REPLACE AZIKIWE HEAD (STATUS) AND FIND AWOLOWO STOLEN AND LOST BODY (STATUS)
THISDAY NEWSPAPER
Akala Vs Awo's statue - Thisday Editorial
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
For the second time in recen
THISDAY NEWSPAPER
Akala Vs Awo's statue - Thisday Editorial
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
For the second time in recen
t years, the statue of Chief Obafemi Awolowo has been pulled down in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. This time, the statue has been replaced with the statue of an "unknown soldier". The Oyo State Governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala has offered some less than convincing explanations on why Awo's Statue had to be pulled down and replaced . It is difficult to understand the reason for the action, but it is hardly far from politics of mischief.
Were it not mischief, how can and why should the statue of Awolowo which has been there for years become a problem to Governor Alao-Akala?
It is amazing that of all the problems of development and infrastructural challenges facing the State including the despicable sanitation situation and poor labour relations, the interest of the governor is on how to replace the harmless statue of Awolowo, a man whose memory represents that of a father figure of the Yoruba race.
All over the world, statues of remarkable leaders are erected at strategic locations, if nothing else, to immortalize their names. It is in that understanding that Awolowo's statue are in several locations in most South West States, including Lagos.
It is doubly ironic that it is in Ibadan, which not only served as the Headquarters of the South West region, where Awolowo served as Premier, but a city where he left his greatest legacies , is the same city where his statue is now being knocked down.
Is Alao-Akala's motivation borne out of malice or is it that Ibadan is not deserving of Awo's statue?
And pray, between an Awolowo and a so-called "unknown soldier" who is more deserving of a statue in Ibadan? Is it not even sadder that Awo, a democracy icon will be replaced with a soldier, a symbol of jackboot dictatorship? Akala's action has re-awakened the notorious cliché that Ibadan is a military garrison. And if Akala is so disposed to a military statue, why did he not erect such a statue in any of the several round-abouts or strategic locations in the city? Must it be Awolowo's own that would be displaced?
Worse still is that all these anti-democratic acts are being perpetrated by one purportedly elected in a democracy. No doubt, the decision to pull down the statue is cheap and petty.
His god-father, Chief Lamidi Adedibu was fingered when the statue was first pulled down. It was rebuilt by former Governor Rasheed Ladoja.
That the same statue has been pulled down again when Alao-Akala is in power confirms that there is a deliberate decision to undo the irreducible status of Awolowo. But the truth is that even if all the statues of Awo in Nigeria were to be pulled down, Nigerians will not only remember him, but also will continue to appreciate his role in the birth of the nation and in instituting democratic culture in the country and implementing the welfare policies to the benefit of the people
Expectedly, the governor and his government have received rounds of public knocks from within and even outside the Yoruba nation.
For a government that is having problems with legitimacy and even the basics of governance such as clearing of refuse, it is a wonder that a governor worth his office should be bothering about the statue of one who laid the democratic foundation of even his political career.
It is perhaps pertinent to remind Alao-Akala that great nations are built by consolidating on what others have done. By deliberately courting this controversy, the Oyo State governor has elected to be the target of negative attacks. This can hardly be the desire of such a conservative politician.
No government so desirous of pursuing mischief and pettiness would be expected to do great things.
We call on Gov Alao-Akala to direct his efforts and attention to things that will make his name and tenure to continue to ring resounding bell, long after he would have served and left office. This can only be achieved through noble and altruistic actions not pulling down statues.
Were it not mischief, how can and why should the statue of Awolowo which has been there for years become a problem to Governor Alao-Akala?
It is amazing that of all the problems of development and infrastructural challenges facing the State including the despicable sanitation situation and poor labour relations, the interest of the governor is on how to replace the harmless statue of Awolowo, a man whose memory represents that of a father figure of the Yoruba race.
All over the world, statues of remarkable leaders are erected at strategic locations, if nothing else, to immortalize their names. It is in that understanding that Awolowo's statue are in several locations in most South West States, including Lagos.
It is doubly ironic that it is in Ibadan, which not only served as the Headquarters of the South West region, where Awolowo served as Premier, but a city where he left his greatest legacies , is the same city where his statue is now being knocked down.
Is Alao-Akala's motivation borne out of malice or is it that Ibadan is not deserving of Awo's statue?
And pray, between an Awolowo and a so-called "unknown soldier" who is more deserving of a statue in Ibadan? Is it not even sadder that Awo, a democracy icon will be replaced with a soldier, a symbol of jackboot dictatorship? Akala's action has re-awakened the notorious cliché that Ibadan is a military garrison. And if Akala is so disposed to a military statue, why did he not erect such a statue in any of the several round-abouts or strategic locations in the city? Must it be Awolowo's own that would be displaced?
Worse still is that all these anti-democratic acts are being perpetrated by one purportedly elected in a democracy. No doubt, the decision to pull down the statue is cheap and petty.
His god-father, Chief Lamidi Adedibu was fingered when the statue was first pulled down. It was rebuilt by former Governor Rasheed Ladoja.
That the same statue has been pulled down again when Alao-Akala is in power confirms that there is a deliberate decision to undo the irreducible status of Awolowo. But the truth is that even if all the statues of Awo in Nigeria were to be pulled down, Nigerians will not only remember him, but also will continue to appreciate his role in the birth of the nation and in instituting democratic culture in the country and implementing the welfare policies to the benefit of the people
Expectedly, the governor and his government have received rounds of public knocks from within and even outside the Yoruba nation.
For a government that is having problems with legitimacy and even the basics of governance such as clearing of refuse, it is a wonder that a governor worth his office should be bothering about the statue of one who laid the democratic foundation of even his political career.
It is perhaps pertinent to remind Alao-Akala that great nations are built by consolidating on what others have done. By deliberately courting this controversy, the Oyo State governor has elected to be the target of negative attacks. This can hardly be the desire of such a conservative politician.
No government so desirous of pursuing mischief and pettiness would be expected to do great things.
We call on Gov Alao-Akala to direct his efforts and attention to things that will make his name and tenure to continue to ring resounding bell, long after he would have served and left office. This can only be achieved through noble and altruistic actions not pulling down statues.
PUNCH
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Awo's statue: Between the mad and the sane
(Between Generations Builders and Destroyers)
By Adeyeye Oyedokun
(Between Generations Builders and Destroyers)
By Adeyeye Oyedokun
Nigerians have diverse ways of appreciating their leaders. So it is not easy to forget Sir Ahmadu Bello, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and other nationalists who laboured and risked their lives for Nigeria's independence and survival as a nation. Some of the nationalists are remembered by governments and communities by having their photographs in the nation's currencies, naming of streets, institutions, airports and even stadia to immortalise them.
Awo Statue
In spite of their inadequacies because of the complexity of the country, the trio of Sadauna, Azikiwe and Awolowo rendered selfless service for the rapid socio-economic and political development of Nigeria. If they had continued under trial and error without military intervention, Nigeria would have ranked as one of the strongest 10 economies of the world by 1975. And by 2020, Nigeria would have been one of the five strongest nations.
If it were Sadauna, Azikiwe or Awolowo, the money used for FESTAC '77 would have been spent on human development. After all, without petroleum, the three leaders still developed their regions through competitive healthy rivalry.
In the West where Awolowo dominated, he assembled the best brains and patriots to execute the Action Group's welfare programmes of free education, free health services, construction of Cocoa House, establishment of industrial estates, first TV station in Africa and agricultural revolution through the establishment of farm settlements, to mention just a few.
During the Second Republic, his party, the UPN, through his lieutenants –– Lateef Kayode Jakande, Olabisi Onabanjo, Bola Ige, Adekunle Ajasin and Ambrose Alli faithfully executed the cardinal programmes of the party. In addition, they established tertiary institutions in the five states controlled by the party. The Alliance for Democracy that was an offshoot of the defunct Action Group and Unity Party of Nigeria controlled the South-West in the 1999 elections.
In Oyo State where Alhaji Lam Adesina became governor in 1999, apart from pursuing the AD programmes, a statue was erected in front of the Government House, Ibadan. The import of this strategic location was that coming in and out of the Government House, Adesina must see the statue of Awo and remember his political philosophy. All the AD governors: Bola Tinubu, Segun Osoba, Bisi Akande, Adeniyi Adebayo, Adebayo Adefarati and Lam Adesina secured the support of their people with the shout of Awo. Regrettably, they made verbal agreement with Obasanjo on the need for him to complete the eight years of the Yoruba as Nigeria's President in return for OBJ to guarantee free and fair election in the South-West. The governors, except Tinubu, matched their word with action through open support for Obasanjo's second term.
Was that tribalism or patriotism? Was that Awo's brand politics or an invented politics? In response, Obasanjo, a war commander, military diplomat and strategist, shortly after winning the reelection in 2003, launched 'guerilla warfare' against all the AD governors except Tinubu that survived it. The PDP captured the South-West except Lagos. It was, indeed, a sliding tackle that Obasanjo used.
Following the political disgrace of Lam and his co-travellers, the administration of Oyo State went to Senator Rashidi Ladoja of the PDP. Shortly after his swearing-in- ceremony, thugs demolished Awo's statue in front of the Government House. Long before then, a mad man had demolished a statue of Awolowo at the Allen Avenue Roundabout, Ikeja, Lagos. Lagosians could not challenge the mad man, but the then Chairman of Ikeja Local Government, Alani Okikioposu, a bank and Tourism Ministry rebuilt and beautified the Awo statue. It still attracts tourist attention .
Obviously, the Lagos mad man believed that the statue could provide food, cloth, comfort and goodies of life. But the actors in Ibadan are not mad. They are sane. They were well educated, as they also took the advantage of free education of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Yet they demolished the statue of the late sage. We cannot blame them. They knew Awolowo stood for justice, fairness, honesty, transparency, egalitarianism and progress. For the statue to be in front of Government House, where 'unknown transactions' take place, the spirit of Awolowo would hunt them. Why not pull it down and allow Unknown Soldier to replace it? With the Unknown Soldier, all such unknown transactions would be passed into unknown accounts in unknown banks for unknown people.
VANGUARD
Awo's Demolished Statue
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala's replacement of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, SAN, and first Premier of Western Region's statue with that of an unknown soldier is an attempt to re-write history and diminish the significance of one of the nation's foremost nationalists. The statue during the era of Rashidi Ladoja as governor of Oyo State was pulled down by political thugs ostensibly on the orders of a notorious political figure in the State.
We had hoped that a more befitting statue of Awolowo will be made to replace the destroyed one. Governor Alao-Akala proved us wrong when he scandalously unveiled the statue of an unknown soldier at Agodi at the same point.
This decision is misplaced as it shows myopic understanding of history. The replacement shows Akala's administration as erroneously seeing Awolowo from the stand point of just another politician.
The late sage is more than that.He had vision, mission and political panache that rubbed off positively on, especially Western Region, and the nation in general. His era remains a reference point and for a long while this would remain so.
Awolowo changed the face of governance in the old Western Region as its pioneer Premier. He made the region a model to regions in other parts of the country. The first television station in Africa was established by him in the Western region. Cocoa House, Western House, Liberty Stadium, agricultural plantations, housing and industrial estates were all built during Awolowo's time.
The zenith of his achievements was the introduction of free education which permanently changed the fate of generations of people. The programme afforded both children of the rich and poor access to education. Many of today's names in politics, economy, law or academics benefited from Awolowo's free education policy.
Awolowo during his life time was the barometer through which several governments measure the acceptability of their policies. General Ibrahim Babangida, former military President, once described him as the "main issue in Nigeria's politics". At death, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu described him as the "best president Nigeria never had."
Such a high achieving man deserves respect even in death. The likes of him are role models worthy of emulation irrespective of their belief or political leaning.
The action of Alao-Akala is at variance with moves to immortalise national heroes. What he did portrays him as vindictive more so that he is from Ogbomoso the same town where Chief Ladoke Akintola, Awolowo's arch political rival came from. Is he trying to re-invent the bitter acrimony that existed between the duo?
Governor Alao-Akala can remove the statue of this Unknown Soldier in Agodi and return that of Awolowo. He would have admitted that he is human, and capable of making mistakes.
Ultimately, issues like this abound because of the arbitrariness that rules this society. The erection of statues should have laws backing them, such that another ignored issue – their maintenance – would have adequate provisions.
On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 10:06 AM, Mobolaji ALUKO <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:
AUGUST 17, 2010Dear All:The pledges so far are as follows, and have now exceeded $1,500, including from some non-Nigerians for the first time:
Aluko,.M...................$100
Ojo, V........................$50Ojedokun, O...............$40 (British Pound BP25)
Nwakanma O. ..........$100
Madu A..................... $50Kolawole, S............. $200Ogundimu, F............$100Edosomwan, C.........$100Igietseme, J. ............$100Chief Gemologist........$50Ekechi F....................$50Aina, T.....................$100Udogu I....................$100Zakari, A..................$100Raji, T.......................$50Kuforiji K...................$50Anonymous...............$67....(Nigerian Naira N10,000)Mensah, E................ $50Gyasi, K.....................$50
---------------------------------------Total so far.............$1517----------------------------------------
This is impressive so far, on Day 3 of Azuoma Anugom's intimation of this Restoration project. We have exceeded $1,500 PLEDGES. Hopefully by September 1, we would have REDEEMED more than $1,000, and by November 1, raised $5 - 6,000 (almost N1 million), to be REDEEMED in time for November 16, which would have been Zik's 106th birthday. If we raise N1 million by October 1 (50th Independence Anniversary), then it could be an opportunity to highlight an appreciation for Zik's role in that event - among other things.Please be generous, all your misgivings notwithstanding. Your money will be in good hands.I thank you all in advance.Bolaji Aluko___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________SOME BACKGROUND
Zik's Headless Statue in Onitsha, Anambra StateOn Sun 08/15/10 2:14 PM , Mobolaji ALUKO alukome@gmail.com sent:
Azuoma:
You wrote:
QUOTE
Anyway, if all fails, I don't mind facilitating the fundraising for the repair and maintenance of this statue. If all diaspora will agree to donate towards this project then I, Azuoma Anugom, will make sure that the statue is repaird and maintained in the name of Nigerians/Igbos in Diaspora. We can set up a committee as well as a account for this project if everybody is agreeable. What do you guys say?UNQUOTE
That picture that The Awka Man from Guangzhou showed was taken in 2006 or so when I toured the South-East, including Okija. I did take more pictures around the very disrepaired Zik Mauseoleum. I don't know whether that head is back on or not. If it is not, then it is likely that all else will fail to put it back on - unless the Diaspora raises funds for the project. Zik just does not appear to be a priority in that neighborhood.
Consequently, I pledge $100 to the effort to restore the Zik head at Onitsha. Count me in as a foundation member of the Zik Head & Mauseoleum Restoration Committee, Chairperson: Azuoma Anugom of Orlu.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Of Ode-Ekiti, Anambra State
---------------------
Azuoma Anugom wrote:
Start a lawsuit against who? Repairing this headless Zik statue should be a good PR for Gov Obi. Where is Mazi Odera and Valentine Obienyem (spelling?) and ASA-USA---can you guys do something about this, since you appear to have the attention of Gov Obi?!?! This statue is in Onitsha, Anambra State. If Nnamdi Azikiwe's family and Onitsha folks, who by the way, are well educated, highly placed---(occupy positions of power and authority) don't care; if the LGA where this statue is erected don't care abou the state of the statue----then the state government should care. Even if some folks may have a misgiving about the real worth of Zik's contributions to ndi-Igbo, since he was said to have a wider vision ---pan Africanism , pan Nigerianism----he is still an Igbo icon and should be accorded the respect due to him. Heck, where is Dora Akunyili? Who is in charge of Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism? Btw, why is Ohaneze interested in jumping into endorsing politicians so fast without being interested in maintaining Igbo icons?
Anyway, if all fails, I don't mind facilitating the fundraising for the repair and maintenance of this statue. If all diaspora will agree to donate towards this project then I, Azuoma Anugom, will make sure that the statue is repaird and maintained in the name of Nigerians/Igbos in Diaspora. We can set up a committee as well as a account for this project if everybody is agreeable. What do you guys say?
Azuoma Anugom
~~AdaejiagambaLife shrinks according to one's courage. Dare to be remarkable.-----Original Message-----
From: Enyimba1ofAba@...
To: IgboEvents@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 9:14 am
Subject: Re: [IgboEvents:Live] Headless Zik? Re: [IgboWorldForum] PICTURE OF THE WEEK;ALUKO WORSHIPPING AT ZIK,S FEET IN ONITSHA
Azuoma my sister, start a law suite immediately. This is an insult to Ndi Igbo nile.
Enyimba-----Original Message-----
From: Azuoma Anugom <adaejiagamba1@...>
To: IgboWorldForum@yahoogroups.com; igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com; IgboEvents@yahoogroups.com; igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com; WorldIgboCongress@yahoogroups.com ; imostatecongress@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 10:47 am
Subject: [IgboEvents:Live] Headless Zik? Re: [IgboWorldForum] PICTURE OF THE WEEK;ALUKO WORSHIPPING AT ZIK,S FEET IN ONITSHA
But what happened to the head of the statue? Where is Gov Obi? Ohaneze NdiIgbo, ASA-USA and others? Who erected the statue? Shouldn't this statue which ought to be a national monument be fix/repaired? Was this a true representative of Zik? I mean how can we have a headless Zik statue? This is really embarrassing.
Azuoma Anugom
~~Adaejiagamba________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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