How did we revert from Awolowo’s futurism to today’s immediacy

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Ladies and gentlemen, this is a picture of Cocoa House, Africa’s first ever skyscraper, built by a man who simply stands head and shoulders above any leader we have ever known in Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo. Despite his flaws, the more I read about Awolowo, the more I just marvel at his unique ability to envisage the future

(2) First of all, do you know that Awolowo was only premier of the Western Region between 1954 and 1960? He was in office for just six years, which is about the same amount of time as President Goodluck Jonathan but alas, look at how much he achieved within such a short space of time

(3) At a time when literacy rates were no higher than 5%, Awolowo had the foresight to built futuristic projects. He could easily have settled for the immediate needs of his constituents but no, he made the construction of income-generating projects one of the central principles of his government. The only person who appears to have thought like this in the current dispensation was Donald Duke, who made the construction of income-generating Tinapa and the refurbishing of the Obudu Cattle Ranch major priorities

(4) Cocoa House was a 26-storey skyscraper built from the proceeds of agricultural produce grown and exported from the old Western Region. Obviously cocoa was the main cash cow but other income generators included timber, rubber and palm oil. Awolowo’s plan was to move away from the over-dependence on agriculture and diversify the economy so it had multiple revenue sources. Today, Awolowo’s grandson Segun Awolowo heads the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, tasked with diversifying our economy but alas, he has none of his grandfather’s foresight, tenacity and discipline

(5) Awolowo’s futuristic plans included building the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, which was hired out to generate income. Up until 1973 when we opened the National Stadium Surulere, our national team then known as the Red Devils, played all their international matches at Liberty Stadium. Without Awolowo, can you just imagine the embarrassment Nigeria would have gone through not having a decent stadium in which to play international matches. It might have meant us playing our 1974 World Cup qualifiers in Accra, Ghana

(6) Apart from Cocoa House and the Liberty Stadium, Awolowo gave us the Western Nigeria Television Station at a time when many European nations did not have any, introduced free primary education and proceeded with building the then University of Ife despite the fact that the region already had UI in place. None of these projects were going to yield dividends during Awolowo’s tenure but it was as if he had a crystal ball in front of him and could envisage the future. For instance, Cocoa House did not open until 1965 and the University of Ife did not open until 1962. By this time, Awolowo had long left office as premiere but the benefits of his legacy remain with us until this very day

(7) If Awolowo had distributed consumer goods to his constituents he would probably have been more popular and had he just focused on eye-catching flyovers and dual carriageways, it might have got more traction but alas, he targeted his investments very carefully. For instance, the idea behind Airport Hotel in Ikeja was to provide a top class hotel for investors and tourists not far from the airport. I remember staying there once in 1996 on a trip to Nigeria and was disappointed that the management had not continually invested in its upkeep

(8) Personally, I do not like the fact that most of Awolowo’s projects were all concentrated in Lagos and Ibadan. I do not think he did enough to spread development across the Western Region, which is why the state structure we have today is 100 times better than the old regional structure. Cities like Abeokuta, Akure, Ado-Ekiti and Oshogbo would not be as developed as they are today had they not been made state capitals. If only our governors can have his foresight though

(9) If I want to be fair to all the other premiers in Nigeria’s First Republic, none of them were parasitic like today’s governors. They may not have had Awolowo’s foresight but they would all have found the principle of living off federal handouts totally insulting and beneath them. They could not do an Awolowo who had a budget of £55m in 1959 when Balewa’s federal government had a budget of £50m but they could at least cover all their running costs. There is no way Ahmadu Bello or Michael Okpara would have accepted the principle of living off federal handouts

(10) Our challenge now I guess is finding people with Awolowo’s foresight. Hmmm. Easier said than done because first of all the elite running Nigeria today would do all they can to prevent this, today’s leaders have not been groomed in the art of fair play, immediate needs like stomach infrastructure have taking over our thinking and vanity now reigns supreme. I, for instance have never seen a facility marked as an Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello or Michael Okpara Project but alas, governors who have not done one tenth of what they did open one borehole and want their names emblazoned all over it. Leadership comes from followership and until we alter our outlook as a people, producing another Awolowo is but a mirage