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Obafemi Awolowo

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Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (Yoruba: Ọbafẹ́mi Oyèníyì Awólọ́wọ̀; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Nigerian nationalist and statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement, the First and Second Republics and the Civil War. The son of a Yoruba farmer, he was one of the truly self-made men among his contemporaries in Nigeria.

Quotes

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  • After rain comes sunshine and after darkness comes the glorious dawn. There is no sorrow without its alloy of joy, there is no joy without its admixture of sorrow. Behind the ugly terrible mask of misfortune lies the beautiful soothing countenance of prosperity, so tear the mask.
  • I’ve tried to explain myself in the past, but these liars persist. Ojukwu had only recently told the same lie against me. What’s the point in correcting lies when people are determined to persist in telling lies against you? What’s the point? I know that someday the Ibos, the masses of the Ibo people will realize who their friends are, and who their real enemies are. And the day that happens woe betide those enemies. The Ibos will deal with them very roughly, very roughly.
  • When I look back, I come to the conclusion that all these abuses which have been heaped on me all my life for doing nothing, for doing good, they have become honor, and so Eebudola is one of my nicknames. So I’ve cultivated an attitude of indifference, I’ve done no evil to the Ibos.
  • I think it is an extremely useful experience that a young person be made to do for himself certain mental and domestic jobs which though distasteful, other people are nevertheless being called upon to do from time to time. (Page 65)
  • Now the world is like a mighty jar, and all of us in it, in our different theatre of operation, are like beans with varying sizes and weights… Getting to the top is one thing and remaining there is another. To maintain your place at the top, you must make sure that you do not at any time shrink in size or lose in weight. (Page 72)
  • I owe my success in life to three factors: the Grace of God, Spartan self-discipline, and a good wife. (Page 111)
  • I solemnly vow to the God of my Heart that wherever the fight is thickest and fiercest in the cause of truth, principle, justice and right, there I will always be. (Page 154)
  • The yearning of independence is a natural instinct embedded in the breast of man by Nature. (Page 199)
  • We must never lose sight of the fact the attainment of independence is not an end in itself. It is a noble means to a great end. (Page 200)
  • Indeed, an educated and healthy individual is, in my opinion, the strongest single factor in the economic and social advancement of any nation. (Page 271)
  • There can be no alternative to a democratic way of life if the aim of the government is the physical, mental and spiritual welfare of the people. (Page 273)
  • It is the readiness and the yearnings and aspirations of the people that will determine the calibre and character of the people that will determine the calibre of those who rule them
  • Violence never settles anything right: apart from injuring your own soul. (Page 300)
  • We must read history books, and do more than merely read them: we must learn, mark and inwardly digest what we have read. (Page 306)
  • Any government that does not enjoy the goodwill of the people should resign: it must not utilise the people’s money for both their enslavement and starvation. (Page 310)
  • Blessed be your verdict: and I say in advance, blessed be the verdict your Lordship may pass on me. I personally welcome any sentence you may impose upon me. At this moment, my only concern is not for myself, but that my imprisonment might do harm to Nigeria for three reasons, Firstly, the individual services which I have hitherto rendered, and which I can still render will be lost to the country- at least for a season. Secondly, there might be a heightening, of the present tension that has lasted 15months, and has done incalculable injuries to the economy of this country. Thirdly, for sometime to come, the present twilight of democracy, individual freedom and the rule of law will or might change into utter darkness. But after darkness, and this is common place- comes the glorious dawn.
  • It is therefore, with a brave heart, with confident hope and with faith in my unalterable destiny that I go from this twilight into the darkness, unshakeable in my trust in the providence of God that a glorious dawn will come on the morrow.
  • My adversaries might say who am I to think that if I am imprisoned the country might suffer? What if I died? The point of course, is that I. am still alive and I will not die in prison.
  • Furthermore, the spirit of man knows no barrier, never dies and can be projected to any part of the world. This being so I am confident that the ideals of social justice and individual liberty which I hold dear will continue to be projected beyond the prison walls and bars until they are realized in our lifetime.
  • I do fervently and will continue fervently to pray that I may be proved wrong. For something within me tells me, loud and clear, that we have embarked on a fruitless search. At the end of the day, when we imagine that the new order is here, we would be terribly disappointed.
  • At the threshold of our New Social Order, we would see for ourselves that, as long as Nigerians remain what they are, nothing clean, principled, ethical, and idealistic can work with them. And Nigerians will remain what they are, unless the evils which now dominate their hearts, at all levels and in all sectors of our political, business and governmental activities are exorcised.
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