Awo’s 21st remembrance thanksgiving holds Friday

By Ayo-Lawal Gbenoba - 04.05.2008

THE 21st remembrance thanksgiving service for Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo will hold on Friday, May 9, 2008, at the Obafemi Awolowo Memorial Church, Ikenne Remo, Ogun State, at 11 a.m.

Chief Awolowo, notable lawyer and eminent statesman, died on Saturday, May 9, 1987. One of those rare leaders who, after death, still lives on because of their legendary achievements, there is nowhere today sound education and good governance are discussed that the name, Obafemi Awolowo, is not mentioned.

His name is synonymous with development, achievement, excellence and fulfillment, as he engineered the success of today’s notables in Nigeria through his free education programme which he implemented during his tenure as premier of the then Western Region.

Jeremiah Oyeniyi Obafemi Awolowo was born to the family of Chief David Sopolu Awolowo and Madam Mary Efunyela Awolowo, in Ikenne Remo, on March 6, 1909.

His primary school education suffered a setback as the death of his father in April 1920, led to financial crunch which made young Jeremiah to fetch firewood for sale, with other menial jobs, to sponsor his own education.

A selfless man of great vision, he realised he had to do things differently when the opportunity came to be in government, to make positive impact in the lives of others, and to prevent the kind of suffering he went through in other people’s lives.

A relentless and studious character, Chief Obafemi Awolowo did not allow life’s challenges to pull him down but rather, he used such as pedals onto higher grounds.

After his Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) and Bachelor of Laws at the University of London, he was called to Bar by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple on November 19, 1946.

He worked briefly as a teacher, stenographer and was reporter-in-training at the then Daily Times, in Nigeria, while his political life began to unfold when he served in Ibadan as the secretary of the Nigerian Youth Movement.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo formed a cultural group, Egbe Omo Oduduwa, in 1949 while his political party, the Action Group (AG) came on stream in 1951.

It was while the party was going round to campaign that one of its staunch members, Chief Meredith Adisa Akinloye, now late, suggested that the name, Afenifere, be used, to carry the illiterate followership along, and that name sent various military regimes packing in Nigeria’s political history.

He won the first elections ever conducted, in Western Nigeria, after that campaign, and he became the leader of Government Business and Minister for Local Government in 1952.

By then fondly called ‘Awo’ by the young and old, he became the first premier of Western Region in 1954, while his party, AG, won elections again in 1956 and he was premier a second time. Not given to the now popular ‘sit-tight’ syndrome, Awo voluntarily relinquished the post of premier and was elected into the House of Representatives on December 12, 1959.

He became the opposition leader and was known for his stand for justice, truth and integrity. He continued to give a visionary leadership till his death.

He married his precious jewel of inestimable value, Miss Hannah Idowu Dideolu Adelana, on 26 December, 1937 and since his death 21 years ago, the now, Mama H.I.D. Awolowo, Yeye Oodua, has never wavered in carrying the ‘Torch of Hope’ left by Awo.