In Remembrance of Olusegun Awolowo

Dialogue With Nigeria By AKIN OSUNTOKUN

Dialogue With Nigeria  AKIN OSUNTOKUN

People born on September 27 often fail to recognise it, they have the ability to make a lasting and positive impression on all those that they meet. This is because they are extremely versatile and sensitive to the feelings of others, and like nothing better than to bring harmony to any situation- Theresa Cheung

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them-William Shakespear

The home run began on the 10th of June 2025. Having not spoken with Segun for some months, I flagged a tag on him on Dele Momodu’s facebook page captioned ‘my brother is back’ in a picture of him seated with the latter. I reposted the photo to him with the inquiry “back from where”?. He then called to narrate the grave health condition he had been grappling with and was finally back home in Nigeria to recuperate. He provided an elaborate account of the toll the condition had taken on him with illustrative pictures. I couldn’t wait to see him the following day. The visit turned out to be a sort of thanksgiving to God for delivering and granting him a new lease of life. I noted he looked feeble but was quite his vigorous self as we bantered ceaselessly. I took a deep sigh of relief.

For months, his doctors had been unable to provide a precise diagnosis of the ailment. The good news was that his penultimate medical attendants had been able to zero in on the problem and

the prognosis was not life threatening. They assured him that other than the inability to regain the weight he had lost, he had little to worry about. He then prompted that we should take a reunion picture. About two weeks thereafter and on this hopeful note we had the celebration of Bola’s 60th birthday. Thus assured that my brother was indeed ‘back’, I thought I needed to give him the space to recuperate (more like an excuse for not undertaking a return visit)

Our paths first concretely crossed when we (in a team led by Professor Moibi Amoda) were doing consultancy work for the establishment of the Obafemi Awolowo foundation in 1992. Beyond our personal bond, we had an extendend family friendship that had endured for decades, with all its ups and downs. We elected to inherit the assets and disinherit the liabilities. Thirteen years ago he spent two days with me at our country home in Okemesi to partake of my mother’s obsequies.

My father, Joseph Oduola Osuntokun, was cabinet minister in the western regional government led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, from 1955 to 1959. And my uncle, Professor Kayode Osuntokun, was a personal physician to Awolowo. For both of us, the saying that politics is in the blood clearly manifested as we solidify our friendship with active political partnership for a whole generation. Perhaps his greatest political legacy, in this regard, was the political pressure group, Progressive Action Movement, PAM, we initiated alongside Opeyemi Agbaje, Babafemi Ojudu and Toyin Fagbayi which, I dare say, caught the imagination of all political leaders across the lenght and breadth of the country. It was a generational statement per excellence.

PAM was the brainchild of a number of us which blossomed to incorporate the participation and membership of Pastor Tunde Bakare, HRM Lamido Sanusi, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, Dangiwa Umar, Olisa Agbakoba, Femi Fanikayode, Opeyemi Agbaje, Makin Soyinka, Nike Ransome-Kuti, Bimbo Ashiru, Reuben Abati, Segun Olawoyin, Muyideen Banmeke, Kayode Samuel and a number of other public notables.

It was conceptualised as a response to the failure of the political system to fulfil the role of continuous and regular leadership reproduction and recruitment into the civilian political class-to assume political succession from one generation to another. There was an emergent generational gap and vacuum-to whose remedy we programmatically addressed ourselves.

We intended ourselves as a kind of political nursery for preparing and producing a successor class at the shortest possible time. As it were, the major indication of this systemic failure was the recycling of political leaders rather than a renewal with successor generations. Conventionally and specifically the role of leadership recruitment into the political system is that of the political parties. Understood as such, the poverty of the performance of this role is self-explanatory in the non-existence of political parties for the better part of the period spanning 1960 to 1999.

The political party system and the legislative institution are the most conspicuous and consequential casualties of military intervention in the governance of Nigeria-as elsewhere. The more protracted the rule of military dictatorship, the more impoverished the political system and the attendant roles of the party system including leadership recruitment and reproduction.

Unlike the political system and to underscore the point is the analogy of the Nigerian economic sector which has witnessed progressive and periodic renewal and turnover of the public and private economic sector leaders. Many major contemporary economic leaders were either not born or were toddlers when people like Adeyemi Lawson, Michael Omolayole, Grema Mohammed, Mai Deribe, Gamaliel Onosode and numerous others held forte.

We aimed to bridge the generational gap with recruitment of functionaries defined by class, pedigree, vision and competence. It was aimed at precluding precisely the kind of degenerate political leadership with which contemporary Nigeria is saddled. It cannot be a coincidence that two ranking Nigerians, Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Senator Babafemi Ojudu who recently and publicly made an issue of this generic failure were foundation members of PAM.

Lamented Sanusi, “If we really want to fix this country, we need to have class. The ruling class must have values beyond stomach infrastructure..  Nigeria is a classless society where you have highly educated people in government who behave like illiterates and turn to praise singers, when you see Professors and Ph.D. holders clapping for mediocrity, you know something is deeply wrong.”

Ojudu gave further content and context when he averred that “Public life in Nigeria has lost its dignity. The solemnity once associated with leadership has been replaced by swagger, arrogance, and the theatre of absurdity. Once, public office demanded learning, restraint, and a sense of history. Today, it attracts jesters, hustlers, and entertainers whose only creed is self-display”.

Many of our peers may not have spotted the flowering of Segun’s literary talent, (which would have attracted the applause of his illustrious pedigree) and his increasing desire to put pen to paper. He had just completed his memoirs and his recurring philosophical refrain was a pointer to his urgent aspiration to leave a legacy as a thinker.

As testimony and tribute to his memory, let me now bear witness to this legacy and reproduce some of the evidence, written in stirring and lofty prose, two of which have now become premonitions.

Captioned  “ina n jo, ogiri o sa”. he wrote

“It is with a heavy heart that I write these words to bid farewell to my dear brother,  Abimbola Ogunbanjo who met his untimely demise on Saturday 10th February, 2024. The news of his sudden departure has left me shattered.

“From our days as childhood friends to the halcyon days at Igbobi College to more recent moments of pride as recipients of awards from the Igbobi College Old Boys Association. A brotherhood cemented in Geneva & Lausanne, Switzerland   our friendship stood as a testament to enduring camaraderie and mutual respect.

“We laughed together, we dreamed together and we faced life’s challenges hand in hand. The title of this tribute translates to “ if a fire is burning, the wall never runs “ Those were his words to me every time we greeted encouraging us to always face our fears and never give up .  “ MAN MI “ our last meeting was at Igbobi College on Sunday 4th February , both unaware it was the final goodbye.

“As we grapple with the pain of his absence, let us also celebrate the life of a remarkable man who touched so many with his kindness. Though he may no longer walk among us, his legacy will endure, a guiding star for all who knew him. May God in His infinite mercy grant your noble and proud Ijebu soul perfect and permanent peace”.

The other was “An Ode to my Grandfather: Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo SAN GCFR, 37 years on”.

“In the quiet of my thoughts, I see your face,Thirty-seven years have slipped away,Yet your presence lingers, day by day. With wisdom deep as the ocean’s vast,You steered our ship through the tempests past. In your footsteps, I learned to tread, Guided by the words you once said. With courage and grace Papa, you led the way, Inspiring generations to seize the day.

Forever remembered, Forever adored

Your legacy, a beacon so bright,

Illuminated the darkest night.

In each decision, I still hear your voice,

Guiding me to make the right choice.

“Oh, how I long for one more day,

To sit with you and hear you say,

Stories of old, lessons so profound,

In your wisdom Papa, was solace found.

Forever remembered, Forever adored

In the tapestry of time, your threads are sewn, A legacy of love and truth you’ve sown.Though you’ve journeyed to a distant shore,Your very essence lives forevermore.Forever remembered, forever adored, Obafemi Awolowo, continue to rest in perfect peace”

“So Papa, on this day,

I stand on the shoulders of your name,

I carry forth your eternal flame.

With gratitude and reverence, I honor thee, For the gift of your legacy, forever free. Forever remembered, Forever loved”.

And then on the 15th of June 2025 he penned his most intriguing

“My dear brother. I trust you are in good health, this is a Sunday with a significant difference as two important celebrations coincide. Trinity Sunday touches on the core of the  Christian faith and that’s why I find a hymn such as ‘Faith of our fathers’ so moving. I hope you are very much blessed this Trinity Sunday”.

“My other point incidentally is that we both are in the same boat as heads of our respective families enjoying the grace of God’s support for that unique role. It’s my great pleasure therefore to wish you a most lovely Father’s Day. And many happy returns of the two occasions in the glorious name of Jesus Christ”

Goodnight my brother. Fare thee well.

Iná dilè léyìn asun-isu-je

Òjò nlá dilè léyìn àgbè

(Bonfire becomes dust in the absence of roasted yam eater; Rainfall becomes soil after the exit of the farmer)