A Short Commentary on
Awolowo and his Critics Mr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde Revisionists are everywhere. And for the most part they are attempting to rework history by allowing their prejudices, illiteracy, and preconceived notions to cloud their reasoning. These arm-chair critics have become masters at injecting willful fallacies, intentional falsehood, and historical nonsense into their understanding of history; and in so doing have began to cast aspersions on the memory of the great Obafemi Awolowo who was a political giant with a brilliant mind. He was graceful, charismatic and purposeful. Most of all he had vision and was a nice and decent human being! Chief
Obafemi Awolowo had his shortcomings. He was not a saint. However, his
failings and missteps were far fewer and less injurious than those of
his contemporaries. Within the context of Nigerian, and indeed within
African politics, Awolowo had no equal. He towered above his
contemporaries. Not only that -- all the leaders we have had since his
exit from government and politics have been political dwarfs. One would
be hard-pressed to name a political leader in His
accomplishments as the Premier of the Western Region are still evident
and remain unmatched by any leader in He
was unable to achieve his dreams because he refused to compromise his
principles. He refused to betray his constituent and his conscience. He
refused to bow to the wishes of the colonialist. He refused to obey the
barking orders given by Dodan Barracks. For these and other reasons
therefore, he was denied the ultimate political price; and because he
was denied his political aspiration, To
say he was a statesman is an understatement. If he was an American or a
European, the world would have placed him in the same league as
Churchill, Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle and many others. But because |