I think this is a great piece. Please read carefully and verify the revelations made here.


The problem with writing skewered history is that it equally misinforms its target: Kayode Esho was a great jurist, but Akunne Oputa was the "Socrates" of the Supreme court. Enahoro was a young editor, but Azikiwe made him that young editor with Osita Agwuna as his assistant, at his paper, the Southern Nigerian Defender in Ibadan, where my own father incidentally started as a rookie before shortly abandoning journalism for the stable berth of the civil service.

The myth of Awolowo as building the first this and that does not match the documented economic history of the period. Between 1954 and 1964, Eastern Nigeria was described as "the fastest growing economy in the world," by the Harvard Review; faster than China, faster than Singapore, and all the so-called "Asian Tigers." Awolowo is often credited with "free education". But no one yet has pointed out any surviving school buildings of the period built by Awo. But all over the East there were quality schools built by the various communities using the Town Development Unions from 1954, and acessing the matching grants of the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation. And this was the East with the poorest revenue resources of any of the regions. The Mbaise secondary school exists, the National High School Okigwe exists, the Ngwa High school exists, the Enyiogugu Grammar School exists, etc. These were solid schools built all over the East with matching goverment grants. But where are the buildings of the Modern schools in Western Nigeria? They do not exist. They were makeshift.


The Catholic church forced the Azikiwe government from its scholarship program, but it is also on record, that the Eastern government was the only government in the world that invested 45% of its revenues in education. The East had the highest number of schools; the highest school enrollment; the broadest penetration of medical services; and the best modern road network in west Africa. Indeed if we look carefully, the only public hospitals and most of the schools still standing in the East today, at various stages of run down are the schools and hospitals built by Azikiwe/Okpara.


Every division of the East had a Joint Hospital as part of the Eastern Medical services. So it is often claimed Awo built the first television station; the first sky scraper, and the first Sports stadium, the liberty stadium in Ibadan. Well, these are prestige or white elephant investments. First, the Eastern Outlook, the government paper of Eastern Nigeria was the first newspaper established by any government in Nigeria, and it was of such quality and impact that the literacy level of Easterners, and the depth of public information retailed by Outlook was without compare. This is besides the fact that Western Nigerian Broadcast Services, WNBS-TV founded in 1958 only preceded the ENBC-TV founded in 1959, by only seven months. But Outlook preceded Sketch by about 15 years.


Now Azikiwe built the Onitsha Modern market, the first modern mall or trade emporium in West Africa. Onitsha was effectively Dubai before Dubai. People traveled all over Africa, from as far as the Congo and Sudan and Egypt, to come and buy and trade in Onitsha. The economic impact of this was humonguos. So, give me the vast Onitsha modern market over Cocoa House in Ibadan.


Azikiwe built the first Nigerian University at Nsukka with the first School of Law, the first School of Engineering, the first Business School; the first school of journalism, and the first school of music and performance, etc. By the time its first graduates took the Nigerian civil service exams in 1963, everybody began to raise the cry of "Igbo domination" starting with Akintola and Ayo Rosiji. Give me UNN over Liberty stadium. Azikiwe began the first modern library system in West Africa.


The East had a system of city libraries starting with the very modern Ziks Library in Enugu. I Literally grew up in the Umuahia Divisional Library. These libraries were built all over the East. Schools in the East were built with libraries. Moreover the Eastern Nigerian Library Board had a sysem of rural amd mobile libraries. There was nothing like it anywhere else in Nigeria: kids having library cards and able to borrow or order books from the public library. Give me the the first library over the first TV. I do not by this mean that Awolowo did not make his contributions, but the regular skewering of the facts, and angling of contemporary national narratives often makes it seem these days like the greatest contributor to the founding of Nigeria and its development is Awolowo and the Yoruba, when the actual facts speak differently.

The great Ibadan historian, Tekena Tamuno, was unambiguous in stating once at NIPPS, Jos, that "the Igbos are the makers of moderm Nigeria. When they abandoned their project, Nigeria collapsed." We must remind Nigerians, particularly Igbo children, daily of these fact, to achieve what Achebe called " a balance of stories." And that also means we must read beyond the surface of things. Babarinsa's Guardian essay is angled carefully to maintain a revisionist narrative. And that is to be always challenged, however innocent it might seem.


Even today, most Yoruba think that Awolowo founded the Universities of Ibadan and Lagos. No one has reminded them that it took Azikiwe's pressures for a university for Nigeria, in his meeting with Arthur Richards in 1946, that led to the cobstitution of the Eliot commision and subsequently the founding of the University College, Ibadan.


This fact is even clearly conveyed in Michael Crowder's eponymous book, The Story of Nigeria. Nsukka was Azikiwe's critique of what he felt to be the conceptual limitations of Ibadan. The University of Lagos was the result of NCNC's ideological contributions to the federal policy during the ill fated coalition government with the NPC. UNILAG was an NCNC project, shepherded by Aja Wachukwu as minister for education. Even the great UNILAG in her 50th anniversary failed to mention Prof Eni Njoku as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the university, a man that layed the solid foundation of what made Unilag is today.


These facts must be made known and put as forcefully accross as possible. Again, until the lion tells his own story, the story of the hunt will belong to the hunter. Kabissa!

do you expect me to believe this ?

Some people won't sleep till two days from now. Igbo giants will be pursuing them in their nihtmares anytime they try to sleep.

Wow !

Which modern Nigeria?

You mean modern shithole?

This is an insult to the great Igbo tribe.




UnaToto

yugotee:


Between 1954 and 1964, Eastern Nigeria was described as "the fastest growing economy in the world," by the Harvard Review; faster than China, faster than Singapore, and all the so-called "Asian Tigers." Awolowo is often credited with "free education". But no one yet has pointed out any surviving school buildings of the period built by Awo. But all over the East there were quality schools built by the various communities using the Town Development Unions from 1954, and acessing the matching grants of the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation. And this was the East with the poorest revenue resources of any of the regions. The Mbaise secondary school exists, the National High School Okigwe exists, the Ngwa High school exists, the Enyiogugu Grammar School exists, etc. These were solid schools built all over the East with matching goverment grants. But where are the buildings of the Modern schools in Western Nigeria? They do not exist. They were makeshift.


The Catholic church forced the Azikiwe government from its scholarship program, but it is also on record, that the Eastern government was the only government in the world that invested 45% of its revenues in education. The East had the highest number of schools; the highest school enrollment; the broadest penetration of medical services; and the best modern road network in west Africa. Indeed if we look carefully, the only public hospitals and most of the schools still standing in the East today, at various stages of run down are the schools and hospitals built by Azikiwe/Okpara.


Every division of the East had a Joint Hospital as part of the Eastern Medical services. So it is often claimed Awo built the first television station; the first sky scraper, and the first Sports stadium, the liberty stadium in Ibadan. Well, these are prestige or white elephant investments. First, the Eastern Outlook, the government paper of Eastern Nigeria was the first newspaper established by any government in Nigeria, and it was of such quality and impact that the literacy level of Easterners, and the depth of public information retailed by Outlook was without compare. This is besides the fact that Western Nigerian Broadcast Services, WNBS-TV founded in 1958 only preceded the ENBC-TV founded in 1959, by only seven months. But Outlook preceded Sketch by about 15 years.


Now Azikiwe built the Onitsha Modern market, the first modern mall or trade emporium in West Africa. Onitsha was effectively Dubai before Dubai. People traveled all over Africa, from as far as the Congo and Sudan and Egypt, to come and buy and trade in Onitsha. The economic impact of this was humonguos. So, give me the vast Onitsha modern market over Cocoa House in Ibadan.

I haff daid dead

Wow!

majamajic:
Wow !

Triple wow!

All these giant strides , can't be sustained by present crop of politician we have now that should be ur major concern. Not dwelling in the past.

Dem go say na mumu button him dey press.

But if na yoruba him hail, dem go say Tamuno is an 'Objective Nigerian greater than awolowo'.

The kain hypocrisy wey dey this country eh.

Never seen a more biased right up. First of all does the fact that eastern region was the fastest growing economy mean shit if it was not better than the western region. A lot of African countries like Ethiopia and Ghana are considered one of the fasted growing economy’s doesn’t mean they are better than Canada or even Spain and Portugal. It only means they are growing faster simple. It also talked about the onitsha market in comparison to cocoa house and praised the onitsha market as he should but called the cocoa house a white elephant project when it was on record that a lot of the wealth of western region then was through cocoa trading. Lots of people became wealthy trading cocoa and its proceeds was also used to pay for free health care and education, ikeja industrial estates that it’s legacies still live on in the western region today and so many more. The write up is nothing but one sided.

Moneywomen17:
[s]Never seen a more biased right up. First of all does the fact that eastern region was the fastest growing economy mean shit if it was not better than the western region. A lot of African countries like Ethiopia and Ghana are considered one of the fasted growing economy’s doesn’t mean they are better than Canada or even Spain and Portugal. It only means they are growing faster simple. It also talked about the onitsha market in comparison to cocoa house and praised the onitsha market as he should but called the cocoa house a white elephant project when it was on record that a lot of the wealth of western region then was through cocoa trading. Lots of people became wealthy trading cocoa and its proceeds was also used to pay for free health care and education, ikeja industrial estates that it’s legacies still live on in the western region today and so many more. The write up is nothing but one sided. [/s]

This was written by non Igbo, Prof Tekena Tamuno who has taught in Ibadan all his life since 60s. This is not afonja propaganda!

[quote author=bennyxt post=88890359][/quote] truth is bitter my guy.

dignity33:
Igbo will kill all of you there. Igbo..igbo..igbo every minute does it mean you guys have no other things to better your life if not posting trash about Igbos.

What do you want them to do? Post Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani thread, e.t.c that don't sell or drive traffic? Even these people will only open or comment on a thread if it's Igbo.

Tamuno should tread with care.. One million boys are not built to endure this kind of pain.. I don't want to hear mass suicide

Moneywomen17:
Never seen a more biased right up. First of all does the fact that eastern region was the fastest growing economy mean shit if it was not better than the western region. A lot of African countries like Ethiopia and Ghana are considered one of the fasted growing economy’s doesn’t mean they are better than Canada or even Spain and Portugal. It only means they are growing faster simple. It also talked about the onitsha market in comparison to cocoa house and praised the onitsha market as he should but called the cocoa house a white elephant project when it was on record that a lot of the wealth of western region then was through cocoa trading. Lots of people became wealthy trading cocoa and its proceeds was also used to pay for free health care and education, ikeja industrial estates that it’s legacies still live on in the western region today and so many more. The write up is nothing but one sided.

You pasted a clip on Ethiopia being the fastest growing economy in the World, but with the usual subversive and confusing Yoruba media, you conveniently forgot that Tamuno was talking about 1950, and not 2017 you cited for Ethiopia.

An oversight? Not likely.
Criminal obfuscation? More likely!

okeyglm:
All these giant strides , can't be sustained by present crop of politician we have now that should be ur major concern. Not dwelling in the past.

The present crop of politicians are a consequence.....a result.....the effect of the present political-economy in place! This status-quo WILL NOT CHANGE BY JUST BLOWING GRAMMAR!

This is true. Unilag had ignore v.c until the yorubas brought tribalising to it and install a yoruba man in a must do affair. Yabatech had igbo vc.
NCNC was accepted more in yoruba land until awolowo brought in bigotry into it. Zik wan a seat in lagos against awolowo wish. There was a tribal coup against zik overnight. That was the beginning of the end of nigeria.
Igbo domination became the reason to stop igbos.

These kind words of facts expressed by Prof Tamuno are highly appreciated, but they leave me sad at what Nigeria has become just because some are terrified of Ndigbo! Classic case of cutting your nose to spite your face!

Nigeria has so regressed and sunk into despair and hopelessness that i doubt the situation can be salvaged at all.

This junk wasn't written by Professor Tekena Tamuno . That I'm absolutely sure of .
Only someone with inferiority complex would write this kinda piece .


I don't know why those folks would always use others to fly their useless propaganda.
It used to be Adeyinka Adebayo and Obasanjo .
Now it's the late Prof Tamuno .

I dare any of you to post a link to this watery article only befitting of a chest beating contest in a village meeting .

Professor Tamuno died in 2015 . So when did he write this

Ibos and fake news

Mightyhaiz:
Tamuno should tread with care.. One million boys are not built to endure this kind of pain.. I don't want to hear mass suicide

Tamuno died 5 years ago .
Carry your fake upper Iweka news elsewhere

desmond2pk:
This is true. Unilag had ignore v.c until the yorubas brought tribalising to it and install a yoruba man in a must do affair. Yabatech had igbo vc.
NCNC was accepted more in yoruba land until awolowo brought in bigotry into it. Zik wan a seat in lagos against awolowo wish. There was a tribal coup against zik overnight. That was the beginning of the end of nigeria.
Igbo domination became the reason to stop igbos.

The only reason Ibadan and Lagos had Ibo vcs was because of the NCNC / NPC alliance .

And NCNC was formed by a Yoruba man long before the AG . So , it made sense if the Yorubas embraced it initially .

There was nothing like a tribal coup because NCNC never had the majority . It wasn't like NCNC folks cross carpeted to AG.
You should stop distorting history .

PS : Northern region had a Northerner as premier , Eastern region had an Easterner as premier but the Western region must have an Easterner as the premier . Nonsense !

I am only here to take record of wailing Yoruba Moslems

Covidodo:

Tamuno died 5 years ago .
Carry your fake upper Iweka news elsewhere

what did I just say., one has been spotted thrashing and convulsing violently on the ground

Mightyhaiz:
what did I just say., one has been spotted thrashing and convulsing violently on the ground

Prove that your fake news is real .
You decieve no one but yourselves .

A whole Tekena Tamuno , former VC of UI would never write that thrash .

ChristianNorth:
I am only here to take record of wailing Yoruba Moslems

Only a Igbo shitte Muslim can consume that junk