Nearly everyone I know has an opinion concerning Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Nineteen years after his death he still remains a hero in most of Yorubaland. His contributions to the rapid development (human and material) of the old western region are still unsurpassed even today.

Key Nigerian figures (including Odumegwu Ojukwu) have continued to echo the view that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the best president the country never had.

Awolowo, according to many Awoists, is what today’s indigenous politician is not: charismatic, visionary, a great planner and economic wizard.

On the other hand, some people simply see him as a nasty piece of work. Survivors of the Biafran War hold Awolowo - the wartime Nigerian minister of finance and deputy chairperson of the war cabinet – responsible for fanatically championing Nigeria's notorious "starvation as weapon/quick kill" strategy on Biafra, which resulted in the death of a huge percent of the total Igbo war casualty including children. They are not quick to forget the £20.00-limit financial/economic strangulation he placed on them immediately after the war, at a time when he instigated the privatisation of many Government owned concerns.

Those that see him as a villain are not limited to the Igbos. He allegedly fell out with MKO, because the latter said he wasn’t a socialist as he made everyone believe, but a clandestine property mogul. (Concord Newspapers & Dideolu Estate come to mind). His spats with Fani-Kayode, OBJ etc are well documented.

A number of political commentators still believe that Awolowo single-handedly pioneered tribalism in Nigerian Politics. It is alleged and not decisively verified that he ‘promised’ to pull the Western region out of Nigeria if the Eastern Region did so, only to ‘chicken’ out when reality dawned on him. This indictment trailed him and somewhat unjustly gave members of his tribe an unwarrantable tag of spinelessness. The assumed strife between the Yoruba & Igbo tribes can – in my view - be traced back to both accusations.

It will be nice to know what the members of this forum think. I expect strong feelings, but at the end of the day we may (and I use that worded guardedly) dispel some of the falsehood that surrounds Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

@Ababoy1

Thank you for bringing up this topic today.

What is your own view first ?

@kola

I didn’t expect to offer my views this early in the discussion, and I don’t want to guess why you wanted to know.

But if it will facilitate the discussion, or give you an angle then this is it.

I see Awolowo as a [b]tribal [/b]rather than a national hero, something I sometimes wish [b]Zik [/b]was.

@Ababoy1
I see
I have seen the undertones in your write-up.

You a very good friend, you knew how many times i have been labelled a tribalist e.g

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-7389.0.html

For your sake, this is my view;

Awolowo is a great leader, his thinking faculty towers above his peers. He is NOT a tribalist but he tried to showcase his God given wisdom in Yorbaland before marketing himselfin federal.

I have read all his books and have been previledge to be at Mapo during his campaign, i beg you need to hear him speak.

If he is a tribalist, why did he stop Biafra?.He would have been in Ibadan refocusing Yourbaland.

On paper at that time, Yoruba dont even need Nigeria , is there any region that is better than Yoruba?

He got to the federal house, all his contributions to the development of Nigeria is second to none.

Quotes

OJUKWU : The best president Nigeria never had.

IBB: He is the main issue in Nigeria politics, you are either for or against him.

@kola, My Chelski Friend

Thanks for your response,

I guess Awo means different things to different people. To some he will always be a hero, to others maybe not so - and to the rest, somewhere in between. I respect the fact that you have properly articulated your views. It will be nice to read other opinions.

Awo is a here, a nationalist and of course a sage. However, nobody ever created by God has ever lived without a criticism from mankind. So no matter what people say about him, I put it to all that he deserved all the accolades and all the above appelations.

On the other hand, some people simply see him as a nasty piece of work. Survivors of the Biafran War hold Awolowo - the wartime Nigerian minister of finance and deputy chairperson of the war cabinet – responsible for fanatically championing Nigeria's notorious "starvation as weapon/quick kill" strategy on Biafra, which resulted in the death of a huge percent of the total Igbo war casualty including children. They are not quick to forget the £20.00-limit financial/economic strangulation he placed on them immediately after the war, at a time when he instigated the privatisation of many Government owned concerns.

I wouldn't even try to defend him on this. To me his whole involvement in the Gowon administration was a blemish for a supposedly democrat. But the blame for the war lies with others not him.

A number of political commentators still believe that Awolowo single-handedly pioneered tribalism in Nigerian Politics.

Awolowo's political parties were opened to anybody from anywhere in the country to join as member and he did had members from all over country so for the life of me I can never understand the charge of tribalism concerning his person. For sure his party took the Western Region away from Azikwe pre-independent 1956 election but weren't they political opponents? Was Awolowo obliged to assist Azikwe win? And was a Yoruba elected as premier in other regions?

It is alleged and not decisively verified that he ‘promised’ to pull the Western region out of Nigeria if the Eastern Region did so, only to ‘chicken’ out when reality dawned on him.

Odumegwu Ojukwu who was in a position to know has never come out to allege such a thing so why is it still being peddle?

This indictment trailed him and somewhat unjustly gave members of his tribe an unwarrantable tag of spinelessness

Adekunle Fajuyi heroically choose to die along with Aguiyi Ironsi. Is that spineless?

demmy:

For sure his party took the Western Region away from Azikwe pre-independent 1956 election but weren't they political opponents? Was Awolowo obliged to assist Azikwe win? And was a Yoruba elected as premier in other regions?

This question takes the wind out of your argument, you may want to rephrase / represent it.

Indeed that action, maybe indavertently, became the chief springboard for the practise of tribalism in that region and other areas.

[quote][/quote]
Awolowo's political parties were opened to anybody from anywhere in the country to join as member and he did had members from all over country so for the life of me I can never understand the charge of tribalism concerning his person. For sure his party took the Western Region away from Azikwe pre-independent 1956 election but weren't they political opponents? Was Awolowo obliged to assist Azikwe win? And was a Yoruba elected as premier in other regions?

That's the definition of tribalism.

owo:

This question takes the wind out of your argument, you may want to rephrase / represent it.

Indeed that action, maybe indavertently, became the chief springboard for the practise of tribalism in that region and other areas.

1st) How many non-easterners were candidates for the election into the Eastern Region Assembly in 1956? And was any elected?

2nd) It was the political maneuverings on the part of Awolowo that people instead interpreted as tribalism. People defected from one party to another so often in those days and also Awolowo never make it an issue during the campaigne "that Zik was Igbo". It was merely a coincidence that Zik an Igbo was a victim of these political maneuverings. Not intended as a tribal issue. Eventually Akintola did defected from Awolowo and AG lost the Western Region. Now if both were from different tribes people would surely interpreted Akintola's action as tribalism which was clearly not.

@demmy
Did Awolowo sincerely think it was in the best interest of Yoruba people? Probably. But for you to maintain it had no tribal undertone is laughable.

tribal undertone? see you're interpreting.

Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987).

I will start with a big "thank you" to all those who have contributed to this thread.
It is heartening to note that after all is said and done, there is a political hero whose name has been etched in gold in the annals of Nigerian political history and moreso because their is hardly anyone in contemporary Nigerian politics that can easily be ascribed such political sagacity.

This is however not a time for praise- singing.

I have tried to understudy this icon, and I believe we all agree he could be called that.

Politics is about beliefs. The problem we have in Nigeria is more of the absence or the stunted growth of such core beliefs. Awo’s was of a vision of a Fabian social democracy and he never hid those.
Obafemi Awolowo believed that to achieve greatness as a people, there has to be first, economic emancipation, in education, in health, in the creation of endurable social infrastructure and in empowering the people.
To those who have thought that his claims to these were not true, and this question is frequently asked, we should also ask: what is the goal behind empowerment?
An empowered individual is one who has been equipped to utilise the resources in his environment to aspire for all the chances that life could afford. He was empowered to acquire wealth by virtue of his education, enlightenment and view of the world. He can not be held responsible for utilising those opportunities. And seriously this is the main thing lacking in the politics of reforms being propagated by the OBJ government. Its major thrust is privatisation and we should ask who is going to gain: the big investors (the global multis, their World Band associates and cronies) or the everyday ordinary Nigerians? That is for another day though.

Please let us go back to his recorded feats in Western Nigeria pre-1960 and we would be right to say he made bold attempts to prepare his people for the future. It is only sad that these legacies are eroding now.

That Awo and Zik were political opponents were easily more of a case of disagreements in the politics of the day. These disagreements happen everyday in democracies.

He obviously had his shortcomings and anyone is entitled to either hold him or not on those accounts.
I can not apologise for him, neither does anyone, but to our Igbo brothers, there was a war, and for those who know…. All is never fair in war. Whatever decisions were made during the war could not be eternally ascribed to him alone. There were numerous parties and interests during that war and history will judge all of them when the time of reckoning surely comes.
That war was a big mistake on the parts of its proponents, propagators and its executors. It has not even brought peace almost forty years after the end of it (another is subtly brewing in the Niger Delta).

Good Topic. Good post by Jibitoye

Awolowo is just human like everybody else. Extraordinary human but human all the same. Had his faults and weaknesses and made his mistakes. I think he was very tribalistic like most (if not all ) yorubas but i wonder where people got the idea that that was necessarily a bad thing. Anyway that is another topic for another day.

@Xkape

Give us example of where he is tribalistic

Read OBJ’s work of genius – My Command, otherwise

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=awolowo%2Btribalistic&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

@Ababoy1

What is the meaning of you going to Google and do a search on "Awolowo + Tribalistic" ?

I respect you as a person but this is dissapointing for we(youths) in a present day Nigeria who hold the Future of Nigeria.

I can as well go to google do the same for Azikwe and Sarduana .

OBJ & AWO

I have that book and his other books(NOT MY WILL etc)in my collections. Both are arch enemies but Yoruba people knows their No 1 sha!

we need awolowo like people in aso rock. and not all these obasanjo-wanna be politicians

Was Awo ever a national hero? I think Awo was in the mould of Ojukwu, regional kings with great intentions for their respective people only -Ojukwu was actually a visionary. They both are not in the mould of Zik, the real national hero. If Wik Awo a national hero, why then was he stoned in Aba, during the 1979 election campaigns, as we hear?

xkape:

Good Topic. Good post by Jibitoye

Awolowo is just human like everybody else. Extraordinary human but human all the same. Had his faults and weaknesses and made his mistakes. I think he was very tribalistic like most (if not all ) yorubas but i wonder where people got the idea that that was necessarily a bad thing. Anyway that is another topic for another day.

This is classic Igbo ignorance of the Yoruba. Yoruba people were liberated by Awo. In thinking and inter-relations with others. The Yoruba are generally detribalised and see no reason to travel outside of the bases and they see what they need in their immediate vicinities. The Yoruba have always been accomodating and see no need to form groups or kingdoms in any land of sojorns. (Unlike Igbo).
This is not intended to serve as ctiticism of Igbo, but a correction of xkape!

Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo was many things to many people. But the greatest faux pas he made in his life, was that famous statement about 'using starvation as a weapon of warfare'. It was sad. In one blow, he lost the enormous goodwill and respect that a lot of non-Yoruba folks had for him. If he ever came close to regretting anything in his life, am sure he would have wished he could take back those words. It was said that food drops that were being made in the South-East during the war, contained ammunition along with the expected food rations. So in order to ensure that this source of arms supply was cut off, he ordered a total food blockade. If you ask me, that was a big mistake on his part. It was said that he later rescinded his decision and asked that food should be sent to the East, by road, after it had been checked by the federal forces. The Biafran high command refused and alleged that such food was likely to have been poisoned.

Was he tribalistic? I really do not think so. But I stand to be corrected. He wanted the best for the South-West, and he left no stone untouched to ensure that he made good his promises to them. Did his people appreciate the free education, free medicare, scholarships, first television station etc. that were the hall marks of his administration in the 'sixties. Am sure they did.

All areas that fell under the old Western region benefited from the free education policy, including the Western Igbo. If Awo was tribalistic, couldn't he have denied them of the chance to have an education, or restricted the scholarships to people from his own ethnic group, alone? Chief Michael Ashikodi Agbamuche the former Minister of Justice eloquently puts it this way, in his article on the Anioma:

Whither The Anioma? (1) - By M.A. Agbamuche:


What inspired the idea of Anioma is a matter for speculation; however, what is beyond dispute is that at the time of the creation of the then Mid-West Region in 1963, what passed as the political leadership of what is now Delta North Senatorial District had embraced the idea of Anioma. That of course was hardly surprising given the cultural homogeneity and similarity of outlook, consequent upon common history. As a politician and historian, the late Chief D.C. Osadebay did not need convincing about the benefits of creating for his primary constituency a unifying idea/force.

Against that background, it must be remembered that[b] the area in question is a small part of what was then the Western Region of Nigeria which in the circumstances of that time was not a bad government for the Anioma. It did not, for instance, deny the Anioma the benefits of free Primary Education it introduced in the old Western Region. Recruitment into its civil service was largely based on merit and consequently persons of Anioma origin with ability were enabled to begin a career in the public service that led for many to the very top at the Federal level. Anioma indigenes were beneficiaries of Western Region’s overseas scholarships.

http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1216&Itemid=78&PHPSESSID=e1f16924491a5c766bfef4e017

xkape:

. I think he was very tribalistic like most (if not all ) yorubas but i wonder where people got the idea that that was necessarily a bad thing. Anyway that is another topic for another day.

Um. . . . . .how many Yorubas have you met or interacted with, for you to draw this conclusion?

All these leaders-Awo,Sardauna and later ojukwu were only concerned about their regions and are therefore heroes to their people. But speaking of Awolowo, he was a tribalist and in my opinion a hero to the yoruba people and not a national hero.

where is the most developed region of Nigeria? Yorubaland.

If each region has its tribal leader for 10yrs each; Nigeria would be well developed

Nigeria does not exist in air; it is made of regions

You focus on what will bring most postivie impact.

babasin:

where is the most developed region of Nigeria? Yorubaland.

If each region has its tribal leader for 10yrs each; Nigeria would be well developed

Nigeria does not exist in air; it is made of regions

You focus on what will bring most postivie impact.

I beg to disagree. What makes you think that Yoruba land is the most developed part of Nigeria?? Please Yoruba land is not more developed or less developed than other parts of Naija o! Don't use Lagos and Ibadan soleley as your yardstick for assessing development in Yoruba land. Go to each state & each local govt. area in the entire south-West, before you jump to conclusions. Nigerian leaders and their cohorts have jointly under-developed ALL parts of this country, including Yoruba land.

Take a journey from Ila Orangun, to Gbogan, Aiyetoro, Ikare, Efon Alaye, Ijede, Omuo-Ekiti, Sapati, Ife, Ilaje Ese-Odo etc. before you draw any conclusions. Some communities do not have drinking water or electricity, till today, even as we speak.

I beg to disagree. What makes you think that Yoruba land is the most developed part of Nigeria?? Please Yoruba land is not more developed or less developed than other parts of Naija o! Don't use Lagos and Ibadan soleley as your yardstick for assessing development in Yoruba land. Go to each state & each local govt. area in the entire south-West, before you jump to conclusions. Nigerian leaders and their cohorts have jointly under-developed ALL parts of this country, including Yoruba land.

Take a journey from Ila Orangun, to Gbogan, Aiyetoro, Ikare, Efon Alaye, Ijede, Omuo-Ekiti, Sapati, Ife, Ilaje Ese-Odo etc. before you draw any conclusions. Some communities do not have drinking water or electricity, till today, even as we speak

The argument is that, Yoruba land in comparison with other regions in Nigeria. Pre military era South West was ahead of them all in everything so you cant say that it was a federal development and even till now. I ave been to some places in The north where the people dont even know the country they are in. Some people still walk naked in parts of Northern Nigeria.

The South South outside the state capitals are so undeveloped So for the south East but when you think of places in the South West like Ilesha, Ife, Ogbomoso, Ijebu-Ode, Owo, Ondo, Oyo e.t.c these places are not state capitals but are much more developed than some state capitals.

Awolowo is a visionary leader even more than his peers. First stadium in Africa, First T.V station in Africa and he actually engineered the fastest growing economy in Africa in the South West then.
Compare his achievement to those of his peers and you would see him as a hero!!

Papa was an icon,and like every known mortal had his own frailities.Truth be told, he was primus interspares,a man ahead of his time,a colossus,thinker,philosopher,a true leader,a son of Oduduwa and more importantly our hero.His works still bear a testimony to his grace and far sightedness.He was human and like many of his time were influenced by the geo political dynamics of that era.

Alright, there seems to be a general agreement that he was a Yoruba hero, not a national hero as most of his achievements were enacted in the old Western region, when he was in charge of that region.

Why didn't he groom a worthy successor before his departure? No one seems to have had the capability to continue from where he stopped.

Awolowo is a visionary leader even more than his peers. First stadium in Africa, First T.V station in Africa and he actually engineered the fastest growing economy in Africa in the South West then.
Compare his achievement to those of his peers and you would see him as a hero!!

That was false. He never engineered any fastest economy. As for TV , he may have built the first tv in african but not the best.

Planner:



That was false. He never engineered any fastest economy. As for TV , he may have built the first tv in african but not the best. 

You are too kind.None of the things you quoted are true.It simply belongs to ethnic mythology alongside stories about Oduduwa and dragon slaying Catholic saints

Mr Obafemi Awolowo,
A National Hero, hahahahaaaaaaaaa. A Yoruba Warrior.

Planner:



That was false. He never engineered any fastest economy. As for TV , he may have built the first tv in african but not the best.

Nobody said he built the best TV station in Africa. At the time that station came on air, which other country in Black Africa south of the Sahara, had something comparable to it, on the ground?