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The Ibadan School of Governance and Public Policy (ISGPP), led by the the school’s Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Dr Tunji Olaopa, stormed Prof. Awe’s Bodija, Ibadan residence and presented her with a birthday letter, cake and birthday card.
In the birthday letter, Awe, a former Commissioner for Education in the old Oyo State, was described as a historian per excellence, and “one of the few alive, who have made the point, and successfully too, that history goes beyond taking a myopic look at a dusty past for the sake of intellectual and academic professionalism.”
The letter read further: “On the contrary, scholarship for you carries the burden of engagement – a commitment to germaine societal issues that are cogent for cultural and national progress. Thus, the full weight of your scholarship is brought to bear on the gender disarticulation in Nigeria. And, being a true Yoruba woman, you have so admiringly animated your arguments and activism with deep Yoruba cultural insights and consciousness. ”
In her response, Professor Bolanle Awe, a renowned gender crusader, expressed surprise at the celebration however pointing out that Olaopa has always shown the capacity to spring surprises since she knew him.
She expressed satisfaction for having made her modest impact on her generation as an individual but said she was depressed over the Nigerian socio-economic status.
According to her, Nigeria has the capacity to be a far better country but has refused to do so by reason of bad leadership.
Recalling the excitement generated by the coming of independence in 1960 among both young and Nigerian elite then, Awe said bad leadership squandered all the potential and opportunities to make Nigeria a great nation.
The octogenarian urged members of the younger generation not to lose hope, stressing that the country would get it right when individuals lay good example in their private and public lives.