The late
Chief Obafemi Awolowo
and President Muhammadu
Buhari might have
lived at different times but, like identical twins, possess
many things in common-dynamism,
pragmatism, integrity, self- discipline,
vision and passion-to make Nigeria work. The
impeccable past of these tested leaders has proved that the bane of the country’s slow
development since independence has been lack
of purposeful leadership.
Buhari-and-Awo Unlike
the reluctant leaders
who had been imposed on
us, Awolowo and Buhari,
both armed with impeccable records of performance, the former as Premier
of the old Western Region as well as
Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive
Council in the regime of Gen. Yakubu
Gowon, and the latter, as a
military Head of State, etc, adequately prepared for the leadership of Nigeria. Three times were each
unsuccessful- Awolowo in 1959, 1979,
1983 and
President Buhari in 2003, 2007
and 20011.
Their paths might have
crossed in one form or the
other, that may been the unseen hand of God in their lives
preparatory to the task ahead that
:”You Obafemi Awolowo is my Moses and you Muhammadu
Buhari, my Joshua, for the libration of your people
from the ‘rats and
mosquitoes’ of your country”. Or could it be by sheer coincidence that, for
the first time since independence, both the North and the South West are in
effective political alliance? The
Thomas’s may continue to doubt.
Like the
Nostradamus that he was, Awolowo, in a paper delivered in Kano in
1970,had proposed a seven- point agenda which he
called national objectives that
should be implemented simultaneously
in all the states of the federation for
the rapid and even development of the country. He explained
that the revenue allocation
formula should be based on the implementation of the seven objectives and, by
so doing, put an end to the “endless search for the appropriate
allocation formula”. He was speaking in
a paper titled, Revenue Allocation Must be Based on Even Progress and Needs,
delivered in his capacity as the Federal Commissioner of Finance, to the annual
conference of state commissioners
of finance.
As if confirming
the link between these great national heroes, Buhari recently implemented item
seven of the Awolowo’s seven- point
objectives for national development
of 45 years ago and, by so
doing, been praised for “bailing”
out states that could not pay workers salaries. The late sage had said under this item that it
was imperative to put the federal
government in sufficient funds to
enable it not only to perform its allotted functions but also to come readily
to the aid of any state in need while
arguing: “But perchance any state falls on evil day, it would be the duty
of the federal government, acting as
an accredited agent of all the
states, to come to the aid of
such a needy state without delay…
Before leaving
this topic , one may ask Buhari’s critics
where they were when former
President Goodluck Jonathan granted some members of the private
sector a bail out. For instance,
Arik Airline got 600m dollars, Aero
-200m dollars, Air Nigeria-225.8mdollars, Chachangi-55m dollars
etc.(AMCON) in addition to an attempt to
buy aircrafts for them but for adverse public opinion.
Revisiting the
Awo agenda
If one of
Awolowo’s seven objectives
has been considered well enough
for implementation, the
remaining six, which may
equally be as
good, are therefore presented though in abridged form, for consideration
by Mr. President. They are-full
employment, free education at all levels and free health services for all, modernisation
of agriculture and rural development, rapid industrialization of each
state and rapid development of system of transportation. Owing to the relevance of Awolowo’s paper
to the Nigeria of today, I
had, at the formation of the All Progressive Party (APC), dropped a copy
of it
for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
at his office, Freedom House, Victoria Island, for possible
incorporation into the APC manifesto.
Discussing full
employment, Awolowo called for full exploitation and efficient
utilization of minerals resources as well as modernization of
agriculture explaining that the
country’s capability for phenomenal
growth was tremendous and colossal.
He warned that anything short of full
employment which could only be provided
by exploitation of mineral resources and agriculture, would be an admission of failure on the part
of Nigerian leaders “ that they are not equal to their admittedly difficult
but at the same time inspiring and
manageable assignment”.
Whenever we talk
of merely reducing employment and not stamping it out he said,
“The question which I always ask
myself is- who are the unfortunate victims we
are planning to keep on the unemployment market?”Like Awolowo, bailing
out distressed states could be regarded
as Buhari’s demonstration of love for
workers too.
On modernization
of agriculture, and industrialization,
the sage, supporting his argument with
characteristic statistics, said to
achieve any of the ambitious projection, the country’s agriculture must be
modernized and mechanized in a bold and massive manner. “We shall need to invest
heavily in tractors, mechanical ploughs and riggers,
fertilizers, pest control, irrigation,
research into high yielding grains and cattle ranches, fishing trawlers,
etc”. Awolowo, however, cautioned that
none of the states could alone afford the level of investment involved without the intervention of the
federal government acting in concert
simultaneously with all the states.
As for
industrialisation, he argued, that a properly developed agriculture in every
state would lead to development of agro- allied industries
automatically as well as manufacturing industries and consequently, disappearance of uneven
location of industries. He however warned that between agriculture and industries, the choice should be agriculture to eradicate unemployment explaining that while industries if properly
managed could provide employment for 220,000 workers in the next 12 years, agriculture would provide
employment for six million within five
years. Seeing 2015 way back in 1970,
Chief Awolowo warned that “if it is the ardent and burning
desire of those of us in the vanguard of public life to serve our age and the
next generation faithfully, our area of concentration must ipso facto be
agriculture.”
Concern
But how could
uneducated and unhealthy population be productive? This was the concern of
Awolowo as he canvassed as ever, for free education at all levels and free
medical services for all, arguing: “Man is the alpha and omega of production
and therefore indispensable to rapid
economic progress, political stability and social harmony. The more educated
and healthy he becomes the more productive he becomes as an economic agent and more effective as a member of the
society”. He dismissed the fear that money would be the problem but adequate
manpower and called for immediate planning.
On development of
system of transportation, Awolowo said,
“While the northern and
riverine areas of the
country, for social and economic
reasons, lag behind in transportation development and should be therefore given
a special attention henceforth, the crucial point of convergence for most
transportation activities were those
adjacent to the ports of Port-Harcourt, Calabar,
Sapele,Warri, Escravos, Lagos
and Apapa. It follows from this fact that the development of those roads
within the areas of the Mid-West,
Eastern, Western and Lagos Region which give
access to the ports, is of
concern to all of the states in
the federation.” Predicting the chaotic
situations of the roads witnessed today,
Awolowo warned: “Any transportation
difficulties in these areas are
bound to constitute time- wasting bottle-necks of the worst order.”
The question may
be asked, of what relevance is the vision of 1970 to 2015? The answer may be
found in the reality that Nigeria has not been blessed with a visionary and
patriotic leader since the Gowon era of 1970,who
could harness the common wealth for the benefit of all her citizens as Chief
Awolowo did for his people as the Premier of the Western
Region. The metaphysical and
psychological relationship between Awolowo
and Buhari has shown that for the
country to attain its potentials, there is an urgent need for another visionary,
competent and honest leader like
Awolowo, who Nigerians have found
in Buhari, a man who came to power with tons
of ‘universally acknowledged’ credibility that was uncommon with his fore runners.
Apparently
in tandem with Awolowo, Buhari has already indicated that he
would continue from where the sage stopped. Apart from”bailing” out distressed states, the President told the
Nigerian community during his four-day visit to the United States: “The All Progressives Congress administration would fulfil its three-pronged campaign manifesto of providing security, turning
around the economy with major focus on
youth employment and fighting corruption.” He said agriculture and mining
would receive priority as a faster job- creating avenues for the teeming
unemployed youths.
Those who could
not see yet any difference in electricity supply in the
past two months may equally not find the
correlation between Awolowo’s economic
road map and that of
Buhari. The sad news however is
that if the projection of 1970 is still
relevant in2015, it means the past 45
years has been that of the locusts and caterpillars
due to bad governance. It is
therefore not a surprise that Nigerians have unanimously voted for
a statesman they
could trust to remake the
country. Good-bye Awo, welcome Buhari.
