Prof Wale Adebanwi, Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania
Prof Wale Adebanwi, Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, has warned that Nigeria is facing serious governance and security challenges, saying the country itself risks being “kidnapped” if the leadership crisis confronting it persists.
Adebanwi spoke at the residence of Chief Awolowo in Ikenne, Ogun State, while delivering the 2026 Obafemi Awolowo Memorial Lecture, themed ‘Politics as Future-Making: Awolowo and Leadership as Theory of Action’, where he reflected on the legacy of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and its relevance to Nigeria’s leadership challenges.
He said, “We are gathered here not only to remember a man who, through his thoughts and actions, offered us a new mode of dignity, but also to reflect, again, on what his legacy offers us in the context of Nigeria’s interminable search for good leadership. As the polity stumbles from one error to another tragedy in the so-called nation-building efforts, it is remarkable that we must return to contend with the ideas and the practical demonstrations of leadership of the man with whom Nigeria has been having an unending conversation, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.”
Adebanwi noted that the current security situation in Nigeria reflects deeper structural problems linked to leadership failures over the years.
“As kidnappings and killings have become the rituals of daily life in many parts of the polity, with the nation-state itself facing the threat of being kidnapped, it is important to remind ourselves that the theological, economic, social and political provocations and disasters that define this era are mere manifestations of Nigeria’s refusal to reconcile itself to the fundaments of how to build a good society as well as an egalitarian federal democracy which Chief Awolowo, more than any other political thinker in the country’s history, articulated and for a few years demonstrated, with long lasting impact,” the guest lecturer at 2026 Obafemi Awolowo Memorial Lecture stated.
The scholar noted that the difficulties confronting the country are largely tied to leadership problems that have persisted for decades.
“At the core of the crisis that has engulfed the polity for several decades now is a leadership crisis. This is the reason I would like to reflect today on leadership and what I call ‘Awolowo’s Theory of Action’ in the context of his devotion to politics as future-making.”
Adebanwi also said the security environment in the country has evolved into a complex mix of threats.
He explained: “As we experience what would seem to be the normalization of an internal security landscape in which there is a convergence of jihadist insurgency, communal grievances, some under the name of banditry, secessionist agitations, and criminal economies, those who are not familiar with Awolowo’s insight and foresight would need to be reminded that the man with the round frame glasses had warned the ascendant political order of his age that, if there was no course-correction, what we are experiencing now would constitute their generational endowment to the political geography that Frederick Lugard imposed in the heart of Africa.”
Reflecting on Awolowo’s legacy, the guest lecturer said the late nationalist was largely focused on shaping the future rather than dwelling on the past.
He said: “As I reflected on this lecture, it struck me that most of what Awolowo has been celebrated, as well as criticized for, concerns the past, though the man was, during his lifetime, mostly concerned with the future. The past was only a useful background for him in redetermining the future.”
Adebanwi added that while many debates in Nigeria remain centred on historical grievances, the country would benefit more from focusing on ideas that promote long-term development.
He noted: “Thus, it is an irony that while this deeply divided country continues to be bogged down by the politics of the past and the conflicting and contrasting narratives of who wronged whom in the past and how we arrived here, what it truly needs is a reflection on the postulations of a man who almost always emerges from our past to constantly remind us about the possibilities of our collective future. For Awo, history-making was in the service of future-making.”
He also rejected the view held by some commentators that Awolowo came too early for Nigeria.
According to him, “Some have said that Awolowo came too early for Nigeria. I disagree. He was a man whose most important life mission could be said to have been one of future-making. Leaders who are future-makers never come too early.”
Adebanwi said Awolowo’s ideas on leadership and development remain relevant today, especially in discussions about Nigeria’s future and the role of leaders in shaping it.
Quoting Awolowo’s words in Path to Nigerian Greatness, he said: “I hereby dedicate the rest of my life to the service of the peoples of Nigeria, nay, of Africa, by promoting their welfare and happiness…. This is my vow and my pledge, made to God…. (A)t this juncture in my life, my one and only ambition is to have an opportunity to live the rest of my life for history, by means of selfless and beneficent service to the peoples of Nigeria, in particular, and of Africa, and the black peoples of the world, in general.”
Dignitaries at the Memorial Lecture hosted by Ambassador Dr. Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu, Executive Director, Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, include the Chairman of the occasion and Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe; former Governors of Ogun and Osun States, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams; veteran broadcaster and diplomat, Dr. Yemi Farounbi; Senator Wale Adetutu; and Oladipupo Adebutu, among others.
Tribune
