And let me say this: Because he is an Ijebu man, I know how frugal he is with money. I say that with regret because it got to the time when the vote for looking after me in the State House got exhausted and this is all for some of the entertainment I do to members of council when they come to meeting and to have breakfast or lunch, refreshment and so on, a lot of it went there.
Not only for my own feeding, which would have been sufficient, but this we did not take into consideration in asking for the votes. And when the money finished and we requested for more money, the old man said “No, there is no vote. You expended your votes and you should not have done that.” I told him: “It is because of the feeding I am feeding you.” And of course, he would not have anything. He would only have his bottle of water and may not take anything at all.
So we had to beg him for me to be able to survive as Head of State. When it comes to that, I can assure you he was very frugal and very, very careful with finances. And we had to live within our means. Every kobo was accounted for. And he really kept a meticulous attention to details as far as finances were concerned. And he would not brook any break from the correct procedure as far as our finance was concerned. And as a result of that, we were able to carry out little developments that we could carry out at that time. Particularly we were able to prosecute the Nigeria’s Civil War without borrowing a kobo from anywhere. He left Nigeria in very good financial health. He ensured that we didn’t live the next generation with unnecessary debt. He made sure that sufficient money was provided for all sections of the government activities, for the various ministries. We discussed our budget usually within the council, with every member of the council, both military and civilian as well as the permanent secretaries that were there.
And we argued those issues in a way that you would never believe. You would come and you would think it was a debating society. You do not know who the leader is, and who is the led, because everybody that is in that council had the right to be able to express honest and sincere views on the issue being discussed. And I can assure you we listened just to the best advice. We listened to all the debates and in the end I sifted all the advice and suggestions given. I was given that right to decide which of the various options provided that I should recommend for the acceptance of the government.
And by the time one had done that and you had the good old man’s full support of that particular financial decision, then of course it is carried out. And as a result of that, we were able to ensure that we continued to live within our means during all the period that he was part of my government until he decided to return to politics after I had announced that we were going to return to politics in 1974 or 76. So he wanted to go and have a bit of a rest and start organizing for his future political activity. But he was really a man of great experience and great wisdom. And he gave us certainly his total loyalty and support and advice in order to get it right in many areas. And for which I would remain ever grateful.
I cannot say what it would have been if Awolowo had ruled Nigeria. Would it be the same way he had run the West? That is the only thing I can say. If he had ruled Nigeria, it would have depended on the various skirmishes that he would have received. But I am sure he would try to do his best as he did when he was premier of the West. But then, you saw what happened: the crisis that really crept in within his party and his region and that brought about schism in his region and got him in trouble with the law of the land at the time.
For him not to have the opportunity to probably one day lead the country. So you can never tell what it would be. All that I can say is that I am sure that he would try to give the country the same high level of leadership and development and progress as he did in the West when he was premier. When you think of all that he did, is it in the area of education? His free primary education which was later adopted for the whole country in 73, 74 by the federal government. And this is something that he would ever be remembered for by generations to come. I have met so many people who are beneficiaries of his universal primary education programme.
And when you think of what Awo did in the area of commerce and industry, all the cocoa business he created during his time, the encouragement he gave them, even to build the Cocoa House and whatnot. And then you think of all the industries that he created in Ikeja and in various parts of the West. These are all to his credit. And that was one of the reasons why when I was creating Lagos State and I had to include Ikeja, I can remember the battle I had with them. And I wanted to create more states in the West. I can assure you there was very strong objection. But when you look at the development, business, industries that were created during his time, that was to his credit. I think that is why the people still sing praises of him. And all leadership in the West wherever, they are all trying to emulate the good work he left behind. He is a man of immense value and stature. He made his contribution not only to his region but the country as a whole. And don’t forget that he made contribution towards the independence of Nigeria. That was one of the first contributions he made to Nigeria as a whole, not only to his region. And then of course, he came to participate in my government in order to help Nigeria move forward. Yes, it is appreciated very, very much indeed. Just like I believe all Nigerians appreciate him. And let me salute all our forefathers. He is one of our forefathers. Zik, Sardauna and Awolowo.
The most important thing they did was that they loved Nigeria, they loved their people, they believed in Nigeria. That was why they agreed for us to have independence and to give us our sovereignty. So, that sovereignty had already been given to us. Anybody who is calling for sovereignty for Nigeria again, I am afraid it is wrong. Because our forefathers have already gotten that for us. All that we need to do is that the good work that they have started, the good house that they have built, let us continue to build it and to make it even better. It would be to their joy that all of us, the coming generation from them, would do that.
If we are able to do it, when we go there to meet them, they would come and tap us at the back and say “well done, you didn’t let us down, you’ve made the country better.”