Afriworld Leadership Award: Ifeanyi-Cy Njoku And The Example Of Aminu Kano by Ambrose Nwaogwugwu

It was the late Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa that once said if Aminu Kano were to become a Prime Minister of Nigeria he would one day carry a placard and join a protest march against himself.

"For it was indeed true that if for any reason Aminu Kano should discover that he had joined the ranks of the oppressor he would promptly and openly renounce his position and wage war on himself". Prof. Chinua Achebe remarked.

These and many more extolling and glowing  tributes came, during the demise of the late Sage, Mallan Aminu Kano.

It would be recalled that Mallan Aminu Kano was one of the shining lights as at then in the polity who preached social reforms and were among the few leading figures that preached and championed a sane Nigeria.

Mallan Aminu Kano was the face of the common people whose plight are mercilessly dealt with by the ruling class.

As of the class of an elite; Mallan Aminu Kano completely renounced the privilege and identified himself with the suffering commoners of Nigeria. 

He ended up founding a new political party to champion his course free from the corrupt ruling politicians but there layed the arduous daunting and obstructive task.
Till he died, Mallan Aminu Kano ended up not occupying any position and his ideas of reforms to our unjust social order died with him.

But when he was no more; politicians and people alike stepped onto themselves in search of tribute space to allocate themselves of the opportunity to tell how wonderful Mallan Aminu Kano was.
After his demise, many monuments have been erected in his memory to, maybe, keep the hypocritical accolades  and tributes going. 

If they thought so highly and nobly of Mallan Aminu Kano, why didn't they join his political party; why didn't they vote him in?
Some one is wondering? 

Is this not supposed to be a congratulatory message? 

Yes, it was supposed to be but scanning my mental schemes setting out to authoring this piece; I became amazed by the barrage of goodwill messages that have since trooped in and still pouring in. 

But seating down to write; all that came to my mental ratiocinate was the example of Mallan Aminu Kano and I juxtaposed, then I became sad.

I was supposed to write this as one of the many goodwill messages that have since come which is quite understandable but then; I'm seizing the opportunity to write to our conscience on the need to identify with the right course to make the hay while the sun still last.

Comrade Ifeanyi-Cy Njoku is a man who have promoted and identified with the common people and have completely aligned himself with the struggles and sufferings of the downtrodden.

He has had the privileges of eating and dining with the oppressors and emperors but instead; he chose to serve and bring succor to the forgotten of our society, fought and still fighting the unjust social orders evidently seen at almost all the spheres of our society.

So, it wasn't by any act of fluke that the leadership of Afriworld found him worthy to be bestowed with the prestigious  Afriworld 2017 edition Leadership Award side by side with eminent personalities in Nigeria.

We have had our fair share of woes simply because we were inactive with the things that should have changed us for good and regrets became the order of the day.

Since the demise of Aminu Kano; it has been one regret or the other and we have not really being our real selves.

The dreams and ideas of Mallan Aminu Kano lived and died with him simply because there were no one to sponsor him and all the oppressors that are responsible for our present woes were only interested in looting and re-looting our common patrimony. 

All we got of Aminu Kano were of glowing tributes about him. None of his service were rendered, not that he did not try, yes he did, but the powers that be stopped him.

The powers which the oppressors uses against us is that of divide and rule.

Ethnicity and recourse to vain political party lines are the instrument of division maximally utilized on the distabilization agenda  of our political pysches. 

But does it ever occur to us that among the oppressors; there are no ethnic or political party line? Once they unite- they promote agendas of common interests to advance their courses irrespective of their differences.

Going through the many and never ending goodwill messages coming to celebrate this selfless leader of our time; the very thought of Mallan Aminu Kano griped in.

By all the praises that these young people are heaping on IfeanyiCy Njoku: will they be able to join him to promote his ideas at any higher capacity of public office?