FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Awolowo Speeches on the "Risk of the Army" and "Financing the Nigerian Civil War"

[Mobolaji ALUKO]

 

 

June 6, 2010

 

 

Dear All:

 

 

Two speeches are hereby offered to you all to read and reflect upon:

 

1.   "It is Too Much Risk for the Army to Remain in Power" - by Chief Obafemi Awolowo (15th May, 1967)

 From  "Voice of Wisdom (Selected Speeches of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Vol. 3)," Fagbamigbe Publishers (1981), pp 33-39

 

http://www.nigerianmuse.com/projects/Awoproject/it-is-too-much-risk-for-the-army-to-remain-in-power-chief-obafemi-awolowo-15th-may-1967

 

 

2. "The Financing of the Nigerian Civil War and its Implications for the Future Economy of the Nation" - by Chief Obafemi Awolowo (May 16, 1970).

From  "Voice of Courage (Selected Speeches of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Vol. 2)," Fagbamigbe Publishers (1981), pp 98-115

 

http://www.nigerianmuse.com/projects/Awoproject/the-financing-of-the-nigerian-civil-war-and-its-implications-for-the-future-economy-of-the

 

 

They are JPEG (picture) files rather than textual files.

 

 

The dates of these two speeches are very significant:

 

1.  On May 1, 1967, Chief Obafemi Awolowo gave a speech in Ibadan to the Western Region Leaders of Thought, the well-known "If the East secedes..." speech. 

 

      http://www.nigerianmuse.com/20061228122222zg/projects/Awoproject/Awo_leaders_of_thought_May_1_1967 

 

On May 5-7, 1967, he led a reconciliation delegation comprising himself, Chief Jereton Mariere, Chief J.I. Onyia On and Prof. Sam Aluko to Enugu in the Eastern Region to persuade Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu and his advisers from taking any precipitous actions (including seceding from Nigeria):.

 

   See:  http://www.gamji.com/aluko/aluko27.htm

            MONDAY QUARTERBACKING:  The May Month that Shook Nigeria  [By Mobolaji E. Aluko, Ph.D. (June 3, 2002)]

 

This  May 15, 1967 speech  ("It is Too Much Risk for the Army to Remain in Power") was delivered on the occasion of Awolowo's installation as the first Chancellor of the University of Ife at Ile-Ife, and was therefore his first major public speech upon returning from Enugu.

 

Among many other things, the speech debunks the notion that Chief Awolowo quit the military government early in June 1971 (having joined it on June 12, 1967) simply because he lost influence in it.  In fact, he never thought that military government should be a permanent or long feature of the life of any nation, and had said so four years earlier.

 

 

2.  On May 27, 1967 the Federal Government of Nigeria under General Gowon re-organized Nigeria into 12 states from 4 regions.  On May 30, the Eastern Region announced that it was seceding from Nigeria and establishing the new nation on Biafra.  Chief Obafemi Awolowo became Finance Minister and Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria on June 12, 1967.    On July 6, 1967, the Nigeria-Biafra Civil war started, which lasted until Jan 12, 1970 when Biafra capitulated.

 

This May 16, 1970 speech ("The Financing of the Nigerian Civil War and its Implications for the Future Economy of the Nation"), delivered by Chief Obafemi Awolowo under the joint auspices of the Geographical Society and the Federalist Society of Nigera at the University of Ibadan, was his first major public speech giving an account of the financial implications of the civil war.

 

The speech laid out the deep dislocation of the national plans occasioned by a war that was completely unplanned for, and the tough decisions that had to be taken after the civil war to ensure the survival of a nation emerging from such a war.

 

 

Two more things:

 

1.  That both speeches - serious speeches of great national import - were given at universities showed the deep respect that Chief Awolowo had for university communities in those days.

 

2.  Chief Awolowo felt it was important for political leaders to give a public accounting of why certain decisions were taken in the interest of the nation and its people. It showed RESPECT for the citizens, that given enough information, they would be able to make input to government policy as well as respect those decisions that have already been made.  That way, any sacrifice demanded of them could be easier extracted, and any future decisions would have exemplars.

 

 

On the whole, Chief Obafemi Awolowo (born March 6, 1909, died May 9, 1987) represented the best enlightened Nigerian political leader that there has been.  No other leader in Nigeria so far has left behind in print his thought processes in coming to important decisions.   We must continue to celebrate him, warts and all,  while hoping that more like him will emerge everywhere in the country, all working together to  extricate us from our present doldrums.

 

And there you have it.

 

 

 

Bolaji Aluko

 

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