Opinion
President Bola Tinubu is channeling the Awolowo spirit
Published By
Paul Dada
Date
11th November, 2025
Quick Read
Awolowo, according to Emeka Ojukwu, was the best President we never had. Hopefully, by channelling his spirit, President Bola Tinubu may be the best President we have ever had if we give him a second term.
By Reno Omokri
In terms of mineral resources, amongst the four regions of the North, East, West, and Midwest that we had before Ironsi turned Nigeria into a unitary state with his Unification of Assets Decree Number 34 of May 24, 1966, only the Western Region did not have mineral resources in commercial quantities.
I said mineral resources, not agriculture. Agriculture is not a mineral resource. It is the result of your own sweat, whereas mineral resources are ores and elements found within the grounds of a country.
Yet, under Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Western Region was by far the wealthiest of the four regions. None of the other three even came close.
Now, what do we learn from that? It is better to be resourceful than to have resources.
And Singapore learnt that lesson from Chief Awolowo. Please fact-check me. Singapore is one of the least mineral-rich countries in the world. Yet, today, they have the strongest passport in the world for 2025, according to the Henley Passport Index, as well as the highest per capita income on Earth at $141,553 per individual.
How did Chief Awolowo make the least resourced region the wealthiest per capita? Resourcefulness.
In 1957, the Western Region of Nigeria, which lacked significant mineral resources, had a budget of £28.7 million, a sum that exceeded the 1957 budget of Northern Nigeria, which was £ 19.2 million. The Eastern Region’s budget was nowhere near that, despite its significant mineral resources.
Chief Awolowo achieved that because he believed that what was between the ears of his people was more important than what was under their feet. He focused on intellectual resources, where other regional leaders fixated on mineral resources.
He realised that the British built Grammar Schools so that Nigerians could speak good English and little else; therefore, he built technical schools. And today, some deluded people are thinking that a Peter Obi, who did not build even one single nursery, primary, secondary or university, will make a good leader? Tufiakwa!
Thank God his own people rejected him this past Saturday, and he was humiliated by losing his own polling unit!
And until Nigeria moves away from relying on resources to embracing resourcefulness, which President Bola Tinubu is thankfully doing with his Tax Reform and Local Government Autonomy, we will not fulfil our potential of becoming a $1 trillion knowledge-driven economy.
And that is why there is great hope for Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu. This is a man who believes in resourcefulness over resources. His resourcefulness has enabled him to continue where Chief Awolow left off, introducing free tuition for all federal-owned technical colleges in Nigeria, which was announced on Thursday, September 25, 2025.
He increased our tax-to-GDP ratio by expanding our tax base, which will further increase when the Tax Reform Act takes effect on January 1, 2026.
Look at power generation. By introducing the Band System, Nigeria is now making more economic and judicious use of the power it generates, and the appropriately priced power by band is attracting new investors into the sector.
And by building the ₦13 trillion 1068-kilometre Illela-Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, the ₦15 trillion 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, and the national railway network, Tinubu has ensured that there will be regional integration in Nigeria, which will explode our GDP by reducing travel times in Nigeria, and making it possible to live in one state and work in another.
That is the Awolowo leadership model. Resourcefulness over resources!
Awolowo, according to Emeka Ojukwu, was the best President we never had. Hopefully, by channelling his spirit, President Bola Tinubu may be the best President we have ever had if we give him a second term.
Comments