Prominent progressives in the country, including Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu and Comrade Paschal Bafyau, have urged politicians to imbibe the virtues of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
The progressives, under the aegis of the Progressive Movement of Nigeria, said that the virtues that stood Awolowo out in his days are needed now to reposition the country.
In a statement made available to the media by members of the PMN to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the late leader of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, the progressives said they recall with “a great feeling of nostalgia, the great and purposeful leadership provided this ideological body by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, among others.
“It must be recalled that Chief Awolowo, along with other progressives like Chief Herbert Macaulay, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alhaji Aminu Kano, Chief Joseph Tarka, among others, doggedly fought for, and secured our nation’s independence from the colonialists.”
The statement, signed among others by Izuogu, Bafyau, Senator Hassan Tadanyigbe and Chief Dipo Jimilehin, reads further: “Chief Awolowo, later single handedly pioneered FREE EDUCATION in the old Western region, thus affording children from poor homes, the once-in-a life opportunity to go to school.
“Chief Awolowo was not done yet: He established the first Television Station in the whole of West Africa, just about the same time that France established her own television station.
“With many such other Progressive programs, Chief Awolowo blazed the trail in many areas of political leadership, not just in our nation, but in Africa as a whole.
“As Progressives all over this nation join the AWO family in marking 25 years of his homecall to eternal glory, we call on today’s political leaders to emulate Awo’s virtues of forthrightness, incorruptibility, focus and unapologetic accountability.
“May Awo’s remembrance remain ever green in every Progressive memory.”