Why did the PPA fail?
Here seemed a chance in 1983 to create a progressive alliance and a progressive government. What happened? You were involved in those negotiations… OO: I was, indeed. I was involved in getting in papa Awo to attend the meeting, and for Zik to attend the meeting, as well as Waziri Ibrahim…Aminu Kano was still alive at the time. It was Jim Nwobodo who said that Zik had no powers when he was Governor-General, and even when he was president; that this time he was going to get power and all that. And I said, if you give Zik all the power that fills this world, he’s not going to do anything. He wouldn’t want to stand and fight. I said to them, what you’re leading Nigeria into now is what you’d all regret. Leave Zik alone. Let Awo lead the government, because the people are ready to follow him. But Jim Nwobodo refused. ON: Does it seem peculiar to you that most Igbo people did not understand Awolowo… OO: Well, they had some grouse against him. He was the Federal Commissioner of Finance in G
