I have seen the viral video of Obafemi Awolowo back when he was being driven to Dodan Barracks when Gen Murtala Mohammed drove him to meet with Gen Yakubu Gowon immediately after he was freed from Calabar Prisons. The video, many years after, is recently trending with the caption, ‘MEMORY LANE’.
The intention of the sharer of the video was to prove how young Awolowo, Gowon, and Muritala were then at the prime of their political career as against the current political dispensation where political leaders want to hold on to public offices, even till death.
It is necessary to correct this deliberate distortion of facts and history. Even when the political role models mentioned started out their political careers at a young age, they were never willing to take a bow at old age for the younger generation to take over leadership.
Obasanjo was sure youthful at the point in history the video refers but after handing over to Shehu Shagari’s led administration; Obasanjo still came back from retirement as military head of state to contest presidential election under PDP and was elected president twice, as a grandpa.
Agreed Awolowo was young then, but he was still a politician desperately seeking to be president when he was aged. It was the same with Nnamdi Azikiwe who also started his political career as a young man but even when he was aged, he was still actively involved in politics like Awolowo.
Have we forgotten that Awolowo founded the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 1978, and Nnamdi Azikiwe and others founded the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) in the same era? By 1979, much older Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo contested the presidential election won by much younger Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
Shehu Shagari was elected the first Executive President of Nigeria and later Nnamdi Azikiwe of NPP formed an alliance with NPN to get a simple majority in the National Assembly against the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
The bottom line is that most of these people joined politics as young men and remained in politics till old age, the same thing with politicians in the US. Joe Biden joined politics as a young man, for 36 years he was a US Senator representing Delaware and remained in active politics even as age tells on him. Today he’s president of the US.
George Bush Snr joined politics as a young man. In the US Congress and Senate, there are many of them who joined politics as young people but they still remain in the Congress and Senate in old age. Though we are Nigerians and Africans we have our own ways and need not copy them because I believe we must do things for ourselves without their involvement in our internal politics and development.
What we lack in Nigeria and Africa is good governance and docile followers who refuse to ask their elected public officials to be accountable. Good governance has nothing to do with age.
James Ibori, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Ifeanyi Okowa, Bukola Saraki, Lucky Igbenedio, Ben Ayade and Seyi Makinde my young friends, Adamu Mu’azu, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Donald Duke, Rotimi Amaechi, and many others joined politics as young men but today they are all still actively involved in politics.
Politics is a game that people find it difficult to pull out of once they join. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo joined politics as young
People remained old as politicians till when the military truncated the elected civilian administration with the coup d’etat of 31st December 1983, led by Major General Mohammadu Buhari.
Herbert Macaulay who was the father of nationalism in Nigeria was born on 14 November 1864 and died on 7 May 1946. At 82 years when Herbert Macaulay died, he was still in active politics as president of NCNC while Nnamdi Azikiwe was Secretary.
Herbert Macaulay founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) as president while Nnamdi Azikiwe was Secretary in 1944. At age 40, Nnamdi Azikiwe was already a prominent politician. He also contested under NPP as a presidential candidate in 1979 at the age of 75, which he co-founded in 1978.
In 1952 Awolowo had become premier of the Western Region till 1959 in pre-independence administration under Egbe Omo Oduduwa nationalistic group co-founded by Adeyemo Alakija, Akintola Williams, Yekini Ojikutu, Obafemi Awolowo and others in London, UK in 1945 when Awolowo was 36 years of age.
Age is not a barrier to politics as far an individual politician has the capacity and is deemed fit by his medical doctor. African problem is not about age but about the lack of good governance by dishonest leaders and followers. A bad leader is an unpleasant leader no matter his/her age.
A good leader is a morally right leader no matter their age bracket. Mandela became president at 76 years but he remained a good leader of his people even after stepping aside from power. A leader without character is wasteful.
I will conclude by saying that Nigerians and Deltans should vote wisely and don’t sell their votes to those cheating you already. Don’t vote for those who will mortgage future generations for their selfish interests. Don’t vote for those who will sell the entire Delta state. Don’t vote for Okowa and stooge.
We Mobilize Others to Fight For individual Causes As If Those Were Our Cause!