By Professor Joseph Dele -TUNJI
Let me begin by defining Awoism. This principle of effective governance is associated with Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the first Premier of the Western region in Nigeria, and his followers and associates then took over the name to represent their caucus. However, despite the country’s improved resources, Nigerians must ask why no leader has come close to Chief Awolowo’s accomplishments. In all honesty, Nigerian education must address the practical needs of its citizens. During Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s time, it was free education. Today, the focus should be on education on the most needed areas of the economy, such as mining mineral resources, mechanized farming, cultivating fruit and tree crops, and developing relevant skills in mechanics, construction, building, engineering, and carpentry.
Additionally, equipping individuals with the necessary skills for effective governance and administration is essential. Nigerians must prioritize leadership development by educating, training, and preparing individuals to become influential leaders before elections occur. The leaders of Awolowo’s era were well-trained in leadership and administration, loved their people, and put people’s interests above their own. By the time of independence in 1960, resources were multiplying and growing. These resources were effectively identified, utilized, they were accessible to the people through employment, accommodation, food supplies, socioeconomic needs, and relevant societal and educational conditions (e.g., Awolowo free education in the western region).
Although the new supporters of Awo’s ideology were interested in Chief Awolowo’s ideas, they needed to recognize the need for new thoughts to be developed. One of Chief Awolowo’s ideas still resonates today is free education, which is crucial for developing countries. However, today, education goes beyond just being free. It’s critical to equip children with computer literacy, social media, and artificial intelligence skills. The world has become a global village, and competition is no longer limited to one’s country. Children compete with their peers across Europe, Japan, China, and the United States.
Today, the topic of discussion among Nigerians is whether the recent election in Nigeria was conducted freely and fairly. Although I refrain from discussing this issue, there are reasons to be hopeful about Nigeria’s future. This hope is due to the commitments and steps the newly elected President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, took. Despite the influence of the politicians who helped him to win the election, Tinubu has a strong vision for the country and its people based on the ample opportunities available. President Bola Tinubu’s administration promised a hopeful future for Nigerians, but after couple months, the high cost of living makes life difficult for many. This problem is not just affecting the poor but also the rich.
A recently released report of the World Bank stating that four million Nigerians fell into poverty between January and June 2023. They also warned that another 7.1 million would fall into poverty if the government did not handle the subsidy removal well. At first, some Nigerians dismissed the report, especially those who supported the removal of fuel subsidies. However, removing subsidies is now negatively impacting all sectors of the country, causing great suffering. Unfortunately, some people believe that the well-being of the elite and political class is prioritized over that of the public. In my observation of past regimes in Nigeria, they often come up with excellent ideas that could benefit the people. Still, they need to carefully consider the consequences before implementing them.
Unfortunately, Nigeria’s resources, including human, natural, and capital, have been exported to other countries. This action has stunted Nigeria’s development and created a form of neo-slavery where skilled workers are taken abroad without the foreign governments subsidizing their training. If a nation loses its skilled workforce without finding suitable replacements, the unskilled individuals who remain to lead are more likely to become corrupt. Corruption is a huge problem in Nigeria. The use of gap analysis will help tackle corruption issues—Understanding where the nation is, where it ought to be, and where it’s going. Therefore, instead of solely targeting corrupt politicians, the government should prioritize creating opportunities for the suffering masses to generate wealth through resource utilization. Sustainable progress is achievable by providing employment, education, secure housing, food security, and a decent standard of living. Sustainability was the focus of Chief Awolowo’s era for success. It’s important to note that poverty will always exist among people, and there will always be corrupt politicians, as written in religious texts.
In today’s world, the Awoism principle, named after Chief Awolowo, is facing challenges that demand upcoming leaders to have better leadership and administrative training to implement modern leadership vision effectively. The way the Awoists rose to power could have been enhanced with improved administration, as they required contemporary skills to execute their ideas. However, Chief Awolowo and his 1950s/60s group were effectively trained at various colleges in Nigeria and overseas for their leadership role. Unfortunately, most of the early followers of Awoism are no longer alive. Leaders such as Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Lateef Jakande, Bola Ige, Ebenezer Babatope, Ambrose Alli, Sunday Afolabi, and other staunch followers of Chief Awolowo.
Surprisingly, these Awoists only tried hard to reproduce their leader’s achievements without a solid strategy to cast and execute their vision, plans or initiate modern philosophies. Although these individuals were well-educated in different fields, they needed more focused training in leadership administration. Only a few were trained in law and governance, but they needed to gain contemporary skills in leadership administration multiplying their progress. Some people have made assertions that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was either a follower, disciple, or stalwart of Chief Awolowo. But what matters is for him to have a realistic vision for the country to meet the twenty-first century challenges, then he can be seen as an Awoist.
Influential leaders in a diverse country such as Nigeria understand the importance of recognizing and valuing cultural differences among their people. It is also crucial for leaders to acknowledge how diversity can impact administrative operations and outcomes. By embracing culturally sensitive leadership, organizations and countries can move towards a more inclusive and diverse workplace or government where individuals are valued for their skills and abilities. Leaders should promote a culture of inclusivity that welcomes full participation, regardless of an individual’s race, age, gender, cultural or ethnic background, physical ability, or any other characteristic. However, political interests can sometimes create differences due to the support of politicians who helped the leader or president win the election. Yet, nations like organizations establish diversity programs to promote diverse employees’ hiring, inclusion, and career advancement. These programs ensure that differences are accepted and respected in the workplace. A workforce comprises individuals with unique human qualities and cultural backgrounds. Politicians must understand that diversity includes everyone, regardless of age, race, marital status, physical ability, income level, lifestyle, or ethnicity.
Recently in Nigeria, photos and videos circulated on social media showing groups of women in northern regions protesting the high cost of living. The women expressed concerns about rising expenses as they marched through the main streets, chanting “Komi yayi sadar,” which translates to “everything is expensive, especially grains.” Their situation is made worse by the presence of Boko Haram, bandits, and kidnappers, which have prevented farmers from working on their farms for years. The current security situation has harmed food production, leading to a severe food shortage for subsistence farmers. This problem is exacerbated by the removal of fuel subsidies, which has caused prices for essential goods, including food, to skyrocket. In another instance, civil society groups, organized under the Edo Civil Society Organizations, marched through Benin City, the state capital, to protest the difficulties faced by Nigerians due to the recent increase in fuel prices resulting from the removal of subsidies. The protestors also expressed their disapproval of the fuel price hike and the high cost of governance in Nigeria. However, I am not naïve not to recognize that rival political opponents might have instigated some of these protests.
For Awoism to work. The question in the mind of many is that who is the man called Chief Obafemi Awolowo? In his biography, Obafemi Awolowo (1909–1987) was one of the most important statesmen and political thinkers of Nigeria in the 20th century. He lost his father at an early age of ten, Awolowo worked as a teacher and journalist to complete his secondary education before moving into business. Following his marriage to Hannah Dideolu Awolowo in 1937, he mobilized the resources to travel to the United Kingdom, where he obtained a law degree in 1946. Confronted with ethnic rivalry during his early activism in the Nigerian Youth Movement, Awolowo developed a federalist vision for Nigeria. Building on his understanding of grassroots Yoruba politics, he mobilized Yoruba ethnicity and solidarity through the cultural organization Ẹgbẹ́ Ọmọ Odùduwà. Awolowo’s party, the Action Group, became the dominant Yoruba party in the 1950s, and served as the first premier of the Western Region in 1954–1960, presiding over an ambitious modernizing program. Reduced to the leadership of the opposition in 1960, Awolowo was subjected to a politically motivated trial in 1962 and imprisoned.
Most of the early African leaders were trained overseas specifically for leadership administration in their own country. One of the popular schools in the USA was Lincoln University Pennsylvania, and in the UK, Administrative College. According to Wikipedia, the Administrative College, England was later renamed as the Henley Management College and is now part of the University of Reading. Nigeria has been an independent country since 1960, and thereafter, from 1960 until 1963, the British Queen (Elizabeth II) was still considered the head of state for the country. Awolowo like Nkrumah and Azikiwe did not attend Administrative College in England, but both studied at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, USA, while Awolowo studied at the Wesley college Ibadan Nigeria. They were the first presidents of Ghana and Nigeria respectively, and Nigeria’s first Premier of the western region. They included alumni like Nnamdi Azikiwe, a classmate of Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall and member of Lincoln’s class of 1930, who became Nigeria’s first president in 1963; Kwame Nkrumah, first prime minister of Ghana in March 6, 1957, Black Africa’s first country to gain independence and a member of Lincoln’s class of 1939; and Hastings Kamuzu Banda, a graduate of Meharry Medical College and Malawi’s first president.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo, first Premier of the Western Region under Parliamentary system (1954-1960) Awolowo attended Wesley College, Ibadan, as an educator, graduated in 1927. He was a practicing Wesleyan Methodist. In 1932, he took up a clerical post at the College. In 1937, he organized a successful strike against an “unjust and inequitable colonial law” By the early 1940s, he was active in the NYM (Nigerian Youth Movement), becoming Ibadan branch secretary in 1940. In 1942, he led agitation that resulted in the reform of the Ibadan Native Authority Advisory Board. In 1943, he co-founded the Trades Union Congress. In 1944, he organized a mass protest the ban on exporting palm kernels. Part time study led to a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1944, as an external student at London University. In 1944, he left Nigeria for London to study law.
While in London, Awolowo, co-founded the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa, the ancestor of the Yoruba-speaking peoples). This organization is devoted to the study and preservation of Yoruba culture. It was launched in Lagos in 1948. Qualifying as a barrister at Inner Temple on November 18, 1946, he returned to Nigeria and established a successful legal practice. In 1949, Awolowo founded the Nigerian Tribune, a private Nigerian newspaper, which he used to spread nationalist consciousness among Nigerians. From 1947 until 1951, he was a solicitor and advocate of the Superior Court of Nigeria. Awolowo died in his hometown, Ikenné on May 9, 1987.
Education is highly valued in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. The role of universities in national development is a topic of much discussion on the continent. There is growing interest in the contribution universities can make to addressing the challenges caused by technological changes that have affected African society’s political and socio-economic order. However, African universities’ curricula sometimes don’t align with the traditional needs of the people. Instead, they often prioritize foreign ideas irrelevant to their daily political and practical needs. As a result, students, parents, legislators, and the public have become increasingly disillusioned with the quality and relevance of university education. This disillusion has led to demands for greater accountability, focusing on universities delivering programs efficiently and effectively to meet educational goals.
Many African nations have attempted to establish their national universities shortly after gaining independence. The primary objective behind these universities was to pioneer initiatives to address poverty, social disorganization, low production, unemployment, hunger, illiteracy, and diseases—the very problems of underdevelopment that plagued the African continent. However, these new nations have been confronting a wide range of insurmountable challenges, such as political, social, economic, legal, ethnic, demographic, and technological issues, which have threatened their very existence and that of their people. Despite this, governments have continued to invest heavily in education, but the direct contribution of these investments in solving these problems has yet to be objectively established.
As leaders, they should follow in the footsteps of their late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, casting a clear vision for the country. Instead of relying on temporary empowerment programs to win elections every four years. In Nigeria, those seeking positions of power must present a well-thought-out plan to voters, also known as a manifesto. Using money to influence elections will not work, as it does in developed nations. Chief Awolowo was a visionary who achieved great success in his time, and no other Nigerian, living, or deceased, has surpassed his achievements. This vision is why southwest Nigeria did so well during the first republic. Unfortunately, the mismanagement of the economy by the military in the 1990s led to the downfall of companies like Nigeria Textile Mills Ikeja Lagos, which once employed over 4,000 workers.
During his last two years as Premier of the Western Region, Awolowo focused on cementing his legacy as a visionary leader. He established Western Hotels, which invested in leading hotels such as Premier Hotel, Lafia Hotels in Ibadan, and Lagos Airport Hotel. He also founded the Western Nigeria Development Corporation in 1958 to finance large corporations and encouraged plantation development in collaboration with Cooperative societies. These efforts led to the creation of six agricultural plantations covering 20,517 acres and eleven additional plantations covering 8,468 acres with crops such as Cocoa, Rubber, Oil Palm, Citrus, Cashew, and Coffee. The WNDC was also established to promote rapid industrial development and revolution in the region.
Additionally, Awolowo ensured that Western Nigeria Civil servants received higher salaries than the Federal government. This plight led to the creation of numerous jobs through vast industrialization drives. All these achievements were accomplished without any revenue from oil between 1951 and 1959. Awolowo also prioritized road construction and laid over 2,000 roads throughout the region. One of Awolowo’s grandest achievements was the establishment of WAPCO at Ewekoro for cement production, with enough capacity to serve the entire country. Other successful enterprises included Nigerite Ltd, National Bank, Wema Bank, Nigerian General Insurance, Great Nigeria Insurance, Cocoa Processing Industry Ogba Ikeja, Odua Textile Mills Ltd, and Wemabod estates, which owned the tallest building in the region at the time, Western House on Broad Street, as well as other estates. However, some enterprises need to be fixed or are under-functioning.
In Nigeria’s Yoruba land, a well-known proverb states, “A young man may own many clothes, but he cannot have as many rags as the elders.” This proverb emphasizes the importance of learning from elders and gaining wisdom from their experiences. Similarly, Nigeria can learn from Israel’s success in governance. The key to success is prioritizing the love for one’s country, evident in Israel’s national development. Israel, a democratic state for the Jewish people, was established in 1917 under British rule through the Balfour Declaration. Despite differences in political views and opinions among Israeli leaders, they all shared a common national vision. One of the founders of Israel was David Ben-Gurion, who, at only twenty years old, organized the immigration of thousands of Jews to the land, transformed scattered militias into a national army known as the Israeli Defense Forces, and oversaw army operations during the War for Independence. Golda Meir, the first woman to serve as Israel’s Prime Minister, was also instrumental in Israel’s development. She was born in Ukraine, raised in Wisconsin, USA, and became interested in Zionism early in life. After World War II, she was the chief negotiator between the British authorities and the Jewish people living in Palestine. She was among only two women to sign the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
Chaim Weizmann, a brilliant chemist, served as Israel’s first President. He was born in the Russian Empire in 1874, studied in Switzerland, and eventually immigrated to England. He became a leader among British Zionists and helped negotiate the Balfour Declaration of 1917. After the UN resolution, the Jewish community established governing institutions for the Jewish state. The National Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel, the governing Zionist organizations in Palestine and abroad, respectively, founded the National Council in March 1948. The Council comprised 37 members representing various Jewish groups, with Chaim Weizman elected to lead the Council. The National Council declared the establishment of the State of Israel at a meeting in Tel Aviv, with the Council becoming the Provisional State Council, the highest institution of the new state. The Declaration of Independence, approved and signed by the members of the Provisional State Council, announced the election of a Constituent Assembly within four months to write a constitution for the permanent governing institutions. However, to this day, Israel has yet to write a constitution despite several attempts to draft one since 1948. Instead, Israel has fundamental laws and rights that enjoy semi-constitutional status. However, this provisional solution needs to be revised for Israel’s needs.
Finally, for the Bola Tinubu government to succeed, it must have a clear, concise, and complete vision for Nigeria. To work with governors to establish industries and road networks nationwide that will provide meaningful employment to the youth and help eradicate corruption. Chief Awolowo accomplished so much during his eight-year tenure as Premier of the Western Region. However, most present-day governors cannot claim to have established world-class companies, corporate institutions, or industries that create jobs for the many university graduates who enter the workforce each year. Instead, the government continues to license more schools for profit.
A crucial aspect of effective leadership, whether as a President or otherwise, is establishing and upholding an ethical culture by setting a positive example. Additionally, it’s essential to unite the nation by conveying a clear vision, mission, and purpose through a well-planned strategy. By the government doing so, the entire organization can be aligned around the leader’s plan for success. The President bears responsibility for the executive, judiciary, parliament, and society, but leadership is not limited to one person in government. All individuals, leaders, and executives must contribute to the country’s success by working together toward a common goal. Teamwork is essential for effective leadership in administration.
* Professor Joseph Dele –TUNJI is a Business Professor at Liberty University, Virginia USA. He is also a researcher, ethnographer, journalist, and commentator on leadership, organizations, and institutions.