Awolowo’s restriction centre turns institute

It is in testimony to his contributions to Nigeria’s growth that Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s Military President from 1985 to 1993, named the then University of Ife, Ile-Ife, after him. In addition to the University, important streets in Lagos, Abuja and major towns of Nigeria, have also been named after Awolowo. Many of these were […]

It is in testimony to his contributions to Nigeria’s growth that Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s Military President from 1985 to 1993, named the then University of Ife, Ile-Ife, after him.

In addition to the University, important streets in Lagos, Abuja and major towns of Nigeria, have also been named after Awolowo. Many of these were named after him while he was still alive.

In addition, Awolowo’s free education policy in the then Western Region – present day Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Delta States – remains unequalled.

But for many admirers of Awo –as he was also known — the best recognition ever to be accorded him is the transformation of his restriction camp in Lekki, Lagos, into a policy institute.

Awolowo, as Premier, was restricted to that camp for 16 days in 1962 by the then Federal Government, prior to his felony trials over the Western Region’s political crises.

He was detained there between June 19, 1962 and July 5, 1962, during the state of emergency declared in the Western region by the Federal Government.

The state of emergency was between May and December, 1962.

The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, in June, 2009, presented the institute to a large gathering that included Awolowo’s widow, Hannah.

The building was once abandoned for several years for being infested with crocodiles, snakes and other dangerous reptiles at its then lonely waterfront location in Lekki Island.

Today, Lekki has become prime property where only the rich can dare.

The Lekki camp, now the Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy, incorporates the Awo Museum at its centre.

Lekki, then a forest without access roads, was said to be a sleepy, mosquito-infested village that could only be reached through watercraft.

Odia Ofeimum, a one-time Personal Assistant and Secretary to the late sage, who is the Executive Consultant to the Awolowo Institute, paints the picture of what the place was in 1962. In an introductory note on the Institute, Ofeimum recalls that the camp’s only mark of distinction in 1962 was a small two-room guest-house overlooking the Atlantic ocean.

“A rather derelict bungalow, it was used mainly by colonial officials in their duty treks until Nigeria’s independence in 1960; having been erected in a previous century by a nondescript Portuguese adventurer and fortune hunter named Lekki, who gave the town its name.’’

Ofeimum adds that the adventurer also left behind the relics of an underground store and telltale ruins of edifices that might have served as a transit camp for his commerce in goods and slaves.

“It is this guest-house that has been turned into the Institute.

“The once rejected structure, the mosquito-and-snake-infested island, has become the cornerstone where the superior discourse on politics and good governance will be conceptualised.

“What was a jungle of neglect some 47 years ago, has become a Mecca of some sort, thus confirming the axiom that he who laughs last, laughs best’’ says Ofeimum.

According to the Lagos State Government, the museum will accommodate the artifacts and memorabilia of the late sage for historical and educational purposes.

A visit to the camp shows that it has been renovated into a modern bungalow — a piece of modern architecture.

Its roads are also paved for easy access to researchers, historians and tourists alike.

Aside the building is a large parcel of land cleared for future development.

Awolowo’s widow, Hannah, expressed joy at the transformation of the camp she accompanied her late husband to 47 years ago.

“It is a thing of joy that the house that served as the slave depot and detention camp for my late husband in 1962, is now an institute for learning and research aimed at contributing toward good governance and politics.

“I am happy that today, I can return to that same house where I used to stay alongside my late husband when he was detained by the Federal Government in 1962.

“The Atlantic Ocean beach where I used to pray to God for our freedom then, is indeed a centre to seek freedom,’’ she adds.

Hannah, who will be 94 years old in November, recalled with nostalgia that during that period, Awolowo, herself, their private staff and visitors, used to seat on the sand to eat their meals because there were no seats.

“I am sure that my late husband will be very elated in heaven today for what the Lagos State Government has done in transforming this dungeon and slave camp into an Institute for Research toward good governance and public policy,’’ she added.

Fashola said he is “very happy’’ that the dream of immortalising the detention camp has come to fruition.

He paid glowing tribute to the late sage, who he described as “a leader that served God, his political party and the country meritoriously during his life time’’.

The Governor emphasised that much of Nigeria’s history and political evolution can be understood as an elaboration of Awolowo’s works.

According to Fashola, the ideas, policy and programmes, which Awolowo implemented as the leader of government business and premier of the old Western Region, as well as the leader of the opposition and a prisoner, are crucial to Nigerian history.

The governor challenged the institute to be a problem solver and find answers to the nagging questions on why Nigeria and Africa have remained underdeveloped in spite of enormous human and natural resources.

Fashola said the institute can do this by encouraging robust debates that will seek answers to questions on what must be done to add value to the nation’s extraordinary resources.

“It must also provide a clear road map to the implementation of solutions that are so evolved,’’ he added.

Chief Bisi Akande, the Chairman, Action Congress (AC), who is the Chairman of the Institute’s Board of Trustees (BOT), explained that it will be a non-profit think-tank and research institute that will always evaluate government against their prepared objectives.

“It will also measure their standards of performance against civilized and human practices for the benefit of the society,’’ Akande added.

Alhaji Lamidi Adeshina, a former governor of Oyo State, lauds the establishment of the institute. Adeshina urged people in government to enroll into it to learn the art of progressive governance, instead of travelling abroad to import foreign ideologies into the country.

Two senior citizens of Lekki, Alhaji Muhideen Ogunbekun and Pa Samuel Ajayi, both aged 76, recalled the period of Awolowo’s incarceration at their backyard.

They also recalled that Awolowo predicted, while there, that Lekki would become an international tourist and research centre.

“That prediction has come to pass,’’ they added joyously.

Ogunbekun particularly recalled that many visitors from across the world visited Awolowo and his wife in Lekki, and that local trading was boosted because of such visits.

Ajayi, on his part, recalled that Awolowo worshipped at the Anglican Church in Lekki, and was the first person to buy asbestos sheets for the Church’s roofing.

As Nigerians await the benefits of the institute, observers say that it must strive to meet its mandate as espoused by the BOT Chairman, Akande.

“Awolowo had an obsession for finicky details and well articulated programmes that would bring fruitful results and be beneficial to the public. We hope the Institute will reflect that legacy,’’ said Mr Segun Olagunju, a journalist.

Olagunju prayed that all would be done to ensure that the Institute does not go the way of past ones. (NANFeatures)