Gowon’s memoirs: Nigeria owes Awolowo an eternal debt, by Olu Fasan

Last week, I started a discussion of General Yakubu Gowon’s multi-themed memoirs, My Life of Duty & Allegiance. My focus was on the book’s general tone, which I find unduly self-justificatory. In his attempts to defend his legacy, General Gowon presents himself as a saintly figure who did no wrong as a leader, whereas some introspection and nuanced reflection would have helped.

That said, the book is a treasure trove of insightful details that enrich our historical narrative. This week, I will focus on one of such insights, namely, the quality of governance and public service ethos under General Gowon’s regime, with Chief Obafemi Awolowo singled out as the arrowhead of a remarkable governance approach that, if replicated today, would transform how Nigeria is governed and, thus, this country’s fortunes.

As a political economist and policy practitioner who spent nearly 20 years advising the UK government on diverse policy areas, in addition to teaching public policy, I have professional and intellectual interests in how government is run. Thus, I was enthralled by General Gowon’s fascinating accounts of how the affairs of state were conducted under his administration, with the triumvirate of politicians (as ministers), civil servants (as technocrats), and universities and think-tanks (as sounding boards) driving policy formulation and implementation and setting standards of good and effective governance.

Sitting atop the triumvirate was Chief Awolowo, an extraordinarily transformative leader! Indeed, if General Gowon’s memoirs can be said to have a hero, that hero is Chief Obafemi Awolowo, appointed by Gowon as the Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, and Commissioner of Finance in his administration. In every reference to Chief Awolowo in the memoirs, General Gowon writes glowingly and superlatively about him.

Gowon also gives credit to his colleagues in the Supreme Military Council, SMC, and the first-class mandarins who ran the civil service for his administration’s successes, especially its ability to prosecute a 30-month civil war “without endangering the national economy”. But he reserves his most generous praise for Chief Awolowo. Hear Gowon: “Chief Awolowo’s business acumen, political sagacity, economic wizardry and thorough man-management ability would later prove quite useful and helpful in ensuring that we kept our finances intact during and immediately after the civil war that broke out a few weeks after his appointment to the FEC.” He adds: “Without any argument, he made invaluable contributions.” Of course, Chief Awolowo’s reputation preceded him.

As the premier of the Western Region, he performed so superbly that Harold Wilson, then British prime minister, described him as a “world-class leader”, who would make an outstanding President of America or Prime Minister of Britain. General Gowon himself referenced Chief Awolowo’s pedigree, saying that he appointed him as the Commissioner of Finance with concurrent responsibility as Vice-Chairman of the FEC “because of his experience in politics and management of the economy of the old Western Region.” Indeed, General Gowon was so enamoured of Chief Awolowo that he admits in his memoirs that one of his administration’s flagship policies, the Universal Primary Education, UPE, was based on a policy introduced by Chief Awolowo as premier.

“In scope and content,” Gowon writes, “UPE was not radically different from the model that was initiated by Chief Awolowo in the defunct Western Region while he was the Premier.” Two lessons emerge from this narrative. First, good leaders get the brightest and best in their teams; they form what a British prime minister described as GOATs (“Government of All the Talents”).

Second, good leaders embrace good ideas and best practices worldwide. Indeed, one of the universally recognised approaches to sound policymaking is international comparison, which allows a government to consider what works elsewhere. Sadly, neither lesson is embedded in governance in Nigeria today. For instance, today, a Nigerian leader would fill his cabinet with cronies and political jobbers rather than seasoned technocrats and brilliant administrators.

There’s also the phenomenon of policy discontinuities. Virtually every government won’t complete projects started by its predecessor, let alone copy sensible policies elsewhere, resulting in widespread abandoned projects and policy failures. But there’s another unlearned lesson. Chief Awolowo was never a yes-man in General Gowon’s government. Gowon himself cites two instances to prove this.

In both instances, General Gowon eventually had his way, but Awolowo laid down the marker. In one case, General Gowon procured the services of a Lebanese contractor for the government. But Chief Awolowo refused to approve payment to the contractor, arguing that “the process of getting help from the Lebanese was not properly followed and documented and, as such, was an extra-budgetary expenditure.”