18/06/2022
WHY MY PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION FAILED — Obafemi Awolowo
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Having suffered several cycles of electoral defeat, Chief Obafemi Awolowo never realised his life-long aspiration to lead Nigeria. In the twilight of his life, he granted an interesting and wide-ranging interview to the Nigerian philosopher, Prof. Moses Akinola Makinde, in which he reflected on his political career and lamented the failure of his longstanding presidential ambition. Excerpts:
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“In 1959, during the election that was to usher in independence in 1960, I embarked on an elaborate campaign in the North. I don't know how old you were at that time. I was using helicopter to campaign in every nook and corner of the north. The most important aspect of the campaign of the Action Group was free education, life more abundant for the generality of the people etc., etc. Our manifesto was centred on the development of man. We worked so hard that the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello, was forced to come out to campaign, a thing he was never used to. My hope at that time was to liberate the north from illiteracy, ignorance, and the ranka dede mentality of the less privileged majority. If I had won the election, I would have put a lot of money educating the north in order to bridge the educational gap between that region and the western and eastern regions. This was because I saw the lack of education as a stumbling block against political enlightenment of the whole northern region.”
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“Because they were not educated, the voters could not make up their own minds and make their own choices. Rather, the innocent people of the north had to be dictated to by emirs and the elites who feed them on a regular basis whereas in the western region, people could argue with their Obas, could read manifestos and make an independent choice of which party and which politicians to vote for. Unfortunately, all my efforts to liberat
