Why Nigerians celebrate Awo in death - Cleric

From Olayinka Olukoya and Dapo Falade - 07.03.2008

IKENNE-REMO, Ogun State, the home of the Awolowos, bustled on Thursday as family members, friends and associates, including the Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel, gathered to celebrate the 99th birthday of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was born on March 6, 1909.

At the ceremony, which marked the 21st posthumous birthday of the sage, and held at the Efunyela Hall, the Vicar of Our Savior’s Anglican Church, Venerable Foluso Babatunji, lamented that the ideas and policies of Chief Awolowo were misjudged and misconceived by many Nigerians.

“Papa Awolowo’s policies and ideas were not respected while he was alive, but now that he is no more people started celebrating him,” Venerable Babatunji said.

The cleric also likened some of Awolowo’s disciples to the disciples of Jesus Christ, saying they failed to have faith and strong belief in the programmes and ideas of their leader, as some did to Jesus Christ.

He urged all Nigerians to always have faith in the ideas and policies of various governments in the country. This, according to him, would serve as a catalyst for a virile Nigeria. “If we did not believe in the original Awolowo by mis-judging him and his ideas, then there is need for us to believe in the Awolowos in our homes and in positions of authorities. It is pertinent that we believe in ourselves,” he stated.

Venerable Babatunji noted that not many people understood the sage while alive, describing him as a “true statesman and a true civil servant. During his generation, Papa Awolowo was a phenomenon, a genius and a bright star which his generation did not celebrate until after his death.”

The cleric further said that the invaluable contributions of Papa Awolowo to the nation would be remembered forever, saying “always see something good in men around you. It is good to criticise, but always make it a constructive one. There are many Awolowos today who are bringing in many ideas and beliefs, but did not believe in the original Awo.”

In his remarks at the ceremony, the Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel, said that the state would never forget the sage for his immeasurable contributions to every facet of human development in the state.

He reiterated his administration’s commitment to make the sage’s residence in Ikenne a monument and also added that a “great” book would be written and probably launched during Chief Awolowo’s centenarian birthday celebration next year.

The matriarch of the Awolowo dynasty, Chief (Mrs.) HID Awolowo, her children, Reverend (Mrs.) Tola Oyediran and her husband, Professor A.B.O Oyediran; Dr. Oluwole Awolowo, Otunba Tola Soyode were all present at the ceremony.

Top government functionaries in Ogun State, led by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mrs Titi Oseni, were also present. The dignitaries’ list also included: Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Wunmi Adegbonmire, Alhaji Rafiu Jafojo, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Chief Tola Adeniyi and Honourable Solaja Omosanya. In Ekiti State, a special lecture was held also on Thursday by Action Congress (AC) to mark the birthday of the sage.
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The governorship candidate of the AC in the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, convened the lecture where a Bill Gates scholar, Dr. Wale Adebanwi, delivered a paper on the socio-political philosophy of the sage as well as his travails.

Dr. Adebanwi, in the lecture, said Chief Awolowo did not gain political ascendancy through sheer luck, but by working conscientiously to win primacy for his people.

Delving into the history of Yorubaland, Adebanwi said Chief Awolowo, by keying into his immediate background, had by the time of his demise, been able to achieve an enviable status as the modern progenitor of the Yoruba socio-political history, in the Oduduwa mould, the famed progenitor of the race, adding that his political philosophy and welfarist programmes remained the bedrock of developmental plans by successive governments across the country.

In his own lecture, the former private secretary of the sage and a literary giant, Mr. Odia Ofeimun, who spoke on “Awo’s ideals and challenges of Nigerian democracy,” said that if experts in all fields of academic endeavours had aligned with Chief Awolowo’s educational policy, the Nigerian educational system would have been competing favourably with what obtains in the other parts of the world.

Stating that the sage’s political philosophy emanated from his firm belief in communalism, Ofeimun said Chief Awolowo derived his ideas from his environment, adding that “though he always had his native people at the back of his mind, he always started universally. Awolowo was the only Nigerian leader whose books you can read without remembering that he was a Yoruba man.”

Speaking separately with newsmen, the governorship candidates of the AC in Ekiti and Osun states, Dr. Fayemi and Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, traced the political confusion permeating the landscape in the Southwest to the failure of some politicians to imbibe the political philosophy of the sage.

Aregbesola declared that the confusion and killings dogging the politics of the Yoruba race were facilitated by people who did not believe in Awo’s ideals.