Men of History – Chief Obafemi Awolowo

• Chief Obafemi Awolowo was born on the 6th of March, 1909 and died on the 9th of May, 1987.
• He went to the University of London in 1944 to study law.
• Awolowo founded organizations such as: EgbeOmo Oduduwa, the Trade Unions Congress of Nigeria and the Action Group political party.
• He became the Leader of Government Business and Minister for Local Government in 1952 and later became the first premier of Western region in 1954.
• He was elected into the House of Representatives in 1959 where he became the Leader of Opposition in Nigeria’s central legislature.
• Awolowo was appointed Federal Commissioner for Finance and Vice-President of the Federal Executive Council in Yakubu Gowon’s Government.
• He was Chancellor of the University of Ife (1967 -1975) and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1975-1978).
• Awolowo contested in the 1979 and 1983 presidential elections of the Second Republic.
• Awolowo first introduced free health care and free and mandatory primary education in the Western Region.
• He is credited for coining the name “Naira” formerly known as the Nigerian Pound.

Quotes

“After rain comes sunshine; after darkness comes the glorious dawn. There is no sorrow without its alloy of joy; there is no joy without its admixture of sorrow. Behind the ugly terrible mask of misfortune lies the beautiful soothing countenance of prosperity. So, tear the mask!”

“Those of us placed in a position of leadership must be prepared to grasp the nettle if we unite in doing so, and if, in addition, we set a worthy example and a marat on pace in probity, unselfishness, and self-sacrifice, the people will follow, all too readily, in our footsteps.”

“Violence never settles anything right: apart from injuring your own soul, it injures the best cause. It lingers on long after the object of hate has disappeared from the scene to plague the lives of those who have employed it against their foes.”

“It is safer and wiser to cure unhealthy rivalry than to suppress it.”

“I will, more than ever before, subject myself to severe self- discipline. Only men who are masters of themselves become easily masters of others. Therefore, my thoughts, my tongue, and my actions shall be brought under strict control always.”

“I must take the world as I find it: with its sprinkling of saints and its multitude of evil-doers; with its source of happiness and its tons of sorrow. My duty, therefore, is to view anything that may happen to me in this world with Christ- like calm and equanimity and to do all in my power to promote the progress and advancement of mankind”.

“The touchstone of what is good, be it thought, or word or action, is LOVE. We are to love our neighbours as ourselves. That is the law and the prophets. Anything therefore – any thought or word or action – which falls short of LOVE is evil, and holds within itself the germ of its own eventual and inevitable destruction.”

“Any system of education which does not help a man to have a healthy and sound body and alert brain, and balanced and disciplined instinctive urges, is both misconceived and dangerous.”

Some of his works

The People’s Republic (1968); The Strategy and Tactics of the People’s Republic (1970); The Problems of Africa: The need for ideological reappraisal (1977).

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