Awo’s 21st remembrance thanksgiving holds Friday

By Ayo-Lawal Gbenoba - 05.05.2008

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 11.00 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.

Chief 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.