My Grandfather, Awo, Was The True Asiwaju Of Yorubaland; This Great Man Lives On |The Source

By Olusegun Awolowo

Today marks the 34th anniversary of the demise of my grandfather,

Obafemi Awolowo.

“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”

-If, by Rudyard Kipling

Indeed the son of the soil was a great man, magnanimous of spirit, temperate in times of adversity, fierce in the face of injustice, a pioneer in every sense of the word, the true Asiwaju of Yorubaland, left a vacuum that no one has been able to fill.

Indeed, this great man lives on, through the impacts of his unequalled visionary leadership as the first Premier of the Western Region.

Indeed, this great man lives on through the lives he changed, the memories of the role he played in Nigeria’s attainment of Independence are passed down from generation to generation.

Indeed, this great man lives on through the future he impacted, the beneficiaries of his free quality primary education, and free health care services for children schemes are a living testament to his legacy.

Indeed, this great man lives on through the Nigerian Tribune (est. 1949) the oldest surviving privately owned Nigerian newspaper.

Indeed this great man lives on in our hearts, immortalized for generations to come!

Dear papa continue to rest in perfect peace

‘Aise dada ara aye, ni muni ranti ara Orun’ translate from Yoruba ;

The failure of the living reminds one of the success of the dead.