Ige: 20 years after

 Ige: 20 years after

•The late Ige

 

Twenty years after the murder of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, his killers are still at large. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the life and times of the colourful politician, his ideas and travails, his unfulfilled hope for the country, and the agony of the bereaved family over the unresolved murder.

Twenty years after, his killers are still at large. Every December unleashes the memory of the murder at Bodija Estate, Ibadan. The scars have not faded. The pains linger in the minds of relations and associates. The puzzle remains unresolved. Who killed Chief James Ajibola Ige, the most colourful Yoruba politician in post-Awolowo era?

On December 23, 2001, the news reverberated throughout the country that Ige was no more. The tragedy provoked an uproar. The Southwest geo-political zones was enveloped in grief. His colleagues in the divided Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, bowed their heads in sorrow.

 

Ige was the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice at the time he was killed. Some controversies around his death have not been resolved. The security personnel attached to him were not with him when his killers invaded his residence. It was said that they left their security post in search of dinner.

The police later made some arrests. His widow,  Atinuke, a retired judge, was following the case in court when she fainted, following the recasting of evidence by suspects. She never recovered from the shock. She later passed on without securing conviction for the killers.

Ige’s demise created a big vacuum in the political circle. After his exit, his base, the Southwest was up for grab by political rivals. His architect-son, Muyiwa, former Commissioner for Physical Planning in Osun State, confirmed that the eminent politician was planning to resign as minister to strengthen his party, Alliance for Democracy (AD), ahead of 2003 general elections.

Unlike 1999, the poll became a walk over for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the five states of Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti as Governors Lam Adesina, Olusegun Osoba, Adebayo Adefarati, Adebisi Akande and Adeniyi Adebayo were swept out of office.  Only Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos State survived the onslaught.

 

Ige’s death also worsened the crisis in Afenifere, where he was deputy leader, although he had ceased to be a uniting factor in the organisation and AD, which the group midwifed, before he was silenced.

The inability of government to unravel his assassination aptly underscores the illusion of justice and shallow commitment to security.

Reflecting on the tragedy of unresolved murder, Akande, who served as deputy governor under him in Second Republic Oyo State, alleged in his autobiography, ‘My Participations,’ that the Federal Government was not committed to the cause of justice. “What concerned the president more was not to arrest the assassins of his friend, but to prevent social unrest and calm the nerves of the populace,” he lamented.

Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, who berated the Federal Government for lack of commitment, challenged government to publish the reports of its investigation into the murder. In his letter to Ige’s first daughter, Mrs. Funso Adegbola, the literary icon urged President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfil his pledge to open an inquiry into the spate of political murders in the country so that there can be explanation for brutal murder, exposition on perpetrators, and conspirators, and restoration of justice.

Ige, lawyer, prolific writer, eloquent social critic and astute politician, was a committed Awoist. He was a dependable ally of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. In the First Republic, he was the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Action Group (AG).

In the late sixties, he was a commissioner in the military government of Col. Adeyinka Adebayo in the Western State.  In the Second Republic, he was governor of the old Oyo State on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). In post-Third Republic, he emerged as the deputy leader of Afenifere.  He died as an elder statesman and top member of the Obasanjo administration.

Full of magnetism, charm, charisma and carriage, Ige was also a controversial politician. He had a caustic tongue. He was simply electrifying on the podium. On some occasions, he also ran into crisis. When he was assailed by the vicissitudes of life, he bore his ordeals with philosophical calmness. His regrets were many.

In the First Republic, he laboured in vain with Awo to get federal power. His leader ended up as the Leader of Opposition and later, as a political prisoner. Thirteen years after the fall of the indigenous leadership, Ige became governor. But, he lost re-election in controversial circumstances. Besides, he was jailed by the military. His loss of a promising son, Olugbenga, was tragic.

In the camp of Awoists, Ige and his colleagues-Lateef Jakande (Baba Kekere) and Bisi Onabanjo (Ayekooto)-were subjects of envy. The media flaunted their credentials as natural successors to the political stool of Awo. However, the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin, and not the three, succeeded Awo as Yoruba leader, confirming that circumstance always throw up a leader at a given time.

On some occasions, Ige’s political career was threatened by malicious colleagues. He survived the bitterness in Awo’s days. But, it was a different ball game afterwards.

In 1999, he was rejected at the AD presidential primary by the Awoists. They said Ige, tagged as a Yoruba irredentist, lacked a national outlook, unlike Chief Olu Falae, the former Secretary to the Federal Military Government and Minister of Finance. Supporters of Ige complained that the time-tested criteria of age, ideological learning, hierarchy and service to the fold were ignored by the wisemen who converged on D’Rovans Hotel, Ibadan, to pick the flag bearer. Ige described his defeat, the news to him which was broken by Dr Hammed Kusamotu, as the second fall of man. That singular even marked the gradual of parting of ways between Ige and his old friends in the Awo camp.

Was his participation in the Federal Government a mistake? Many compatriots disagreed with him for joining forces with Obasanjo. But, others felt that he followed the footsteps of Awo, who served as the Federal Commissioner for Finance in the Gowon administration. The controversy was not resolved in Afenifere before he passed on.

Why was he killed? This may remain in the realm of conjecture for long. Muyiwa maintained that his father  eminent was set to retrace his steps from the Obasanjo government before he was murdered.

Ige had no premonition about the looming disaster. Perhaps, he ignored the signs. He had informed his monarch, Owa Omiran Adediran of Esa-Oke, that many guests would come to the town during the Yuletide. Ironically, the  guests came for the funeral of the Cicero.

Before his murder, he had been molested at the palace of the Ooni of Ife, the late Oba Okunade Sijuwade, where hoodlums seized his cap and hung it on a nearby tree. Other guests at the installation of the late Mrs. Stella Obasanjo as a chief were taken aback. Many believe that the assault was the  forerunner to the murder at Ibadan.

Ige’s murder provoked rage, emotional outburst and lamentation. Eminent Nigerians described the killing as too callous. At his lying-in-state, Prof. Soyinka decried the hypocrisy of his foes crying more than the bereaved. He said: “Ige’s killers are here with us.” The endless wailing could not resuscitate the deceased from deep sleep. It was the end of an era.

Ige was a bridge builder. He had friends across the six geo-political zones. He believed in mentoring young Nigerians from all walks of life. Fork-tongued and skilled in the war of words, Ige’s mouth was sharper than the razor’s edge. He was also humorous. He was loyal to Awo. That undiluted loyalty earned him the nicknamed, “Arole Awolowo,” a likely successor to the late sage.

In Law, his profession, and politics, which he described as vocation, Ige distinguished himself, to the delight of the indomitable Awo. He was never afraid to make up his mind and pursue his worthy causes and principles to a logical conclusion.

Yet, he was an ardent critic of Awo and the AG before he joined the fold. He had criticized the AG for lack of an articulated foreign policy. Awo opened a file where he kept the thought-provoking articles written by Ige, especially his documented attacks against his party. When Awo’s lawyer-friend, Chief Morohundiya, under whom Ige later took off as a pupil lawyer, took  the rebellious young lawyer to the AG leader, Ige told Awo that he stood by the position he had taken. Indeed, Awo admired that candour, for only a few could call a spade a spade. Recognising his potentials, he resolved to groom him, encourage him and moderate his views.

Consequently, Awo made Ige a member of the AG Committee for Review of Foreign Policy, along with the late Prof. Hezekiah Oluwasanmi, Akin Mabogunje, Tunde Oloko, Olumbe Bashir and Prof Samuel Aluko. He was also an active member of the AG Youth Association, led by the late Chief Remi Fani-Kayode, and later, Ayo Fasanmi, the socialist chemist with a long beard. At 32, he emerged as the AG national publicity secretary at the rancorous Jos Convention of the party.

Having discovered his talents, bravery and boldness, Ige was given the assignment to defend the oppressed United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) chieftains, who were in alliance  with AG, when the leaders of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) hounded them into detention.

When the House of Representatives primary the old Lagos Mainland Constituency between Sikiru Shitta-Bey, Secretary of the AG Youth Association, and Adewale Thompson, son of the licensed surveyor at Odaliki Street, Ebute-Meta, was deadlock, Ige was the young AG leader sent to organise a fresh shadow poll. He reported to Awo that although both Shitta-Bey and Thompson were popular, it appeared to him that the pendulum of victory tilted more to the direction of the son of Shitta-Bey, “Seriki Musulumi” of Lagos. Awo ratified Ige’s report. Both Ige and Thompson hailed from Ijesaland in Osun State. Fourteen years later, Governor Ige appointed Thompson as Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner in Oyo State