Friday 3 January 2014

Awolowo was greater than Mandela, writer/poet Odia Ofeimun says

In an interview with Sahara TV, the writer, poet & social critique said late premier of the old Western region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was a greater man than South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, Dr. Nelson Mandela.
I am too much of an Awolowo man not to see that the process of moving into independence in South Africa and in Nigeria followed exactly the same pattern. It was based on a negotiated settlement. The liberation struggle did not create the end of apartheid. It was a negotiation and Nigerians negotiated exactly the way Mandela negotiated.
“You can hype it if you like, but the pattern was exactly the same. You move from one meeting to the other, discussing politics and economics, and they successfully convinced Mandela to buy the pig in a poke of an economy and they also successfully succeeded in convincing Nigerians to buy the pig in a poke of an economy.
“The only man in Nigeria, who stood up against it, was (Obafemi) Awolowo. He was quickly jailed and all his men scattered across the prisons in Nigeria. Some driven abroad and the educational system that he had put in place was smashed.” Ofeimun said

No comments:

Post a Comment