By Olakunle Agboola – Life is not spent until it outlives you and that is the person of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo who today marks 35 years of living beyond life. Many were not born during the days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo but who got to know him through his political exploits in the Western region and Nigeria at large. My late father would always describe Awo as a panacea, trailblazer, and messiah of the modern politics in Nigeria. He assumed he could have been a great president for Nigeria but sadly was not chanced to take a lead.
Chief Awolowo died in May 1987. But no one wanted the sage to die because in him was the epoch of a modern Nigeria. He had the template of a new nation, finding intuitive solutions to the myriads of problems confronting not only Nigeria but also the totality of Africa. He had set goals, and plans, and articulated a vision to take Nigeria to the Promised Land. We lost an era in the history of Nigeria and that will not be easily eroded.
When the death of Chief Obafemi Awolowo was officially announced, there was no sleep again. His funeral took place in every city, every town, and every village in Western Nigeria. No one got that before him, no one has got that after him. The military government described his transition as the end of an era. Yet, he was in government for less than ten years. His years in government were years of liberation; they gave hope to the hopeless and a voice to millions that life would have silenced forever.
The transition of Awolowo was a colossal loss not only to Nigeria but also to the whole black race. He died with a template of a modern and progressive state. Awolowo transformed the western region, birthing the first national TV, modern stadiums, free education, buoyant agriculture, and the list is endless. He had the potential of making Nigeria an enviable nation but sadly, his dream of a developed nation was abruptly cut off. He died with all his experience and potential of becoming Nigeria’s president. Thirty-five years have gone after his death, Nigeria has not been firmly referred to as a progressive state, wallowing in corruption and living with many citizens in abject poverty.
Awolowo is Nigeria’s scientific prophet; a seer and a social engineer. Thirty-five days before his death, Awo took a clear look at Nigeria and declared “our stars have been dimmed by incompetent rulers.” And, today, the darkness lengthens; the only song in town is about the next elections. We are processing another opaque object to block the nation’s rays. A profane president and an irreverent political class are feeding taboos to our sacred institutions.
Awolowo once counselled that the government must not be seen as “big business where the shareholders (the people) are happy at the end of the year when good profit is declared and good dividends are paid.” He warned “government should not be run as if it is nobody’s business where everybody will like to steal and steal public money to no end.”
He set up political parties and made the people own them. He did not, because of power, ally with the opposite of what he stood for. His parties in the first and second republics were models in mass mobilization for service delivery. The tickets of his Action Group and the Unity Party of Nigeria were not priced out of the reach of the intelligent poor; they were not baits to hook the rich and their millions. His love was genuine. That is why he outlived himself.
Leadership is the ability to rally men and women together to a common purpose and that is the life of Awolowo. We will continue to reminiscence about his life and not only as a man without flaws but of his good deeds, which speak of volume. There is always a big difference between success and significance and if many of us want to live beyond our time, we better work towards a common benefit for mankind. I hope Nigerian politicians will emulate the life of Awolowo and not just dress to depict him.
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