There are moments in history when a single letter says more about leadership than volumes of speeches. One such moment came in June 1971, when Chief Obafemi Awolowo wrote to General Yakubu Gowon to resign as Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and Federal Commissioner for Finance.
This was not an ordinary resignation. It was the quiet, deliberate exit of a man whose politics was rooted in principle, discipline, and vision.
Awolowo’s letter opens with a reminder of a position he had publicly stated as far back as 1969: he had no desire to remain permanently in an unelected administration. His decision to serve in the military government, he explained, was driven by one overriding purpose—to help preserve the unity of Nigeria during the civil war and ensure that all ethnic groups, including the Igbo, retained equal status in the federation.
That opening alone reveals the mind of a statesman. He was not in office for prestige. He was there because he believed the moment demanded service.
Yet what makes the letter especially compelling is the way Awolowo explains why he did not leave immediately after the war ended in 1970. In his characteristic methodical style, he listed the unfinished tasks before him: the four-year development and reconstruction plan, the national budget, capital estimates, and the rapidly deteriorating foreign exchange position.
HE REFUSED TO WALK AWAY FROM UNFINISHED WORK
For Awolowo, leadership meant seeing a difficult assignment through to a logical conclusion. He considered it untidy to leave without completing the budget and unfair to hand over a crisis half-managed to a successor. This was administrative discipline at its finest.
Here was a leader thinking beyond self and beyond headlines. He was concerned with continuity, institutional order, and national economic stability.
That is the mindset of a visionary.
Perhaps even more fascinating is the intellectual dimension of his resignation. After years of intense service, he wrote of his desire to return to legal practice and devote time to writing books that had long occupied his mind. His vision of service extended beyond government office. He understood that ideas, research, and scholarship could shape nations just as powerfully as ministerial portfolios.
Awolowo’s life reminds us that great leaders do not define themselves by office alone. Their true strength lies in the ideas they leave behind.
His closing lines are filled with grace and humanity. He thanked Gowon sincerely for releasing him from prison and later entrusting him with a crucial national assignment at a time when Nigeria’s very existence was under threat.
There was no bitterness. No political drama. No rancour.
Only dignity.
General Yakubu Gowon’s reply is equally historic. In warm and generous terms, he praised Awolowo’s patriotism, maturity, objectivity, courage, and extraordinary stewardship of Nigeria’s finances during one of the darkest periods in the nation’s history.
Gowon’s acknowledgment that Nigeria survived the crisis, resisted currency devaluation, and prosecuted the war from its own resources speaks volumes about the immense confidence reposed in Awolowo’s economic leadership.
This exchange between two major figures in Nigeria’s history remains one of the finest examples of statesmanship and mutual respect in public life.
At a time when public office is too often seen as a prize to be clung to, Awolowo’s resignation letter stands as a timeless lesson: true visionaries know why they serve, how they serve, and when it is time to leave.
History still speaks through that letter.
And what it says is simple: leadership is not about power; it is about purpose.
TEXT OF THE LETTER
CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO’S RESIGNATION LETTER FROM THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL DATED JUNE 13, 1971 TO GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON AND REPLY FROM GENERAL GOWON;
June 3, 1971.
My dear Commander-in-Chief,
You will recall that in a statement made by me and published in the SUNDAY TIMES of March 30, 1969, I declared, among other things, as follows:
“Even at the Federal level, I have no desire whatsoever, and I certainly cannot be tempted or induced to develop one, to head, or participate in an unelected or even an electoral-college elected civil administration in a military or any setting.
At the moment, I am participating in the activities of the military government because I have been invited, and I also think it is right, so to do. I am, therefore, obliged, morally and for the purpose of keeping Nigeria united, to take part, as fully as I can, in any measure designed, in particular, to keep the Ibos as a constituent ethnic unit in the federation of Nigeria, enjoying equal and identical status and benefits with other ethnic units, and in general, to preserve Nigeria as an economic and political entity.”
I should have, in accordance with this declaration, relinquished my present offices soon after the end of the civil war in January last year. But one main matter decided me against such an immediate course of action. As you know, before January 1970, the four-year development and reconstruction plan had been under active preparation, and it had been hoped that it would be launched early in the 1970/71 fiscal year.
It was my strong desire to participate in the consideration of this plan. As it turned out, however, the plan was not actually considered until August 1970.
By that time, three other factors had supervened. First, the capital estimates for 1970/71 had been delayed until the launching of the four-year development plan, which did not take place until November last year. At this late stage, I decided that the capital estimates of 1970/71 should be incorporated into those of 1971/72.
Second, by November 1970, the time for the introduction of the 1971/72 budget was only some four months away.
Third, as from September 1970, our foreign exchange position had started to undergo an unusual rapid deterioration. It occurred to me, in all these circumstances:
That it would be untidy for me to leave without completing the budget for 1970/71;
That it would be hardly fair to my successor for me to leave at a time when preparations for the 1970/71 budget had actively begun under my direction, and;
That it might be interpreted in some circles as an act of bad faith for me to leave at a time when our foreign exchange was in such a bad state, and no sensible formula had been found for arresting its deterioration.
Now with the peace and unity of our great country fully restored and firmly re-established; with the four-year development plan already considered and launched and the capital estimates for 1970/71 completed; with the 1971/72 budget done and a reasonable solution devised for our acute foreign exchange, I feel free to act in accordance with one of my fundamental beliefs, referred to in paragraph 1 above, and publicly declared on March 10, 1969-EIGHTEEN CLEAR MONTHS before the military government’s political programme was announced by you on October 1, 1970.
I would, therefore, like to notify you that, with effect from July 1, 1971, I am no longer willing to continue in the offices of Federal commissioner for Finance and vice-president of the Federal Executive Council.
Supplementary to the forgoing, there is another important reason for my present action. After four truly (I hesitate to say exceedingly) exacting (though thoroughly stimulating and educative) years in the Federal Ministry of Finance which, throughout the period, was incessantly beset with fiscal and monetary problems of unprecedented dimensions, and of peculiarly complex and tantalizing nature, I deem it to be in the interest of my continued good health to have a complete change of full-time occupation.
As to my future plan, I have decided to go back to legal practice. I also want to seize the opportunity, which the military government’s six-year political programme provides, to write, if my professional engagement permit, three books which have always been very much on my mind.
The research connected with two of these books will take me to selected developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, as well to ECA and OAU secretariats in Addis Ababa, the offices of some United Nations agencies in New York, and London University.
I would like to state that though, by this resignation, I am leaving your government and literary activities as mentioned above, it does not mean that I am completely relinquishing all public services to our country and people.
On the contrary, it is my resolve to continue, in all circumstances and until my life’s end, to see the best interests of our fatherland, and promote the welfare and happiness of our people, in every way possible.
In this connection, I would like to assure you that I shall always be willing, on a purely AD HOC basis and providing my professional commitments permit, to render, at your request and without any remuneration whatsoever, any particular service which is within my competence to give.
After my appointment in 1967, I submitted to you a STATEMENT OF AFFAIRS (i.e. OF MY ASSETS AND LIABILITIES) as at June 30, 1967.
In keeping with the code of conduct to which I subscribed, I am obliged to send you my statement of affairs as at June 30, 1971. It is, however, not possible to send the statement along with this letter. But my accountants are already working on it and as soon as it is finalized up to June 30, 1971, I shall forward it to you.
In closing, I would like, in all sincerity, to say two things:
Firstly, I have tremendously enjoyed working with you; and it is not without considerable reluctance, therefore, that I have to take this step.
Secondly, I will always remember with deep gratitude, your kindness to me in releasing me from prison, and in giving me, within a year of my release, an opportunity to serve our people of Nigeria once again in a ministerial capacity, and at a time when the very existence of our fatherland was in grave peril.
With best wishes to Victoria and your good self, and love to Ibrahim.
Yours very sincerely,
OBAFEMI AWOLOWO.
GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON’S REPLY:
My dear Chief,
I wish to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated June 3, 1971, intimating me of your decision to relinquish your appointments as the vice-president of the Federal Executive Council and Federal Commissioner for Finance with effect from July 1, 1971.
For some time, there have been rumours about your leaving the government, but I was sure, however, that if there was such an intention you would have not hesitated to notify me.
Since I know that you must have taken your decision after the most careful consideration, no useful purpose would be served by any attempt to make you change your mind.
It is, therefore, with the greatest regret and reluctance that I have to concede to your request.
In accepting your decision, I would like to place on record my personal appreciation of your most valuable contribution to our achievements during the last four years.
You have earned yourself respect from all of us who have seen you at close quarters, for your patriotism, coupled with a strong well-meaning conviction on issues of national importance.
I respect your maturity, objectivity, and sagacity, all of which you placed at my disposal; above all, for your advice and co-operation at all times.
Your outstanding performance as this Government’s Commissioner for Finance during one of the most critical and turbulent periods of our history will always be remembered.
You demonstrated, consistently, great courage, forthrightness, leadership, and a spirit of understanding which helped us to get out of our financial disaster.
That we did not succumb to the temptation to devalue our currency during the crisis and were able to win the war entirely out of our own resources and face resolutely the immediate post-war problems of rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation was due, in no small measures, to your skill in the management of our finances.
I am aware that your position in this Government, particularly as Commissioner for Finance, will be difficult to fill.
However, I have a consolation in the fact that during your tenure of office, you laid a sound foundation on which your successors could build and carry on the good work.
I have no doubt that, at this moment, you will have the feeling that you have done your best. I share your feelings, too; and wish to extend my appreciation of the contribution of your dear wife who had had to bear more than her share of domestic burdens as a result of your public assignment.
I am glad to note and to accept your offer to hold yourself in readiness for assignment which the Federal Government may consider necessary to give you even when you will no longer be directly associated with public life.
Since there will be occasions soon for me and your colleagues in government to state our assessment of your contribution to the service of this nation in the last four years, I now merely wish to say how sorry I am to lose your services. We will miss your great sense of humour, your debating ability and useful suggestions at all times.
On behalf of myself, your colleagues on the Federal Executive Council, and the people of our great country, I wish you many more years of useful life.
My wife and Ibrahim join me in wishing you every success in your next sphere of life.
Yours most sincerely,
MAJOR-GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON
