Speaking Truth to Power:  Awo and Mandela, Contrasts and Comparisons

-Olu Ojedokun, Ph.D.-

The 18^th of July 2008 marked the 90^th birthday of Nelson Mandela, an icon of our time.  In celebration of this remarkable individual I consider it apt to use this space to draw attention to some comparison between Nelson Rohilala Mandela and a figure less known to the world outside Nigeria but no less an illustrious son of Africa , Obafemi Awolowo, referred to as Awo in the rest of this piece.

These two personalities separated in their birth dates by little more than a decade were former political prisoners held in very high estimation by their respective constituents. Dwelling upon these personalities allows us to examine the commonalities and contrasts they evoke and the lessons their lives are able to speak to us.

Some may suggest that the commonalities drawing these two men together appear to end in the facts they both shared prison experiences and were law attorneys.   But it may allow the exploration of the rest of their life’s narration and reveal some remarkable contrasts. It is easy to start with the fact that one is dead whilst the other is alive.  We move on to the fact that one achieved the Presidency of his country through democratic elections whilst the other was unable to achieve it.  One became an international statesman whilst the other was buried in the minutiae of national politics.  However, I believe there are more things that have linked and bound these men together than seems apparent.

It is noted that for whatever reasons Mandela and Awo faced great and intense hostility from a significant section of the country in which they lived.  The crucial difference is that Mandela was able to break the mould of hostility while Awo never managed it.  Some may suggest that this is because Mandela bent his principles but I prefer to dwell on the question below to unpack the short sightedness of such a suggestion.

The question that then intrigues me is as simple as this, what is it that is in Mandela’s DNA that allowed him to succeed where Awolowo failed?

Let us explore a few of the facets of Awo’s life and career as a politician.  There is little doubt that Awo was a man of immense principle.  However, he always seemed to place this over the tactics of achieving the very principle he believed in, therefore earning him in many quarter the criticism of rigidity.  To Awo things were always so clear cut; he saw things in contrasts and harboured no self doubts at all.  To quote Mr Babatunji Iyanda, there is no doubt that Awo was a man of unqualified courage, who early in life at the age of thirty years on 7th March, 1939 formulated a motto which guided his affairs:

“After rain comes sunshine;

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!"

It has also been suggested that Awolowo was, arguably, the greatest head of state that Nigeria never had but he never quite bridged the gap between being a leader of the Yoruba and a truly national leader. He was never a narrow ethnic sectionalist, but neither was he able to gain the trust of the majority of Muslim northerners or the Ibos of the east.

On his death in 1987, the then Editor African Guardian Magazine, Mr. Andy Akporugo, had this to say:

“Chief Awolowo was undeniably one of Africans finest statesmen. But as a politician, his conception of ‘shepherd' seemed over laden with platonic abstractions concerning the Philosopher-King. He believed for instance, that the people deserved a knowledgeable, honest and purposive leader whose selection (election?) was invariably governed by some natural, self evident rules of elimination"

On Awo's leadership style, a former Nigerian leader, General Yakubu Gowon had this to say as part of funeral oration:

“Chief Obafemi Awolowo was dedicated, disciplined and serene. In the single mindedness of his devotion to the business of government and in his political career, he was resolute and almost stern. He was indeed a charismatic leader who commanded respect among his followers"

All these accolades and tributes masked a crucial flaw which I think Awo in my view exhibited.  It was his inability to understand and master his adversary’s worldview.  In my view one of Awo’s other failings was his inability to understand the suggestion that the biggest enemy of truth is not necessary the lies out there but the myth that we all appreciate it when truth is spoken plainly.

However, this does not detract from the true measure of his greatness and legacy proven by the number of people who now wear Awo caps, glasses speaking in coded discourse and claim to be Awoists.

We come to the vital aspect that I suggests separates Awo from Mandela, is that Mandela was able to separate the tactics from the principle whilst Awo was unable to achieve that.

In Mandela’s case it is argued by Richard Stengel of Time Magazine in Mandela: His 8 Lessons of Leadership 9^th July 2008 that:

“Uncomfortable with abstract philosophical concepts, he would often say to me that an issue "was not a question of principle; it was a question of tactics." He is a master tactician.”  “For Mandela, refusing to negotiate was about tactics, not principles. Throughout his life, he has always made that distinction. His unwavering principle — the overthrow of apartheid and the achievement of one man, one vote — was immutable, but almost anything that helped him get to that goal he regarded as a tactic. He is the most pragmatic of idealists.” 

But more fundamentally is the fact that Mandela over 27 years in prison was able to know his enemy, the Afrikaners.  He did that essentially by discovering how important rugby and the Springboks their national team was to them.  To quote the Sunday Times of 6^th July 2008: 

“As a metaphor for apartheid’s crushing brutality, the Springboks worked well.  Their distinctive green jersey was as detestable to blacks as the riot police, the national flag and the national anthem, Die Stem (The Call), whose words celebrated the white conquest of Africa’ southern tip.”

For Mandela had a capacity which Awo lacked to penetrate the minds of people culturally different from himself.  He knew when to flatter and soothe; he knew also when he could go on the offensive, without causing offence, thus conveying an impressive directness.  On the Afrikaners Mandela explained their mindset in the Sunday Times:  

"I worked with Afrikaners ever since I was training as a lawyer, and I found them to be simple and straightforward.  And if he doesn’t like you, an Afrikaner, he ‘ll say ‘gaan kak’. “Get lost” would be a polite translation of the Boer original.  “But if he likes you, then he agrees with you.  They have the ability to stick to what they have undertaken.”

Without neccessarily subscribing to every material particular in the quotes below, allow me to emphasise this contrast with Awo by drawing from an article written by Dr Wunmi Akintide on 21 May 2003 in Nigeriaworld:

“He argued that he had therefore rejected the Awolowo's hypothesis that the Yorubas must never work with an Hausa dominated Party like the defunct NPC (Northern Peoples Congress} He had argued that it was foolhardy for the Yorubas to continue to dismiss the Northerners as unfit to lead any Government in which the Yoruba people would participate in. He had berated such a notion as an Awolowo frame of mind which he argued, should be rejected by the rank and file of the Yorubas, because democracy is a game of numbers, and it did not make sense at all for the Yorubas to allow the Igbos to continue to dominate Nigeria. The Hausas may be stark illiterates, according to Akintola, but they appeared to hold the trump card to the governance of Nigeria . Therefore the Yorubas must find some ways to reach out to them, and to join them if they could not beat them. That was Akintola's logic or reasoning at the time. If we critically examine where Nigeria is today, more than forty years later, you can still see a lot of sense in Akintola's position. Today for the first time in our history a Northern-led Party has taken over the entire Awolowo country, and a Yoruba man is right at the top of the pyramid leading the same Party and the whole nation. We all have to concede that Ladoke Akintola surely had a point from the "get go", if the truth must be told.”

He goes on to argue that:

“Akintola and few Yoruba leaders like Richard Akinjide, Chief M.A. Akinloye were the very first to question the conventional wisdom that the Yorubas must never have anything to do with the Northerners as a group which was the central focus of Awolowo's who had believed he could become President of Nigeria with or without the cooperation of the North as a power bloc. And if the result of the recently concluded Election in Nigeria is anything to go by, I submit that Akintola and Akinjide's position would appear to have been vindicated at long last, if we really think about it. An Hausa/Fulani dominated Party the PDP will, less than ten days from today, be the ruling party in the old West, regardless of the irregularities some people have alleged on the conduct of those elections. That has become a "fait accompli" for once in our history.”

How different things may have turned out if Awo was able to understand and master the mindset of the Hausas, Igbos and many other nationalities in Nigeria ?

The writer is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria .

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 20.07.2008 15:12

docokwy  Villager

# 2 He argued that he had therefore rejected the Awolowo's hypothesis that the Yorubas must never work with an Hausa dominated Party like the defunct NPC (Northern Peoples Congress} He had argued that it was foolhardy for the Yorubas to continue to dismiss the Northerners as unfit to lead any Government in which the Yoruba people would participate in. He had berated such a notion as an Awolowo frame of mind which he argued, should be rejected by the rank and file of the Yorubas, because democracy is a game of numbers, and it did not make sense at all for the Yorubas to allow the Igbos to continue to dominate Nigeria. It would appear that notable Yoruba people have always had Igbos at the back of the mind, given what Akintola said above, which implied that Yorubas should work with the hausas to prevent Igbos from dominating Nigeria. Posted by docokwy| 20.07.2008 16:39

Son of the Delta  Villager

# 3 =docokwy;4295072737>It would appear that notable Yoruba people have always had Igbos at the back of the mind, given what Akintola said above, which implied that Yorubas should work with the hausas to prevent Igbos from dominating Nigeria. Mazi Dockowy una good morning oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted by Son of the Delta| 20.07.2008 18:23

purple  Villager

# 4 "An Hausa/Fulani dominated Party the PDP will, less than ten days from today, be the ruling party in the old West, regardless of the irregularities some people have alleged on the conduct of those elections. That has become a "fait accompli" for once in our history.”: quote Nigerians deserve the motely crew of unprincipled strange bedfellows from all ethnic groups who rule us today. Yes they rule , not govern us. We are ruled with the iron fists of those whose conciences have been seared with a hot iron. Visionless rulers who cannot and will not improve the lot of the groaning masses of Nigeria. These rulers are such good politicians who never bothered with principles or compromised what little they had to join the raping of Nigeria. Nigerians deserve the government they have. We deserve our moribund institutions and decaying infrastructure and despondent people. We deserve being dumped in deserts and overboard boats into the Mediterrenean. When we reach the end of our rope, may be will will see value in principled leadership, till then the looting and unaccountability goes on and whinning and revolving-door type finger pointing goes on. Real men like Papa Awo and Mandela are rare in this 'settlement' generation where principles are tossed overboard at the jingle of silver coins. Posted by purple| 20.07.2008 18:41

Tony  Villager

# 5 If intellectuals like this writer can buy into the warped tribal logic of Akintola where instead of the South to unite, they rather chose to fight themselves, then the south is condenmed to slavery. It is exactly that Southern sabotage including the civil-war betrayal that has made it possible for the North to continue to dominate and not because Akintola suggested it as the writer of this article tragically accepts. When PHD holders cannot reason logically, i wonder what is left of this generation. Posted by Tony| 20.07.2008 18:47

tonsoyo  Villager

# 6 This article is full of craps as facts and lame comparisons.. I will address the specifics later. Posted by tonsoyo| 20.07.2008 18:50

bobokite  Villager

# 7 did not bother reading, the headline pissed me off.. Good night. Posted by bobokite| 20.07.2008 19:26

ALORAINIDDEVIL  Villager

# 8 Na wa for all these Yaroba writers, previoulsy, Awo was compared with Abraham lincoln, now is Mandela, tomorrow now some egghead will pick up his pen and compare Awo with God... anyway, Mandela wasnt a tribalist for all i know! Posted by ALORAINIDDEVIL| 20.07.2008 20:07

Austin  Villager

# 9 To me the greatest mistake Awo made was in not recognising the huge benefit in joining hands with Biafra in the disintegration of Nigeria as it then was. Had he done that, we wont have been here today discussing this, and perhaps the need to compare him with Mandela wouldn't have been necessary. He would have probably been the leader of a sovereign state; he would have rubbed shoulders with other other such leaders as contemporaries. He would have been visible at the UN. And pehaps his country (and under his leadership) would have been the one to play a vital role in the emancipation of Mandela, and in granting asylum to the like of Thabo Mbeki and his colleagues. But then as they say, ambitions is a very poisonous thing... Posted by Austin| 20.07.2008 21:22

tonyben33  Villager

# 10 I see this article as very objective.The author did a very good work.I know some villagers will dismiss me as a JJC. Late Chief Awolowo played tribal politics.He saw the notherners as incapable of ruling Nigeria but was too suspicious of the easterners and had no political dealings with them.His refusal to seek acommodation widely across ethnic boundary(to quote OBJ)was responsible for his political failures.His inability then to win Midwest Region that was just created from the Western Region gives credence to OBJ's quote above. Having said this,we all benefitted from his free education- programme and Iam sincerely grateful to him for this. Posted by tonyben33| 21.07.2008 01:26

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