education, adequate healthcare among others. ask yourself, y is he controversial even till today. because his policies unlike his mates are distinct, stood the test of time and has not been surpassed by any nigerian leader, living or dead.

he was a visionary and an icon. that he served in the southwest does not mean that he is a tribalist, because he sought for opportunities to implement these ideas on the national platform. he was rigged out. yet he continued to offer his opinion on national issues at the folly of the then rulers.

on biafra, he was on the fedral side so y should he have made any attempt to aid that ill fated project?. y didnt the 5 ibo govs of 1999-2007 back the uwazurike biafra project with all the funds at their disposal?. obviously if they did, biafra would have been a success. but they wont, y not? because its their carrot for negotiating selfish aims at the fedral level.

if we can have a president who can implement 25% of Awo`s policies, Nigeria will be a better place.

No doubt Awo will remain a sacroscant figure to millions unborn regardless of tribal affiliations.

A lot of people here seem not to have read Awo's history from his birth to education and political debates with Zik, and Sarduana.

America, UK, or France could have elected Awo president twice------- speaking from Igboman's point of view.

Depending on market stall folk tales, and beer palour discussions to evaluate Awo, or any of our political fathers does nobody any good.

As far as I am concerned,Awo is a great man.NOBODY in Nigeria has done what Awo did for his people.Yorubaland up till now is the most developed educationally and in terms of infrastuctures thanks to this great man Awo.The first TV station,the first skyscarpper,first stadium etc are all to his credit.He was a Yorubaman so obviously,he couldnt have gone to Kano or Calabar to build a stadium.He strived so hard so as to give the whole country a purposeful leadership but he was rigged out and we are still paying for it now.
He was human so he had his own weak points.But overall,Awo was a great Yorubaman who did his best for his Yoruba people and wanted the best for the whole of Nigeria but was diallowed by some people who we have now seen had no such vision like Awo.

@willi
"you see how ungrateful people are, all the good things Mr Awolowo did for his people and western region his party was always on crises and couldn't even win majority there, can you see how ungrateful westerners are?. Maybe because of his policies he was not successful when he plotted a coup d'etat to overthrow the Government of Abubakar, when he couldn't successfully execute his coup, his foolish 5/10 Majors came to do it for him".

Now its obvious your disgust for Awo is due to an inherent hatred for him, not within the logical limits of reasoning

The only time Awo never won majority in the southwest was the first election (pre-independence), and mind you azikwe too didnt have a majority with his NCNC. both AG and NCNC had higher number of seats, the less than 15 seats that would actually produce a winner were held by IPP, the ibadan peoples party. A party which just like you hated Awo passionately. IPP went to meet azikwe to negotiate, like the coward he has always been, he failed to put his destiny in his own hands. this he later did during the independence electtions.(u can imagine azikwe`s place in history). IPP out of frustration met Awo, and he siezed the opportunity. and subsequently azikwe went to the east to sack the incubent premier. NEVER AGAIN WAS AWO CLOSELY OR OUTRIGHTLY DEFEATED IN THE WEST, AND NEVER AGAIN WAS AZIKWE`S NCNC PROMINENT IN THE WEST.
to answer that, the west appreciated awo, no wonder all subsequent western governors "elected" by the people aspire to emulate him.

Ibos like you lotted a coup in 1966. but guess what, they wanted a visionary Obafemi Awolowo to lead the nation. obviously Awo was in jail by then , he couldnt possibly have partook in that.
this best informs your mis-informed, jejune and sinistrous mind that TO APPRECIATE A VISIONARY, TRANSCENDS BEYOND POLITICS.
willy, seek knowledge and you shall find.