AWO’S PROPHECY ABOUT WAR AND BEFALLING DARKNESS
Azeez Ajibola Afolabi
11th of September, 1963. As Baba Awo stood before Justice George Sodeinde Sowemimo to deliver his address at the close of the reasonable felony trial – Baba opened his mouth to speak, but what escaped his lips were not ordinary syllables; they were thunderbolts of foresight, heavenly insured prophecy etched into time…
“I personally welcome any sentence you may impose upon me. At this moment, my only concern is not for myself but that my imprisonment might do harm to Nigeria for three reasons:
- The invaluable services that I can still render will be lost to the country, at least for a season.
- There might be a heightening of the present tension, which has lasted for fifteen months, and has done incalculable injuries to the economy of the country.
- For some time to come, the present twilight of democracy, individual freedom, and the rule of law will change into utter darkness…”
The greatest of leaders have, in history’s grand theatre, stepped into the robes of prophets. Their utterances transcend motivation, counsel, or advice – they become eternal decrees, carved into the pillars of destiny.
How did Awo’s prophecy come to manifest?
Just 3 years later, the Igbo Majors descended heavily on the Nation, the republic plunged into chaos, and our democracy was buried beneath the rubble of anarchy – before the land was dragged into a 3-year brutal Civil War…
But Awo didn’t stop there, did he? Baba continued:
“My adversaries might say who am I to think that if I am imprisoned the country might suffer? What if I died?”
And then came the prophetic light in his voice, the divine utterance:
” The point, of course, is that I am still alive and WILL NOT DIE IN PRISON.”
And true to Chief Awolowo’s fearless pronouncement, he didn’t die in prison… In fact, his testimony surpasses mere survival. His sentence evaporated before it reached its midpoint. From the cold walls of confinement, he was summoned – not as a convict, but as a saviour – called into national assignment straight from prison.
A man condemned only a few years prior was now being beckoned to rescue the nation from the abyss of collapse… And yes! He did rescue the nation without pulling a trigger, without firing a shot, without spilling even a drop worth of blood…
Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo – More than Man, More than a Politician, More than a Leader – he was a god in his own right.
