March 6, 2022, the posthumous birthday of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was chosen to commemorate the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation’s 30th anniversary, which was established on April 11, 1992.
It was thus a joy for me to be invited by the Awolowo Foundation to join the team of Financial Analysts for the 1994 Federal Budget only two years after the Foundation’s inception, in 1994.
The 30th Anniversary event, which featured a talk by Prof Adedapo Asaju titled “Values For Africa’s Development,” began precisely at 6 p.m. Nigeria Time via Zoom. Over 350 people had signed in as of 6.08pm, 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 former Foreign Minister, and other VIPs.
The hostess and the Foundation’s Executive Director, Dr. Awolowo Dosunmu, the late sage’s daughter, gave the welcome address.
The participation by international and local dignitaries to the occasion plainly illustrates, the rightly earned place in history, which not many prior Nigerian politicians can be so honored and commemorated by keeping his legacy alive, decades after his death.
Essentially, the hymn “Only Remembered by What We Have Done” is a vivid reflection of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s life, times, and legacy.
The event was chaired by President Mahama, who reminded the audience in his speech that Awolowo’s birthday coincided with Ghana’s Independence Day in 1957.
Awolowo’s image and legacy loom large in life and death among Nigerians and the African continent, particularly among the Yoruba Nation, to whom he gave his all to serve and reveal the light that they fervently pursued.
Awolowo’s legacy is visible in the Yoruba’s commercial and educational growth, not only in Nigeria but around the world. 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 mimic his style of dressing and the shape of his glasses, without the very essence and attributes that make Awolowo, the kind of leader, who he was and who was aptly described by the Ikemba, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Oju.
The Awolowo Foundation has received assistance from numerous institutions, universities, Nigerians, and foreigners alike.
The fundamental question that current and future generations of Nigerians, and indeed Africans, are asking is simply, “When will we have leaders like Chief Obafemi Awolowo?”
We might wonder, “How long?” Not long. 2023 provides Nigeria with the opportunity to look for such leaders.
As a result, as the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation celebrates its 30th anniversary, my family and I join other supporters in congratulating the Foundation. And may it continue to flourish with strength.
