Awo's Motto Formulated On His 30th Birthday
"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!"
- My Early Life, 1968.
Awo on His Wife of 50 Years
"Throughout all the changing fortunes of my life ... , my wife, Hannah
Idowu Dideolu Awolowo (nee Adelana) has been to me a jewel of
inestimable value. She is an ideal wife ... The outpouring of her love
and devotion to me and to our family is exceeding and beyond words ... I
do not hesitate to confess that I owe my success in life to three
factors: the Grace of God, a Spartan self-discipline, and a good wife.
Our home is to all of us, a true haven; a place of happiness, and of
imperturbable seclusion from the buffetings of life."
- My Early Life, 1968
Awo on Risk Taking
"It is, I think, enough for me to say that life itself is, from the
cradle to the grave, a series of unbroken risks. I make no boast about
this, but those who know me intimately will testify to the fact that I
have never, at any time, shrunk from taking my full share of the risks
which life, with its unending opportunities and vicissitudes, offers."
- Voice of Reason, 1981
Awo On "The Courage To Look"
"The gloom of the world is but a shadow, and there is radiance in the darkness, if we could
but
see. To be able to see this radiance, all you need to do is to cultivate the courage to
look, and the insight to apprehend the light which shines, at all times and in all places, for
those who make Truth the object of their daily pursuit."
Speech to University Graduands (1967): In Voice of Courage, 1981.
Awo On Failure As Springboard To Success
"I have come to learn, from personal
experience, that
failure and defeat always serve as springboards for greater
achievements for I, whom who never acknowledges their potency, and who
is prepared to
meet the challenges posed by' them - for they always pose
challenges.
Statement on Attaining the Age of 67; 1976
Awo On Light and Darkness
"In the presence of light, darkness cannot exist; nor
can the night of misery and suffering... The
compelling urge to be a harbinger of light over
Nigeria has been my one consuming passion for
more than four decades now ... My yearnings for the
descent of light upon Nigeria became so deep that
they were soon transformed into an irrepressible call to duty."
- Text of a Broadcast on the Nigerian Television, Ibadan, 1979
Awo On Self-Discipline
"I will, more than ever before, subject myself to severe self-
discipline. Only men who are masters of themselves become
easily masters of others. Therefore, my thoughts, my tongue,
and my actions shall be brought under strict control always."
- My March Through Prison, 1985
Awo's View of The World
"I must take the world as I find it: with its sprinkling of saints and its
multitude of evil-doers, ... ; with its source of happiness and its tons of
sorrow. My duty, therefore, is to view anything that may happen to me in this world with Christ-
like calm and equanimity and to do all in my power to promote the progress and advancement of
mankind".
- My March Through Prison, 1985
Awo On His Lifestyle As Example To The Youths
"Those who desire to reach, and keep their places at the top in any calling must be
prepared to do so the hard way."
- Awo (Autobiography). 1960
Awo On The Temporary Nature Of Human Problems
"In the long run, all human problems do settle themselves aright, whatever anyone or
group of people may do. This is so, because all those who do wrong and injustice, are
merely setting themselves against the powerful tide of Nature's or, if you like, History's
dialectical progression. Temporarily, this tide can be held back; but certainly, not
permanently. "
- Address to 4th OAU Summit in Kinshasa, Sept, (/967): In Voice of Courage (1981)
Awo On Leadership By Example
"Those of us placed in a position of leadership must be prepared to grasp the nettle if we
unite in doing so, and if, in addition, we set a worthy example and a marat on pace in
probity, unselfishness, and self-sacrifice, the people will follow, all too readily, in our
footsteps. "
- Call to Rededication and Reconstruction (1961): In Voice of Reason (1981)
Awo On The Law Of Sowing and Reaping
"Like cause always produce like effect. In kind, we always reap what we sow; but
quantitatively, we always reap much more than we sow."
- Lecture at the University of Lagos (1968): In Voice of Courage (1981)
Awo On Good and Evil
"The touchstone of what is good, be it
thought, or word or action, is LOVE. We are to love our neighbours as
ourselves. That is the law and the prophets. Anything therefore - any
thought or word or action - which falls short of LOVE is evil, and
holds within itself the germ of its own eventual and inevitable
destruction."
- Lecture at the University of Lagos (1968): In Voice of Courage (1981)
Awo On Man and His Environment
"Man is not born to grope in the face of
adverse environmental circumstances and conditions: he is ordained, and
endowed with the capacity, to comprehend the universe, conquer his
immediate surroundings, and rule the world. But first, he must
understand the world and all its phenomena: he must do so
systematically and scientifically."
- The People's Republic, 1968
Awo On Man As The Sole Dynamic In Nature
"Man is the sole dynamic in nature; and
accordingly, every individual constitutes the supreme economic
potential which a country possesses. It is axiomatic that man can
create nothing. But, by an intelligent and purposive application of the
exertions of his body and mind, he can exploit natural resources to
produce goods and service..... Therefore, other things being equal, the
healthier his body and the more educated his mind, the greater will be
his morale and the more efficient he becomes as a producer and
consumer."
- University of Ife Convocation Speech (/974): In Voice of Courage (1981)
Awo On Development of Human Personality
"A man whose personality is fully developed
never fears anything; he cringes not, and never feels inferior to
anyone; His breadth of mind enables him to exercise his freedom in such
a manner as not to endanger the interests and freedom of others. He is
a citizen of the world - free from narrow prejudices. He is what he is
because the three main constituents of his entity - his body, brain,
and
mind - are fully developed. Mens Sana in Corpore
Sano!"
- Voice of Reason (1981)
Awo On The Cultivation of The Human Mind
"Whether we are conscious of or acknowledge
it or not, the fact remains stubborn and indestructible that poverty,
disease, social unrest, and instability, and all kinds of international
conflicts, have their
origins in the minds of men ... It is only when the
minds of men have been properly and rigorously cultivated and
garnished, that they can be safely entrusted with public affairs with a
certainty and assuredness that they will make the best of their unique
opportunity and assignment."
- Inaugural Address as Chancellor of the University of Ife (1967) Voice of Wisdom, 1981
Awo On The Cardinal Aim of Education
"Any system of education which does not
help a man to have a healthy and sound body and alert brain, and
balanced and disciplined instinctive urges, is both misconceived and
dangerous."
- The People's Republic. 1968
Awo on Free Education and Free Health Services
"In order to attain to the goals of economic
freedom and prosperity, Nigeria must do certain things as a matter of
urgency and priority. It must provide free education (at all levels)
and free health facilities for the masses of its citizens."
Awo on the Welfare of the Individual
"Man is the Alpha and Omega, the only
dynamic means and the sole end, of all earthly human activities ....
All productive activities, if they are to be meaningful, equitable,just
and human, should be geared to one and only one goal- the welfare of
the individual."
- The People's Republic, 1970.
Awo On Citizens General Well-Being
"He needs a healthy body which can be
reared only on good food, adequate shelter, decent clothing, a
reasonable measure of comfort and luxury, and a wholesome environment.
He needs a sound and
cultivated mind which is free to know and meditate
upon the things of his choice. He has natural, conventional and legal
rights which must be protected and upheld, with impartiality and
inflexible justice by government and the society in which he lives."
- Voice of Reason, 1980
Awo On Full Development And Employment Of All Talents
"When all the talents in society are not
fully developed, it is not the individuals that are adversely affected
alone who suffer; the society as a whole suffers as well. Now, granting
that every Nigerian is given an opportunity to develop his talents, it
is imperative that he should also be given an opportunity to employ
these developed talents. Full development of man and his full employment
are not only social imperatives, but also inseparably inter-connected
and complementary."
-Address delivered to Ondo State House of Assembly (1980): In Voice of Wisdom (1981)
Awo On The Development of the Soul-Personality
"Throughout my adult life, I have learnt
about the development of the soul personality, I know the law and the
prophets, that is to say, that love is the cornerstone of the universe
both visible and invisible."
My March Through Prison, 1988
Awo On Moral and Spiritual Reconstruction
"There is an urgent and massive need for moral and spiritual
reconstruction: the kind which will help to demolish morbid desire for
naked power and domination ... and ensure justice equity and fair play
for all."
- Lecture delivered to the Christian Laity of Nigeria. Lagos (1972): Voice of Wisdom (1981)
Awo On Human Desire For Power
"Let us make no pretense about it, every
human being loves power; power over his fellow men in the state, or in
business enterprises; or failing that; power over his wife and
children, and over his brothers, sisters, and friends, or, in the case
of children, power over his playmates. Of these categories of power, the
desire for power over one's fellow men is the strongest."
- Address to Students' Parliament (1975): In Voice of Wisdom (1981)
Awo on Equality of The Blackman with Other Races
"The Blackman shall be absolute and
undisputed master in his own home, and shall enjoy unaffected and
un-patronising equality with the other races of the world."
- Press Statement (196/): Voice of Reason, 1981.
Awo on Power and How It Enslaves
"Power enslaves: absolute power enslaves
absolutely. I have made a diligent search through history, and I have
not come across a single instance where a regime, be it military or
civilian, which has come to power at its own will, and has wielded that
power for many years, has found it easy to extricate itself from the
sweet uses and shackles of power, and then hand it to others outside its
own hierarchy. It is possible, quite possible, that my search is not
exhaustive and so, I stand to be corrected."
- University of Ife Convocation (1974): In Voice of Courage. 1981.
Awo on Africa's Dependence on Former Colonial Masters
"Today, Africa is a continent of COMPETING
BEGGAR-NATIONs. We vie with one another for favours from our former
colonial masters; and we deliberately fall over one another to invite
neo- colonialists to come over to our different territories to preside
over our economic fortunes ... Unless a beggar
resolutely shakes off, and irrevocably turns his
back on, his begging habit, he will forever remain a beggar. For, the
more he begs, the more he develops the beggar characteristics of lack
of initiative, courage, drive and self-reliance."
-Address to 4th OAU Summit in Kinshasa (1967): In Voice of Courage, 1981.
Awo on Self-Seeking African Leaders
"Africa has produced more self-seeking leaders than public-spirited
ones. But, thank goodness, the masses of the people remain largely
unspoilt and uncorrupted, and are developing fast the technique of
differentiating gold from lead and real metal from dross. What is more,
they have begun to show their
preparedness for very rough action against any
political leader who may be caught in the
game of public trickery and fraud."
- The People's Republic, 1968
Awo On People's Revolt Against Bad Leadership
"A greedy, corrupt, and evil administration is bound to wither, sooner
or later, in the face of obsessive desire and mounting clamour on the
part of the masses of the people for a welfare regime which will
benefit all equally. In the course of time there will be a clash of
desires and wills between the exploiters and the exploited. These clash
of desires and wills will stir the universal mind into action, and a
situation will then arise which will bring about the termination of or
radical change in the greedy, and evil regime."
- The People's Republic, 1968
Awo on the Wisdom of Managing Rivalries
"It is safer and wiser to cure unhealthy rivalry than to suppress it."
- Thoughts on The Nigerian Constitution, 1966.
Awo on the Danger of Not Practising What We Preach
"If we are in the habit of practising the opposite of what we preach,
our admonition will not only lose their force and cogency, but also we
ourselves will forfeit every claim to credibility. An ounce of example,
it has been widely said, is far better than a ton of precepts."
-Address to the Congregation of the University of Ife (1970): In Voice of Wisdom, 1981.
Awo on Thoroughness in Doing Things
"A half-hearted slipshod doer may be
likened to a fool who takes five steps forward and three steps
backwards ... Again, a half-hearted doer may be likened to a man who
sweeps a dirty room with a dirtier broom, and throws back into the room
a good quality of the dirt which he has managed to remove from the
room."
- Voice of Wisdom (1981)
Awo's Self-Assessment As A Leader
"While many men in power and public office are busy carousing
in the midst of women of easy virtue and men of low morals, I, as a few
others like me, am busy at my desk thinking about the problems of
Nigeria and proffering solutions to them. Only the deep can call to the
deep."
Awo On The Risk That The Few Rich Are Running
"We have in our midst about 1,000 rich
Nigerians who in the past cleverly rigged the sources of the wealth of
our nation, and we are now tactically poised to oligopolise all the
munificent avenues of riches that may supervene now and in the future.
The rich, and the highly-placed in business, public life, and
government, are running a dreadful risk in their callous neglect of the
poor and down-trodden."
- Address delivered to Ondo House of Assembly (/980): Voice of Wisdom, 1981.
Awo on Secularity of Nigeria
"Nigeria should be a secular State ... As
far as possible, there should be separation of activities between the
States on the one hand, and religious bodies on the other."
- Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution, 1966
Awo On A Motion For Self-Government
"Every time we talk about self-government,
the British turn around and say if we depart from your country, there
will be civil strife, there will be war ... But even under their rule,
how many of our sons who were taken to Burma, were decimated in a war,
the beginning of which we do not know, the cause of which we do not
know, and in the declaring of which we took no "art or part". I
challenge any Briton today to tell me whether the number of our people
destroyed in their wars, are as many as those who had died in our
so-called inter-tribal wars". .
- Speech given in The House of Representatives (1953):Voice of Reason, 1981
Awo on the Nigerian Federation
"Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression. The word Nigerian is merely a distinctive
appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria from those who do not".
- Path To Nigerian Freedom, 1947
Awo On Nigeria As Created By The British
"It is incontestable that the British not
only made Nigeria, but also hand it to us whole on their surrender
of power. But the Nigeria, which they handed over to
us, had in it the forces of its own disintegration. It is up to
contemporary Nigerian leaders to neutralize these forces, preserve the
Nigerian inheritance, and
make all our people free, forward-looking and
prosperous. "
- The Peoples' Republic, 1968.
Awo On Future Conflicts
"The seed for a future minority problem in the North has been sown by
the Government. It will grow with growing political consciousness on
the part of those who settle permanently in the North."
- Path to Nigerian Freedom. 1947
Awo on an Ijaw Presidency of Nigeria
"I look forward to the day - not in the far distant future - when an Ijaw would be President of our
Republic, and a Birom his Vice or vice versa."
- Speech at the UPN's First Campaign (1978): In Voice of Wisdom (1981)
Awo's Move for National Government
"At the conclusion of the Constitutional
Conference in London in 1958, I had an overpowering feeling of
foreboding ... that something untoward was going to happen to Nigeria.
That it would happen, I felt sure; but when it would happen, I had no
inkling ... At first, I felt there was nothing I could do about it. But
later on, I thought I might do something about it."
- The Travails of Democracy and The Rule of Law, 1987.
Awo on Federalism for Multi-National Country
"I predict that every multi-lingual or
multi-national country with a unitary constitution must either
eventually have a federal constitution based on the principles which J
have enunciated, or disintegrate, or be perennially afflicted with
disharmony and instability."
- The Peoples' Republic, 1968.
Awo on Human Diversity and Political Autonomy
"You can unite but can never succeed in
unifying peoples whom language has set distinctly apart from one
another; the more educated a linguistic. group becomes, the stronger it
waxes in its bids for political self-determination and autonomy,
unless it happens to be the dominant group."
- Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution, 1966.
Awo On Creation of More States for Minorities
"The creation of the Mid- West State will
be the beginning of a journey which may be short or long but which will
irresistibly bring Nigeria to the goal of true federalism and more
States, and of individual freedom and happiness for all our people."
- Awolowo and Nigerian Federalism, 1988.
Awo on Population As Basis Of Sharing Revenue
"In a country where the accuracy of the
census figures is so much in acrimonious dispute, it is gross and
aggravating provocation to urge that population should be used as a
basis of sharing what belongs to others who are much fewer in number."
-The Strategy and Tactics of the People's Republic of Nigeria, 1970
Awo on State Police
"Under my proposals, Police is a residual
subject, because the immediate problem of maintaining law and order can
only be properly and more effectively tackled by the State
Government."
- The Strategy and Tactics of the Peoples' Republic of Nigeria, 1970.
Awo on Peoples' Fear of His Death Arising from National Crisis
"Fortified with the justness of the cause we espouse in this
crisis, and trusting in the never- failing providence of God, 1 can say
with confidence that there, where my blood is shed, no grass will grow
again, and no life is likely to flourish again. Undoubtedly, lives
might be lost if the ugly crisis continues for long. But God, who sees
our hearts and knows why we have refused to bow to blind tyranny, and
are, as a result, in this politically helpless plight, will protect me
and my colleagues from any harm."
- The Travails of Democracy and the Rule of Law, 1987.
Awo On The Nigerian Civil War
"It appears to me that the causes of the
last Civil War lie embedded in the nether realms of such degrading and
depraving evils as unemployment; mass ignorance; endemic and
debilitating diseases; low productivity; abuse and misuse of power,
bribery and corruption; favouritism and nepotism; ethnocentricity and
tribalism; much poverty and much discontent."
- Address to The Nigerian Trade Union Congress (1970): In Voice of Courage, 1981.
