Seyi Makinde and the Obafemi Awolowo School of Government
By: Deji Yesufu
March 6th of each year marks the birthday memorial of the late Nigerian politician, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The Obafemi Awolowo Foundation has made it a point of duty to mark this event each year, with a program honouring the sage. This year, the event was held at Ikenne within the Awolowo family compound itself, and a few of us who attended the event noticed that all governors from South West Nigeria, the region Awolowo led, were invited to the program, but only Governor Seyi Makinde attended in person. The rest of them sent representatives. I felt that this was newsworthy, and I published it on my Facebook page. My observation was greeted with no small criticism, especially from supporters of the Governors I criticized. Some felt that as long as a Governor had sent a representative, it was sufficient. Others said that I published my observations because I was paid by Seyi Makinde. While a few felt that what I wrote was not totally out of place. Dr. Motunrayo Adetola, a physician practicing in Canada, even added that Seyi Makinde was from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), while the Governors that did not attend were from the All Progressive Congress (APC), a party that is supposed to be populated by Awoists.
Permit me to begin this essay by introducing myself. I am not a politician; I am a pastor. I, however, hold the view that Christianity can be a positive influence on a polity, and those of us who preach righteousness can use our ideas to influence the moral fiber of society, such that righteousness can exalt our country. My ideas were further deepened after I read all the written works of Obafemi Awolowo, and I discovered that at the root of Awolowo’s philosophy of government was moral upstanding. When Obafemi Awolowo was in Calabar prisons, he wrote for himself a list of codes of personal discipline, where he promised God that if he ever was delivered from the predicament he had found himself, he would not carry out retribution on all those who betrayed his course. He made the commitment to love his wife and make his home a veritable paradise for his children. The list reflected a man who believed that there are two forces at war in our world – the force of good and the forces of evil. Awolowo believed that God was all the force of good a man needs, and he would rather be on the side of God in any event because then he was certain to emerge victorious, because there is no man that can defeat God. One of the ways Obafemi Awolowo exemplified these codes of conduct was to ensure that people within the parties he led lived by a certain minimum standard. Corruption or stealing was a no-no. Awolowo said that he never allowed any party member to bring a concubine to his house. He was known to be a one-man-one-wife individual, but Awolowo allowed party members to bring women to his house only as long as they were married to them – it did not matter how many wives the man had. So, at the root of Obafemi Awolowo’s thinking was a commitment to the general good – not just doing good through politics, but a politician endeavoring to live an upright life.
This past event was not the first time I met Seyi Makinde at Obafemi Awolowo’s birthday memorial. In 2025, when the event was held via Zoom, Governor Seyi Makinde joined the discussions remotely. I had always known Seyi Makinde to be an individual who has a working mind – he reads. His foray into Oyo State politics was a lot different from the path that many other politicians go through. It is on record that Seyi Makinde is practically the only person who came into public office in Nigeria without the help of a Godfather. He had spent a great deal of his time and resources not only selling his ideas to people, but he was also known to be very generous and approachable. So, when Abiola Ajimobi was concluding his time in office, citizens of Oyo State had no qualms trying their hands on Seyi Makinde. He entered public office as the only PDP Governor in the south west in 2019. When he returned for a second term in 2023, I had my doubts. One had seen that the consistent picture of Governors in Nigeria for their second term is that they use the occasion to retire themselves to the Senate. But I still gave him the benefit of the doubt, and Makinde has not disappointed. Let me make this point too: Seyi Makinde’s government has not been excellent. His government cannot be compared to what Obafemi Awolowo’s administration did when he led the government in South West Nigeria between 1952 and 1959. Perhaps this is the reason why the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation have not given Makinde their prized leadership award. Yet, by Nigerian modern standards, Seyi Makinde has surpassed many Governors. Now, to the reason why I think there is something to learn from Makinde attending Awolowo’s birthday memorial.
Obafemi Awolowo rarely measured governance by achievements or projects carried out: roads built, salaries paid, or the like. Obafemi Awolowo founded his government on workable philosophies of government. He believed that individuals who would work in public office must be persons that are knowledgeable. People who would aspire to public office should be able to articulate their overall philosophies through writing and sell these ideas to the public. Now, the person who will sell an idea for others to imbibe must be an individual himself who is knowledgeable. A person who reads widely. A person who is able to pinpoint workable political philosophies that have served people in other parts of the world, and endeavors to transport such ideas to their local environment and adapt them to the needs of the people. Awolowo felt that the two needs that were paramount in the lives of people were education and health. He believed that a child should be educated early and that it should not be far-fetched for the government to pay for the education of that child. Awolowo understood that God gives gifts to people in society and that education will hone those gifts and help people to develop their communities. In the same vein, Obafemi Awolowo maintained that it was the government’s duty to ensure that the citizens of a locality had good health. Diseases are mostly either environmental or hereditary, hardly the fault of any person. If a people’s health is secured, they can better contribute to general societal productivity. Awo documented these ideas in books, and it is very clear to me that Seyi Makinde reads those books, and his effort at implementing some of those ideas has set him ahead of others in the South West. Here are my concluding thoughts on this subject.
In a few months, Nigerian politicians will begin to breathe down our necks and start to ask Nigerians to vote for them in yet another election cycle. Some of us who have gone through the past few elections and seen how politicians treat Nigerians are tired of it all. We want something different. I am convinced that if any politician were to “deliver” while they are in office today, they must have something akin to what Awolowo documented about government in his books. They must be individuals who have been to Awolowo’s school of government. What is Awolowo’s school of government? Awolowo’s school of government is not merely Awoism. It is rather a general commitment to enter public office to serve the ordinary Nigerian. It is a system of government that is not founded on money but on policies. It is a system of government that has “Afenifere” at its root. It is a selfless abandoning of one’s resources, time, and effort towards serving the public. Left to most Nigerians, they do not care who rules them; Nigerians do not care about systems of government; they are not concerned with whether we have military or civilian rulers. Nigerians just want security; they want food on their tables; they want to send their children to good schools and ensure they have jobs when they are done; they want to be able to go to the hospitals and find cures for their ailments, etc. Nigerians just want to live normal lives and die honourable deaths. And aspirants to public office must know how to meet these needs. But it is not enough to know them; something else Obafemi Awolowo taught us was that men must put action to their words. It is the reason why I consider it commendable that Governor Seyi Makinde would attend the birthday memorial of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. South West politicians should stop mouthing the “Awo” mantra; they should begin to put into practice the Awolowo philosophies of government. But how will they carry out something they have not been schooled on? This is the reason why the Awolowo School of Government is so very vital. You attend that school by reading all Obafemi Awolowo’s written works, and then by endeavoring to educate yourself on what serving in public office is all about. People begin to discover that you have attended this school by the ideas you articulate in your writing and by the things you do each day of your life. Obafemi Awolowo’s birthday is only one day in 365 days of the year. It should not be too difficult for South West politicians, those who have benefited the most from his time in government, to abandon whatever they are doing and be in Ikenne in person to honour that great Nigerian.
This is what Seyi Makinde did last Friday, and I consider it commendable indeed.
Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY. He can be reached at [email protected]
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