March 6, 2022, being the posthumous birthday of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was used to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, which was founded on April 11 1992.
It was therefore a privilege for me when I was invited by the Awolowo Foundation barely two years, after the formation of the Foundation, when in 1994, I was invited by the Foundation to join the team of Financial Analysts of the 1994 Federal budget.
The 30th Anniversary event, with a lecture titled: “Values For Africa’s Development” delivered by Prof. Adedapo Asaju, was transmitted by Zoom, and started promptly at 6pm Nigeria Time. As at 6.08pm, over 350 participants had signed in, including Igwe Nnamaka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sultan Saayd Abubakar, General Yakubu Gowon who was the Guest of Honor, Ex President Thabo Mbeki and his wife Zanele , Ex Ghanaian President John Mahama, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigeria’s one time Foreign Minister, amongst other VIPs.
The hostess and the Executive Director of the Foundation, Dr Awolowo Dosunmu, the late sage’s daughter, delivered the welcome address.
The attendance by international and local dignitaries to the event clearly indicates, the deservedly earned place in history, which not many past Nigerian politician may be so honored and celebrated by keeping his legacy alive, decades after his death.
Essentially, the hymn “Only Remembered by What We have Done”, clearly resonates with the live, times and legacies of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
The occasion was Chaired by President John Mahama, the former President of Ghana, who reminded the audience, in his speech, that Awolowo’s birthday, on March 06, coincides with the Independence Day of his country Ghana in 1957.
Awolowo’s image and legacy looms large in life and also in death, amongst Nigerians and the African continent, particularly, with the Yoruba Nation, whom he gave his all, to serve and show the light, which they passionately followed.
Awolowo’s legacy is evident by the commercial and educational progress that the Yoruba have made, not only in Nigeria, but across the global arena. Furthermore, the Awolowo legacy and his leadership attributes have placed him in a special place in the history of
Nigeria, to the extent that some self-serving Nigerian politicians, without the endowment of Awolowo’s values and attributes, now try so hard to mimick his style of dressing, and the shape of his glasses, without the very essence and attributes that makes Awolowo, the kind of leader, who he was and who was aptly described by the Ikemba, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu as : “The greatest President that Nigerian never had”
The Awolowo Foundation has enjoyed the support of many institutions, Universities, Nigerians and Foreigners alike.
The main rhetoric that this and upcoming generations of Nigerians and indeed, Africans are asking is simply: When are we going to have leaders in the ilk of Chief Obafemi Awolowo ?
We may ask: How long? Not long. 2023 offers Nigeria, the opportunity to search for such leaders.
Therefore, on this 30th Anniversary celebration of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, my family and I join other well wishers to say a big congratulations to the Foundation. And may it continue to grow from strength to strength.
Note: Iroche is a seasoned Finance Executive with over thirty years’ experience in Banking, Power and Public Service. He has served on various boards such as the International Glass Industries Limited and GTBank Sierra Leone.
