Today 6th March 2012 marked 103rd year birthday of a visionary, journalist,politician,lawyer and activist Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo (Yoruba: Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀; March 6, 1909 – May 9, 1987),commonly known as Awo and often referred to as the sage, was a Nigerian nationalist, federalist and social democratic statesman, trade unionist ,attorney and author.[1]His first name,Obafemi,means 'The king loves me' and the surname,Awolowo, means 'The mystic[Mysticism] commands honour or respect'. A Yoruba and native of Ikenne in Ogun State of Nigeria, he started his career as a nationalist in the Nigerian Youth Movement like many of his pre-independence contemporaries and was responsible for many of the progressive social legislations that have made Nigeria a modern nation.[2] He was an active journalist and trade unionist as a young man, editing The Nigerian Worker amongst other publications while also organizing the Nigerian Produce Traders Association and serving as secretary of the Nigerian Motor Transport Union. After earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Nigeria from a London University through correspondence, he went to the UK where he earned a law degree from London School of Economics.While there,he founded the Egbe Omo Oduduwa ,a pan-Yoruba cultural society,which provided an impetus for the formation of a political party,the Action Group.As Leader of the Action Group,he represented the Western Region in all the constitutional conferences intended to advance Nigeria on the path to independence. He was the first Leader of Government Business and Minister of Local Government and Finance and first Premier of the Western Region under Nigeria's parliamentary system, from 1952 to 1959, and was the official Leader of the Opposition in the federal parliament to the Balewa government from 1959 to 1963. In addition to all these, Awolowo was also the first individual in the modern era to be referred to as Leader of the Yorubas (Yoruba:Asiwaju Omo Oodua), a title which has come over time to be automatically ascribed to his direct successors as the recognised political leader of the elders and members of the Yoruba clans of Nigeria.
2012 is here again marking the birth of the icon and hero who fought a good faith, and yet many politicians claimed to walk on the path of the icon Awolowo but masses are still suffering especially the yoruba race. If today is Awolowo's birthday, then another Awolowo is 3 years old,waiting to rise and deliver the masses from slavery. Who is the next Awolowo. Hmmmmm, I am speechless. In the name of Awolowo, yoruba politicians are cheating us and forgetting that posterity will judge. They claim to have the spirit of patriotism and yet they steal our money. Forcing us to labour and earn little,out of the little, tax is being removed. Some senators buy houses in Abuja and forget to come to their senatorial district to access if their people are doing fine. Some doesn't even know how to get to their hometown and they will speak big grammar at the floor of the house for recognition. Awo Awo Awo, the man of the people,the man for the masses.who is our next Awo?
2012 is here again marking the birth of the icon and hero who fought a good faith, and yet many politicians claimed to walk on the path of the icon Awolowo but masses are still suffering especially the yoruba race. If today is Awolowo's birthday, then another Awolowo is 3 years old,waiting to rise and deliver the masses from slavery. Who is the next Awolowo. Hmmmmm, I am speechless. In the name of Awolowo, yoruba politicians are cheating us and forgetting that posterity will judge. They claim to have the spirit of patriotism and yet they steal our money. Forcing us to labour and earn little,out of the little, tax is being removed. Some senators buy houses in Abuja and forget to come to their senatorial district to access if their people are doing fine. Some doesn't even know how to get to their hometown and they will speak big grammar at the floor of the house for recognition. Awo Awo Awo, the man of the people,the man for the masses.who is our next Awo?