Eight years is a long time in the life of a person. It is also a long period in the life of a nation. Eight years is long enough for a person to move from
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Famed as the president who never ruled Nigeria, or in the much-cited words of Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu,”the best president Nigeria never had,” Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo was born in the town of Ikenne in the southwestern part of Nigeria on March 6, 1909.And in the same location, he was transformed to the world beyond onMay 9, 1987. Like the proverbial elephant, he wasdifferent things to different people, having explored various fields of knowledge and areas of public engagement.He was known as a statesman, a nationalist, pro-independence fighter, committed activist, reputable journalist, graduate economist, a trained lawyer, and above all, a politician and a Yorubaist. Awolowo was a well-educated man and an ideologue with independent and innovative ideas about leadership that is perhaps unparalleled to any of his contemporaries and the latter actors in Nigeria’s political scene.The legendary statesman came through as the modern-day Oduduwa,andfor obv