I am an Awoist — but an Awoist without illusions. I first met my hero when I was an undergraduate at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria in the seventies. He was Chancellor of the University. I recall an address he once gave to the university community. His delivery was magisterial. He spoke calmly but with power; radiating uncommon gravitas. I was in awe.
I must have been an exception among the common run of “northern” youths. We were taught that Awolowo was the recrudescence of evil — of everything that was repugnant to Arewa. My late bosom friend, Ahmadu Abubakar who died two years ago, had this penchant for coming up with rare books. I once waded through his copy of The People’s Republic.
Beyond the heavy disquisitions on federalism, public finance and welfarism, I found nothing in his thought suggesting Obafemi Awolowo was by any stretch of the…
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