It has surprised me that with all the praises and accolades being heaped on Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the south-western part of Nigeria. He is very unsellable outside Yorubaland. When compared to Zik, Zik has been immortalised in places in his south-east(Enugu, Onitsha, Aba,awka etc), south-south(port-harcourt,calabar) , south-west(Lagos), North-central(Abuja), North-East(Kaduna,Kano,minna, Zungeru)

Even more surprising is that no one has anything positive to say about Awo outside the Yorubas.

NIGER DELTA
The Niger deltans blame him for their present problems, with Asari-Dokubo once calling him a devil.“Awolowo was a devil and his policies led to the present problems that the people of the Niger Delta are fighting against”  People in Edo/Delta states even though used to be part of the old western region have accused him of being the originator of tribalism & marginalisation .People in Warri blame him for causing chaos in the multi-tribal city (Olu of Warri Saga). This is even more evident as nothing has been named after Awo in the whole of the south - south region even old midwestern state(Bendel).

SOUTH EAST
These one have been very vocal even while critisizing Zik. The have accused him as being cynical and coniving during the biafran war.They accuse him as shamelessly condecending for a man of his statute, having accepted a ministerial position under the Junta regime of Yakubu Gowon , something even Ojukwu rejected!

NORTH
Awo has been characterised as a distabilising character who refused to build bridges and alliances always heating up Nigerian politics to serve personal ends. They would not even mention Awo as having any influence in Nigeria's history.

My point is that , in the words of Ojukwu himself . Awo is the best president Nigeria never had. I can't help  but feel that if given the chance Awo would have put Nigeria on a different path. But anytime i mention this there is always someone (a non-yoruba) who would think that I am highly mistaken and don't know the man very well.

Awo and Zik were not on the same pedestal. Zik unlike Awo was a nationalist like Julius Nyerere besides, Awo has been immortalized in the SE, SS and North.

Tribalist

@Aloy
Do you even know the meaning of nationalist? I doubt you know. Can't you just restrict your shallow rantings on nairaland to defending your people? I think you will do better as an Igbo activist than just talking for talking sake. You don't have to be expert on every topic.

No matter what anybody say, I will eternally be grateful to him. Honestly without him, I doubt if I can even be priviledged to type what am tying here now.

Why have these foolish guys decided to continue bringing Pa Awo's name up every opportunity that they get? Have these insensitive fools not learned from their Biafra escapade? This was the same attitude that they had after they introduced coups into the Nigerian culture. They went around the north bragging about dominating Nigeria after killing the Sardauna, and even went as far as posting pictures of his dead body with their boys stepping on him. They even created the most popular Igbo song till date that was a taunt of the Hausa on how they defeated them.

People who don't learn from the past are destined to make the same mistakes. Let them continue and be prepared for the backlash. Very soon, they will begin to cry victimization again. We can now see them running around all over websites claiming to have dominated Nigeria financially. These are the people who caused a good guy like Soludo to lose his job. Just keep it up. Oju o ri ola ri.

Aloy.Emeka:

Awo and Zik were not on the same pedestal. Zik unlike Awo was a nationalist like Julius Nyerere besides, Awo has been immortalized in the SE, SS and North.

Says it all.
The politics of First republic was basically regional based. Zik and maybe Tafawa Balewa were the only national leaders then. Before them, there was Herbert Macauley.

Awo had the Yorubas in his pocket while Ahmadu Bello had the north in his pocket. But Sardauna was more powerful than Awo. The PM, Tafawa Balewa, was his boy. Sardauna stayed back as premier of the northern region and was using Tafawa Balewa at the centre. Awo, instead of using Akintola, atttempted national power which was unsuccessful, leading to cracks within his groups back in his region.

Awo, like Ahmadu Bello, played politics of tribe and both did their best for their tribes. Only Zik could be regarded as truly national, and his background, I believe, played a great part in his national acceptance. He was born in Zungeru(north), grew up in Lagos(Yoruba) and of course, an Igbo. He spoke Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba fluently. To cap it all, he didn't play teh tribal card in his politics, a situation that did not go down well with his Igbo kinsmen.

larez:

Why have these foolish guys decided to continue bringing Pa Awo's name up every opportunity that they get? Have these insensitive fools not learned from their Biafra escapade? This was the same attitude that they had after they introduced coups into the Nigerian culture. They went around the north bragging about dominating Nigeria after killing the Sardauna, and even went as far as posting pictures of his dead body with their boys stepping on him. They even created the most popular Igbo song till date that was a taunt of the Hausa on how they defeated them.

People who don't learn from the past are destined to make the same mistakes. Let them continue and be prepared for the backlash. Very soon, they will begin to cry victimization again. We can now see them running around all over websites claiming to have dominated Nigeria financially. These are the people who caused a good guy like Soludo to lose his job. Just keep it up. Oju o ri ola ri.

Make sure u don't come back apologising again

presido1:

Make sure u don't come back apologising again

is that a Biafran Threat? Do I need to have my AK on standby?

I am not critisizing Awo but after going through a book written about Awo and all his missed legacies for Nigeria, I tried to convey it across to people who saw different opinions on the man which where not apparent to me.

My take is that no individual is perfect , we will need to draw from the positives on individuals while not abandoning their negatives. If these allegations are true we need to re-examine them but nothing should take away the good qualities of the man.

I have spoken to a german who highlighted the great merits economically and politically of the Hitler era but rounded it of with Hitler being the worst thing that happened to Germany.

Did Awo really Marginalise the Niger delta . Is it true that Awo justified his treatment of present day midwestern state by stating that the western regions finances came from cocoa which were produced in the core yoruba areas and hence the selective development. From many accounts the midwest was delivered from the marginalisation of Awo by Dennis Osadebey's NCNC which led to the creation of Mid-Western State.
They often alledge that Awo reneged on his principles on the discovery of crude oil in the Niger Delta area in conaivance with Gowon.

I grew up in todays's midwestern region and there is absolutely nothing in the whole of Edo/Delta states that can be attributed to Awo. Isn't that quite suprising.

I will welcome more opinions but please do no turn this to a Biafra Oduduwa fight.

adigun101:

I am not critisizing Awo but after going through a book written about Awo and all his missed legacies for Nigeria, I tried to convey it across to people who saw different opinions on the man which where not apparent to me.

My take is that no individual is perfect , we will need to draw from the positives on individuals while not abandoning their negatives. If these allegations are true we need to re-examine them but nothing should take away the good qualities of the man.

I have spoken to a german who highlighted the great merits economically and politically of the Hitler era but rounded it of with Hitler being the worst thing that happened to Germany.

Did Awo really Marginalise the Niger delta . Is it true that Awo justified his treatment of present day midwestern state by stating that the western regions finances came from cocoa which were produced in the core yoruba areas and hence the selective development. From many accounts the midwest was delivered from the marginalisation of Awo by Dennis Osadebey's NCNC which led to the creation of Mid-Western State.
They often alledge that Awo reneged on his principles on the discovery of crude oil in the Niger Delta area in conaivance with Gowon.

I grew up in todays's midwestern region and there is absolutely nothing in the whole of Edo/Delta states that can be attributed to Awo. Isn't that quite suprising.

I will welcome more opinions but please do no turn this to a Biafra Oduduwa fight.

It is because of Awo that your parents were educated enough to educate you.

He does not need to be great outside yorubaland, yorubaland was his contituency hence his greatness within it. He was never a central goverment politician but a strong regional personalty and politician who impacted possitively in the lives of her citizen.

So name the Nigerian who was greater than Awolowo. There have been none. That why you are still talking about him. 22 years after his death.

Awo mistake was supporting Nigeria govt against biafra.

As the OP says, Awo caused the problems in Warri.
He brought the olu of itsekiri from ode-itsekiri to Warri. And created the title "olu of Warri" so that the Itsekiri could be overlord of the both Urhobo and Ijaws (who gave both Itsekiri and Urhobo land).

All because, the Itsekiri are Yoruba people.

Several lives and properties have been lost in the bloody strife that has resulted.

Both Urhobo and Itsekiri met the Ijaw when they migrated. But Awo made Itsekiri's king over their benefactors, what a f.ucking national hero!

long story, with no single mention of the early Portuguese contact.

KnowAll:


He does not need to be great outside yorubaland, yorubaland was his contituency hence his greatness within it. He was never a central goverment politician but a strong regional personalty and politician who impacted  possitively in the lives of her citizen.

Should I now equate Awo to the likes of Ojukwu. I beg to differ , I think Awo was greater than what you are making him to be. But my question is how has he impacted non-yorubas in Nigeria. Like a friend of mine put it , the greatest Nigerian to have come out of yorubaland is Obasanjo and not Awo!

Becomrich:

So name the Nigerian who was greater than Awolowo. There have been none. That why you are still talking about him. 22 years after his death.

Awo mistake was supporting Nigeria govt against biafra.

@ Becomrich
Whats it with all these maps. Can you explain the connection with Awo?
Awo is a National figure no doubt, so there is nothing wrong with talking about him. His face adorns our 100 naira note for crying out loud.
But what do non-yorubas remember him for?
We've heard enough from the oduduwas plus all you biafrans as well.

tpia.:

long story, with no single mention of the early Portuguese contact.

What was the early Portuguese contact?

wasn't tafawa balewa more or less an ahmadu bello puppet?

I wouldn't call him a nationalist.

tpia.:
long story, with no single mention of the early Portuguese contact.

Beaf link=topic=299608.msg4234186#msg4234186 date=1248304621:

What was the early Portuguese contact?

. . .I'm stilling waiting tpia.
Are you talking the involvement of some powerful Itsekiri in selling Ijaws and Urhobo's into slavery?