A former presidential candidate and Businessman, Mr Gbenga Olawepo Hashim on Monday in Abuja, joined others “admirers of his ideals” to celebrate the 100 years of the passing of Russia’s founding socialist leader Vladimir Lenin.
The event was coordinated by Veteran Journalist and former Secretary General of the Organization of African Trade Union, Comrade Owei Lakemfa.
At the occasion were many left-wing academics, trade unionists, former students’ union leaders, journalists, and diplomats, including Professor Warisu Ali, the Ambassadors of Cuba and Palestine to Nigeria, and other dignitaries.
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist.
He served as the first and founding head of the government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924.
Olawepo-Hashim who was nicknamed “Lenin” in his student days because of his deep study, connection, and admiration for the Russian ideological leader, joined other ideological leaders to celebrate a man who shaped their teenage understanding of global politics.
While explaining the personality of Lenin and the significance of his contribution to Russia’s emergence as a superpower, Olawepo-Hashim maintained that Lenin’s Ideals transformed backward Russia into a technologically advanced society and a superpower.
His internationalist perspective, he noted, laid the foundations of solidarity between the USSR and its Successor State (Russia) with the people who lived in colonized territories of Africa and Asia.
He added that Russia’s policy supported freedom from colonial rule in Africa from colonization from your capitalist friends and so the Russians are our friends and we shall continue to celebrate the legacy of their greatest leader.
Responding to a comment about the autocracy and authoritarianism of Lenin and Communism, Olawepo-Hashim argued that “although not everything that happened under Lenin was good you cannot say someone who implemented electrification of all of Russia in 5years under a New Economic Program is not a champion.”
“Imagine that Nigeria, a “Capitalist state” with so much freedom is wallowing in darkness 100 years after the electrification of Russia, you still think there is nothing from Lenin’s legacy?” he asked.
According to him, “I am not a communist but there is something to learn from a man who gave free health to all his citizens compared to our “capitalist” Nigeria where people every day every day from treatable diseases.
“There is something to learn from a man who built an army that saved capitalist Europe from Hitler, especially from a
People who are led by leaders that are finding it difficult to protect their citizens from kidnappers!”