Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo Dosunmu was a former Nigerian ambassador to The Netherlands and daughter of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. She talks about her father’s life in this interview with GBENGA ADENIJI
What was the experience growing up with a distinguished father like Obafemi Awolowo?
It was quite a unique experience because on one hand we had a very down-to-earth upbringing. We played with our friends in our neighbourhood in Oke Bola, Ibadan. There was hardly any difference between us and other children. I remember we usually went to eat in our washerman’s house. We walked to and from school. On the other hand, we got invitations to parties at the Governor’s Lodge. I had the privilege of presenting a bouquet of flowers to the Queen. We had a very humble training and I think that made us balanced.
Did he have the time to take his family for vacations?
Yes, occasionally he took us on holidays abroad. He went with us to Lekki for a day out before he was restricted there. We were on the water the day we went to Lekki. We sailed to the Island and walked to the Bar Beach. I have to say we didn’t have many of such opportunities but we had quality time with him in the house once in a while. Before he passed away, he had a relaxed time with us and talked at length. I remember one occasion when he was waxing philosophically. That day, he told us that nobody could destroy his name and that he was amazed that his name had taken a life of its own. He added that it was a name that would open doors for anyone who used it properly.
How has his name opened doors for you?
The name opens doors everywhere. It opens doors in high and low places. People love us just because we belong to Awolowo. They believe that we belong to them especially people at the grass-roots. So, because they consider themselves as Awolowo’s children, they consider us as one of them. I recall a time I was campaigning for a political office in Lagos, a female fruits hawker came to my house to see me. She told me the benefits her family members enjoyed under my father. After our discussion, she gave me some of her fruit and I was really touched. Those moments usually make us to know the kind of father we had. They could also make one very humble. One will realise that a lot is expected from one and one has to give back and live up to expectations.
How did he relax?
My father liked having friends and family members around him. That was his own way of relaxing.
Did he have preference for any kind of music?
He liked classical music. He also liked Ebenezer Obey’s songs. But he didn’t spend much time listening to music. That was not papa because for him, every moment counted. He preferred to talk with his friends and members of his family on important things.
You must have grown up seeing many law books. Why did you choose to study medicine and not law like your father?
I had no idea why. But I decided since I was very young that I would be a doctor. I cannot say why I chose to be a doctor.
Didn’t he try to influence your career choice?
No. He didn’t, rather, I have said this before, that he narrated to me heroic stories of doctors, how they saved lives. Looking back now, I can see he wanted me to hold on to my dream and not let go. In fact, he didn’t try to influence our choice of careers or spouses.
What impression of him do you have after reading some of his thought-provoking books on Nigeria?
That is the curious thing. Children only see their fathers as their fathers. It is only when they grow older that they see them differently. I speak for myself, I realised later how great he was. As far as we were concerned then, he was only a father who paid the bills, advised us and was there for us. It is a pity that all the questions and comments are coming when he is no longer with us. One would have thought he would be there until we were ready to let him go. He was a very good and dependable man. We knew what could make him angry. We knew the steps to take to get his approval for some things. He was easy to get along with.
What was his idea of discipline?
When we were young, he didn’t spare the rod. In those days, using the cane was common with parents and in schools. He made us know how badly we behaved by using the cane when we were growing up. He used the cane on us when we misbehaved. I tried to avoid anything that could make him use the cane on me.
Did he have any special meal?
Yes, he enjoyed amala, pounded yam and rice once in a while. But he never ate pepper. If his food was dished out with a spoon earlier used for peppered stew, he would know.
What was his favourite drink?
He took lucozade and ovaltine. He never took alcohol. He always took the ovaltine at night. He had a way of making it in such a way that made it nice. I really cannot say whether it was the thickness of the ovaltine or the milk in it that made it so rich and nice.
A section of the country labelled him a tribalist. How do you see him?
I find that unfortunate because he was somebody who was passionate about Nigeria. He devoted his life to the country. It’s a shame but he has been vindicated on many occasions. A lot of that involves politics. Somebody likened it to putting a coin against one’s eyes. One will not see anything at that time but as the coin is removed from one’s eyes, one will begin to see clearly. After a while, people began to see the clear truth of what he stood for and what he could have achieved for the country.
Despite his vision for his country he was unable to become president. How do you feel about that?
As I said earlier, it is politics. Politics is a contest and the contest is about discrediting one’s opponent. It is about perception and if it is a negative one and people can buy it, one will get what one wants.
What is your view about the memoir of the late Chinua Achebe which stated negative things about your father?
I don’t want to talk about it.
Did he visit you when you were studying abroad?
He visited me except when he was imprisoned. I remember that in January 1969, he was in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. He represented the then Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd). He was given a grand welcome and he took time to visit me at the University of Bristol,UK where I was then studying medicine. The university authorities hosted him. Most of my friends were surprised that he was my father because we never discussed who he was prior to that time. When I was sitting for my final examination, he was coincidentally in London and he called me every day to wish me well as I went into the examination hall. As I left the hall, he called to ask how the examination went. He was not a doctor and didn’t know what I wrote, but he cared. His visits and calls also encouraged me to make him proud.
How did he handle disagreement with his wife?
I cannot remember any disagreement because they were a perfect match. Mama knew how not to talk about a matter when papa was adamant about it. She knew how to reintroduce such matter to get what she wanted. Papa also pampered her.
How large did his children live when he was Premier and finance minister?
Large? We didn’t live large. We walked to and from school. He had no paraphernalia of office except a policeman that was always in his office whenever he resumed for duty. Of course, we had children of parliamentarians and ministers as friends but we played more with the children in our neighbourhood. We also attended public schools. I remember a time I wanted to celebrate my birthday. I took some envelopes from home to put the invitation cards in them for my friends in school. The envelopes were inscribed with ‘In Her Majesty Service.’ When one of the teachers saw the envelopes, she said they were official documents. I was in primary school then and could not understand why she was agitated about the envelopes. To me, I felt they were ordinary envelopes.
What are the challenges of being Awolowo’s child?
People expect one to measure up to his phenomenal standard. There were those who felt that he was gone and it should be the time for someone else. Some also bear resentment at the advantage the name confers on us. But in all, it is a name that opens doors everywhere.
How close were you to him?
We were very close.
Was he in touch with his family while in prison?
Yes, he communicated with us through letters. I still have some of the letters he wrote to me.
What were his main messages in the letters?
He always encouraged us to study hard, make mama happy and believe in ourselves.
Was he optimistic that he would be freed?
He was sure that he would be out of the prison and be vindicated. He never doubted that in any way. He said if anything contrary happened, it meant something was fishy because he would not do anything to endanger his life.
Was he spiritual?
He was very deep spiritually both on private and public issues. He was almost prophetic in many areas.
What values did he held dear which you have imbibed?
I have imbibed his values of integrity, thoroughness, openness, equity, justice and to be one’s brother’s keeper. He used to say to us that, ‘Noblesse Oblige (Nobility obliges).’ His own translation of that was ‘Olaniyonu’ (uneasy lies the head that wears a crown). He advised us to behave nobly always.
What impact has the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation which you coordinate made on his legacy?
I think we have tried to intervene in important issues in Nigeria, not by ourselves, but by Nigerians with different shades of opinion to debate and come up with options for the way forward. My father was also able to do a lot of that because he loved to discuss with like-minded people in order to enrich his mind too. He often came up with solutions rather than condemning. That is exactly what we do at the foundation.
Where were you when he died?
I was in Lagos while he was in Ikenne. The Saturday he died I was waiting for mama to accompany her to a wedding ceremony. I was already dressed but mama was yet to arrive. I felt it was unlike her to delay appointments. I was still wondering what caused her delay when I heard a car horn at the gate. I looked through the window and saw that it was my husband. He went to the clinic in Lagos Island and I was surprised that he had returned home. My plan was to go to the event with mama, leave the place, go to the clinic and return home with my husband. So, I was surprised when I saw him and he told me that someone called to tell him that papa was sick. I said we should get his doctor but he said we needed to go and see him in Ikenne. Something in me told me that something was going on. We went to Ikenne and everything seemed to be normal. The steward I saw downstairs told me that my parents were upstairs. When we entered, I knocked at my father’s door and there was no response. I knocked mama’s door and the lady who opened it narrated the story. He passed away quietly in his bedroom. My father’s sister came in the morning of that day. She and mama were talking until they noticed that it was getting late and my father was yet to come out of his room. Mama first knocked at his door quietly and later started banging it. She later called his driver who had been with him for many years and he forced the door open. Mama said he was still warm when she saw him and that she tried to apply balm on his hands.
Did you see him before his death?
I saw him during the three days before his death. I was in my office the first day when he asked me to see him. We chatted well that day. He told me when I was leaving on that Thursday to come with my daughter because he wanted me to sleep over. But I didn’t go with her as he asked me to because I didn’t plan to sleep over. Immediately he saw me the following day, he asked about my daughter and if I would not be staying over. I said I would return on Monday to see him. He said it was okay. It was the next day he died.
Did you regret not staying over as he wanted you to?
I will regret it for the rest of my life. But I also console myself that perhaps his final night was meant for him and mama.
Why are you not in politics?
I don’t believe I have a place there.
Why do you think every self-appointed progressive aligns with his ideology?
By their fruits we shall know them.
7 things you didn’t know about my father
- He gave Nigeria’s currency the name ‘naira’
- He never ate pepper
- He was a closet scientist
- He played music on a harmonium
- He loved Mercedes Benz cars
- He was a disciplinarian
- He never tasted alcohol
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