‘We’ll Strive to Approximate Awolọwọ’s Legacy of Commitment, Integrity, Excellence’

By Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosunmu

It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome you all to this virtual meeting, the first of a planned series of events to celebrate 30 years of the existence of the Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ Foundation. 

I feel greatly honoured to especially welcome His Excellency, Mr John Dramani Mahama, former President of the Republic of Ghana, who, so graciously accepted our invitation to Chair this event. I welcome you to Nigeria, virtually, Your Excellency. 

I also extend a special welcome to our Special Guest of Honour, General Yakubu Gowon, former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. By virtue of his position as Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, he also qualifies to be referred to as the ‘Chief Host’ here today!

I am extremely delighted to welcome our Guest Speaker, Rt. Rev. (Professor) Adedapọ Aṣaju. I seize this opportunity to congratulate him, most warmly, on his very recent appointment as Bishop of the Ilesha Anglican Diocese. 

Chief Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ was, first and foremost, a thinker. He is generally acknowledged to have brought outstanding erudition and critical analysis to bear on the art of governance. 

It could even be argued that partisan politics was, for him, but an avenue to attain that necessary vantage position from which he could assist his country and her peoples to reach the immense heights that he was convinced was their manifest destiny. 

For these and many other reasons, including the need to sustain this core essence of Awo’s legacy and, hopefully, protect it from the vagaries of partisan politics, it was evident that an institution in his memory would better provide the scholarly and systematic avenue through which we could accomplish our goal. 

We envisioned an institution that would take up the responsibility to encourage contemporary leaders, and citizens, to make the considerable body of ideas that Chief Awolọwọ left to posterity a constant reference point. Such an institution would, as reflected in the preamble to the Foundation’s constitution, ‘inaugurate a new chapter in the work that gave Chief Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ his national and international stature’. 

It would, for example, constantly engage with the policy making process in a constructive manner, just as Chief Awolọwọ did during his lifetime.

In order to accomplish its mission effectively, the ideals of Chief Awolọwọ had to remain the definitive guide of the proposed institution. It must avoid any hint of partisanship. Rather, inclusiveness had to be its watchword if it was to make the desired impact, especially as Chief Awolọwọ’s prescriptions appear to have received universal endorsement as unassailable strategies for development.

This, then, was the vision that gave birth to the Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ Foundation 30 years ago.

The Foundation was eventually launched in Ibadan on April 11, 1992 at a ceremony, the outcome of which was so encouraging that.it dispelled all our previous fears regarding the viability of its take-off. For this, we remain grateful for the generosity of the Federal and some State Governments at the time, as well as numerous public-spirited individuals. 

Subsequently, inclusiveness has remained the Foundation’s watchword, from membership of the various governance structures and Committees of the Foundation to the choice of resource persons for our various programmes. 

A word about our Board of Trustees. In our audacity, we simply identified twenty-seven of the most eminent Nigerians and sent them letters of appointment. What we found most surprising, but instructive, was the fact that not a single one of them declined our appointment.

Indeed, I believe that the Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ Foundation made history with the appointment of General Gowon as Chairman of the Board of Trustees whose membership included Lt. Colonel (Ikemba) Odumegwu Ojukwu. 

Right from inception, all the Trustees placed their considerable influence fully at our disposal. They have been, and continue to be most generous with their support and encouragement.

20 years after the Foundation was inaugurated, our current flagship programme, the Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ Prize for Leadership was instituted, in furtherance of one of the recommendations from our 2011 Dialogue, titled, ‘Transformational Leadership and Good Governance: Lessons from the Awolọwọ Example’.

Headed by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary General, we have, again, been most fortunate that members of both the Selection and Technical Committees of the Prize are all highly respected men and women of integrity. 

Sadly, however, we have lost many, far too many, members of the various organs and committees of the Foundation over these past 30 years. May I ask you all to please join me now to observe a few moments of silence in their memory. May their great and patriotic souls continue to rest in perfect peace.

The Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ Foundation story is a testament to the awesome power and infinite endurance of goodwill. 30 years on, we continue to draw from the seemingly inexhaustible supply of goodwill left behind by Chief Awolọwọ. This explains why we have been able, over the years, to attract the brightest and best minds as Organising Committee Members, Resource Persons and Participants at all our programmes at little or no cost to the Foundation. It is, for me, a source of unceasing wonder to observe just how ready and willing people have been, and still are, to identify with, and support the Foundation’s work.

So, with today’s event, we commence the celebration of 30 years of the collective efforts and dedication of our innumerable supporters and friends. In our view, this celebration is actually about you and it is our opportunity to honour you all. 

Above all, we seize this opportunity to express our deepest appreciation to every individual and every organisation within and outside Nigeria that believed in the Foundation, particularly at the outset, and thus helped to launch us into relevance. We want you to know that we do not take you, or your support, for granted, by any means. Without you all, there would be no us. We are truly grateful. 

For us at the Foundation, on the other hand, we see this landmark event as an opportunity to review the past, take stock of the present, in order to appropriately plan for the future.

It was never going to be easy to sustain a Foundation that was set up in memory of the sage, Chief Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ. Maintaining credibility will always be a tasking feat. However, constant focus on the absolute imperative of living up to the high standard for which the legacy is renowned, the expectation of Awo’s teeming admirers, and our own self-appointed mandate, has helped us tremendously. 

And so, Mr Chairman, Special Guest of Honour, Your Excellencies, Royal Fathers, distinguished friends, supporters, ladies and gentlemen, as we look ahead, let me close these remarks with this: 

We know that the Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ Foundation is highly privileged indeed to bear a truly illustrious name. For this reason, we will continue to strive to approximate Chief Awolọwọ’s legacy of commitment, integrity and excellence. 

And we will continue to do all we can to sustain and promote this worthy legacy, for the good of the present generation and in the best interests of posterity. 

This is our pledge.

*Text of the speech delivered by Ambassador Ọlatokunbọ Awolọwọ Dosumu, Executive Director of Obafemi Awolowo Foundation at the 30th anniversary lecture