Time to do something different

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By Dare Babarinsa

It is almost normal now to take the television for granted. Yet when we were young, everyone appreciated the magic of the television. In recent months, old veterans have been drumming it to our ears that 2019 marked the 60th years of television in Nigeria and Africa. When Chief Obafemi Awolowo commissioned the Western Nigerian Television in 1959, it was the first time the magic box would beam on the African continent. Mrs Anike Agbaje-Williams became the first person to appear on television. Mr Kunle Olasope, who died in October 2019, became the first man on television. Thus …

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… Chief Ladoke Akintola, Dr Koyejo Majekodunmi, Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo, Brigadier-General Oluwole Rotimi, Vice-Admiral Akintunde Aduwo and Major-General David MedaIyese Jemibewon, have all ruled the West from Ibadan until the creation of new states by General Murtala Muhammed in 1976. They all did well and built on the Awolowo legacy. Their successes highlight the importance of a good foundation.
Anyone who is familiar with Ibadan should be worried about the foundation Awolowo laid for the West and its implications for today and the future. During his years in power, Awolowo concentrated development in the two largest and most important Yoruba cities; Ibadan and Lagos. He did not build a university in Ikenne, his hometown in Ogun State. He took the university to Ile-Ife, the land of Orunmila, the Wise One. At that time, the West extended to most parts of Lagos State including Mushin, Maryland, Ikeja, Epe, Ikorodu, Badagry, and Lekki. As Nigeria marched towards independence in the 1950s, there was a serious struggle among our leaders for the control of Lagos. Awolowo wanted Lagos to be part of the West. The North and East wanted it to remain outside the control of the West, claiming it was “a no-man’s land.”
Despite all these, Awolowo puts almost all the West industrial eggs in two baskets: Lagos and Ibadan. All important industrial and commercial projects of the West were in these two cities. I once asked Papa Adekunle Ajasin, first elected Governor of Ondo State, why was this so, because our own old Ondo Province (now Ondo and Ekiti States) was totally out of the picture. More so, both Ibadan and Lagos then were strongholds of the opposition National Council of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC, of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first Premier of the defunct Eastern Region. Ajasin said Awolowo believed the West needed only two giant industrial centres to propel economic development and prosperity. He was also interested in controlling “industrial waste” which should not be allowed to litter the land.
We thank God that both Ibadan and Lagos are not yet reduced to wasteland, but they are yet to fulfill the promises of the Awolowo era. There is a need to rethink the political and economic infrastructure of the old West in order to realize another era of life more abundant. Three assignments should immediately command the attention of our leaders, particularly the governors. First is the decline in education, especially the primary purpose of reading and the pursuit of knowledge. The second is power supply which has turned every household into a local government that must take care of itself. The third one is transportation.
By 1965, both the Federal Government of Prime-Minister Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa and the West under the controversial Premier Ladoke Akintola agreed that both Lagos and Ibadan deserve to have metro line projects. Lagos could not embark on its own until the Second Republic during the regime of Governor Kayode Jakande. The metroline project was later abrogated by the military junta headed by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari leading to the loss of 200 million dollars. Today Buhari is back in power as a born-again democrat. It is necessary for the Federal Government, but more especially for the governments of both Oyo and Lagos State to think of the serious rebuilding of Lagos and Ibadan. Just as Awolowo had predicted in the 1950s, these two cities still hold the key to the future prosperity of the West and indeed Nigeria.
It is of no use to dwell on the glories of the past if we are reluctant to learn the correct lessons from them. There is no doubt that since the Awolowo era, the Tribune has done well and is doing well. The television, which started as a spark in Ibadan, has become a giant torch illuminating the nation. Today, we have more than 100 television stations in Nigeria. But in the real sense, we have not done too well. When the 25-story Cocoa House was completed in 1964, it was the tallest building in Africa. Today, it still remains the tallest building in the entire Yorubaland, except for three other skyscrapers in Lagos. South-Africa and Egypt now have far taller buildings. It is time to do something different and better.

– The Guardian

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