Obafemi Awolowo (1909–87) is best known for his role in Nigerian national politics. Author of the influential book Path to Nigerian Freedom (1947), founder of the Action Group (AG) political party, first premier of the Western Region, and a credible – if ultimately unsuccessful – candidate for the Nigerian presidency on several occasions until his retirement from politics in 1983, Awolowo was a towering presence in national politics for close to four decades. As one of the leading Nigerian nationalists, alongside his political rivals Nnamdi Azikiwe and Amadu Bello, Awolowo would be a worthy subject for a new political biography. Insa Nolte's new book offers something different: while it does also offer an insightful analysis of Awolowo's political ideology and national political activities, it primarily discusses his role in the local politics of his native Remo (in southwest Nigeria, close to Lagos) and his support of grassroots political mobilisation, as well as the extent to which Awolowo himself was shaped by the specific forms of joint decision-making and popular participation that had historically emerged in Remo. Thanks to this focus, not only on Awolowo's ‘local politics’ but particularly on how one of Nigeria's leading politicians was produced by a particular, locally established way of doing politics, the insights offered in this book will be of interest to a broad field of scholars working on politics in Africa and elsewhere, not just specialists on Nigeria.
The approach taken in the book is that of a careful historical reconstruction of the making and remaking of Remo as a political community, alongside a discussion of Awolowo's development as a politician. In addition to a wealth of archival materials and articles from Nigerian magazines and newspapers, the work is based on a set of interviews, conducted between 1996 and 2005, with members of the Remo community, including Dr Hannah Awolowo, Obafemi Awolowo's widow. The organisation of the book is broadly chronological.
A first set of chapters lays out main themes and processes in Remo history before the entrance of Awolowo in Remo politics. These include a chapter on the functioning of Remo's political, social and ritual institutions during the nineteenth century, which helps to set up one of the main arguments of the book: ‘even before the establishment of the colonial and postcolonial state, popular participation in Remo politics was rooted in a dynamic in which a wide range of institutions and associations can potentially be politicised’ (p. 30). Other chapters in this section explore tensions between processes of hierarchisation (due to the founding of the Remo capital Sagamu in the nineteenth century, or the impact of colonial rule on the local level) and local participation.
From chapter 5 onwards, the ideology and political actions of Awolowo are analysed, and in particular how he used party politics to overcome Remo's factionalism. The analysis emphasises the importance of Remo's history of participation and consent in local politics, its grassroots associations, and popular mobilisation. Therefore, while from the 1940s onwards Remo politics became centred on Awolowo's agency and leadership, his success depended on popular consent and the community's view of itself. During Awolowo's later years, the importance of the local community in his political ideology only grew. Disillusioned with the Nigerian state, he increasingly emphasised the need for self-reliance and civic duty, and supported the growth of Remo's development associations that attempted to improve the region through self-help and communal solidarity. A final chapter examines the continued importance of Awolowo in Remo politics after his death in 1987.
A short review cannot do justice to this work's richness in historical detail and analytical scope. The book speaks to many current concerns and will be required reading for historians working on Nigeria. Its key themes, however, have significance for much wider scholarship. Of great interest are Nolte's observations about the role of local politics and civic pride in colonial and postcolonial Africa. Local political agency is not driven by rigid notions of culture or identity, even if modern local institutions frequently take on a neo-traditional appearance. Rather, local political traditions provide a rich repository of complex political repertoires that may be used to relate to the national state, but do also operate beyond, or as an alternative to, the state. While outside forces provide incentive for local change, these changes were made by Remo citizens themselves in local engagement with contemporary and international discourses. Nolte shows how Remo citizens could draw on a range of participatory traditions to negotiate local change, how they incorporated new ideas, and how they benefited from the ability of local leaders like Obafemi Awolowo to develop political visions that made sense both within Remo itself as well as with regard to its position in broader national and global contexts.
A final important point concerns the continuing importance of ideology in African politics. As the author puts it, ‘in rural Africa, notions of an “end of ideology” are premature’ (p. 259). In Remo, the political activities of its local leaders went beyond the material concerns addressed by clientelism. They were deeply rooted in a civic ethos of contributing meaningfully to the community and frequently addressed questions of historical meaning and morality. Furthermore, Awolowo's political ideology – emphasising education, participation, and redistribution – while locally grounded in Remo, achieved considerable, and continuous, national appeal. This book convincingly shows that local African politics are not only vibrant enough to respond to broader developments, they can also inspire crucial contributions to contemporary and international debates.
