Immortalise him

Anthony Eronsele Enahoro, by every account, deserves his place as one of the stalwarts of Nigerian freedom. He was in the frontline in the fight to free Nigeria from colonial thraldom. He was in the trenches with the big names of our nationalist warriors like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Aminu Kano, et al. The British threw him behind bars three times. At independence, he never fazed, and fought till he gave up the ghost in 2010.

In spite of his reverence as an avatar, few have trumpeted the necessity to immortalise him with a monument, a national way to brandish him as a Nigerian great. No less than the senate has brought the matter to the front burner of national attention.

The senate did not only raise it, it made it a matter of resolution. This was a corollary to a motion by Odion Ugbesa (PDP, Edo – Central) of the eighth senate. Hear him: “Pa Enahoro, then 30 years, fired with youthful zeal, patriotism and idealism, and as a member of the Federal House of Representatives, took the nation and the international community by storm with the motion which led to Nigeria’s independence in 1960.”

Every generation of Nigerians since the 1950s have witnessed one act or the other of this illustrious Nigerian. In the years of nationalist bustle, he risked life and limb daring the white man. He did that not only as a citizen for freedom, but also as a journalist, wielding his pen as a missile against the injustice of racism, oppression and colonialism. He remains the youngest ever editor of a national newspaper in the country at the age of 21. The newspaper, The Daily Times, was a maelstrom of discomfort for the colonial powers, along with such newspapers as The West African Pilot and Iwe Irohin.

It was in the course of his twitting at power that he was charged with sedition and jailed severally in 1946, 1947 and also in 1947. His most memorable action was when he made his famous speech titled, Let My People Go. Our eventual journey to nationhood enjoyed great momentum from his rhetoric in 1956.

He also took part before and after independence in some of Nigeria’s monuments. For instance, he as minister of information in the Western Region, built the first television station in Africa under Obafemi Awolowo. Another generation later, he supervised the building of the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, as the President of FESTAC. As federal commissioner in charge of sports, he helped build the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

Yet a generation later, when the military tyrannised over the country, he formed the Movement for National Reformation during the Babangida years. It was an era of anti-military ferment, and Enahoro was a leader of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) that played a major role in dismantling the military stranglehold on power.

Enahoro did not allow age or party affiliation or tribal loyalties to interfere with his pursuit of freedom in Nigeria. He was, in spite of his uncompromising stance in the high moments of Nigeria’s existential struggles, a man of paradox. He was born a royalist, but he became an avenging angel for equality. He was born July 22, 1923 into royalty. His mother was Princess Enibokun Okojie of the Uromi Royal House, while his father, Prince Okotako Enahoro, belonged to the Onewa Royal House. He was a republican who bore chieftaincy titles like the Adolor of Uromi and Okaku of Edoland.

He was an Awolowo loyalist who parted ways with him to join his enemy party as a member of the National Party of Nigeria. He was a proud Edo man but was on the other side of his people when he sided with Awolowo in opposing the plebiscite calling for the creation of Midwest Region.

He abided his contradiction, but shining overwhelmingly was a love of country and justice, and the progress of his fellow citizens. If anybody deserved to be immortalised, it was Enahoro.