2 DECADES OF INJUSTICE: WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS ON NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY?
BY CHIEF ADENIYI AKINTOLA SAN, FCIArb
Oluwatoyin Mathnuel - Publisher
Insightmagonline INSIGHT MAGAZINE ONLINE NEWS
BEING A PAPER DELIVERED BY: CHIEF ADENIYI AKINTOLA SAN, FCIArb AT THE 20TH YEAR BOLA IGE MEMORIAL SYMPOSIUM HELD IN LAGOS ON TUESDAY, THE 21ST OF DECEMBER, 2021 ON THE TOPIC: 2 DECADES OF INJUSTICE: WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS ON NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY?
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CHIEF ADENIYI AKINTOLA SAN, FCIArb |
PROTOCOLS
The Special Guest
of Honour and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; His Excellency,
President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria; His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osibajo, the Senate President; His
Excellency, Senator Ahmed Lawan, the Hon. Speaker of the Federal House of RRepresentativesHis
Excellency, Rt. (Hon) Femi Gbajabiamila, Our National leader in the All
Progressives People’s Congress and our own Asiwaju of the universe; His
Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Chief
Host and Executive Governor of Lagos State; His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Executive Governor of Osun
State; His executive, Alhaji Gboyega
Oyetola, Our leader and father, former Interim National Chairman; Chief Bisi Akande,
the immediate Past Governor of Osun State and the Hon. Minister of Interior; His
Excellency, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Chairmen of today’s event; His
Excellency Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) and my leader and boss, Chief Akin Olujinmi
SAN, CON, the father of today’s event, former secretary to the Oyo State
Government and a close ally of Chief Bola Ige; Chief Michael Koleoso, the
mother of today’s event and immediate past Chief Judge of Oyo State; My Lord,
Hon. Justice Badejoko Adeniji (Rtd), My Co. Guest speaker and former Minister
for Power and Steel Development; Dr. Olu Agunloye, the Hosts of today’s event; Mrs
Funsho Adegbola (Nee Ige) and Architect Muyiwa Ige, gentle men of the Press here
present, ladies and gentlemen. Good afternoon.
It gives a great
pleasure and a rare privilege to be here this afternoon. My presentation will
be centered on the implication of Two (2) decades of injustice on the Nigerian
democracy with particular reference to the gruesome assassination of our
revered father, leader, mentor and benefactor; Chief James, Ajibola Ige SAN
WHO WAS CHIEF BOLA IGE SAN?
The Late Chief
J.A Ige was born in Esa Oke, Osun State on the 13th day of
September, 1930. He was a distinguished Legal practitioner, an astute
politician, a prolific writer and an uncommon advocate for civil rights and
democracy in Nigeria. Bola Ige established his law firm known as Bola Ige &
Co in the year 1961 and was later admitted into in Inner Bar. Between the year
1967 and 1970, Chief Bola Ige was a Commissioner for Agriculture in the now
defunct Western Region of Nigeria under
the military government of General Yakubu Gowon.
In 1967, he became a friend of General Olusegun Obasanjo
GCFR, who was then a commander of the army brigade in Ibadan where they both
served as members of the Executive Council of the state under General Adeyinka
Adebayo of blessed memory. In the early 1970s, during the first
period of military rule, he devoted his time to the anti-racism campaign of
the World Council of Churches.
Towards the end of the 1970, he joined
the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN); the successor to the Action Group.
During the First Republic (1963–66) when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was
pitted against his deputy, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the Late Chief Bola Ige was at the centre of
the Action Group crisis. However, when General Olusegun
Obasanjo initiated the Second Republic, Chief Bola Ige SAN was elected as governor of Oyo State from October 1979 to October 1983. After
the military coups staged by the then military leaders in Nigeria in December
1983, Chief Bola Ige SAN was accused of enriching himself with party funds and
was subsequently detained along side other political actors in the then old Oyo
State. In 1985 however, he was released and he went back to his legal
practice.
With the restoration of democracy in 1999, Chief
Bola Ige sought the nomination of the Alliance for
Democracy party as its presidential
candidate, but same was denied by the element aptly tagged ‘fathers of apostasy’
by no less a personality, my teacher and revered Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
Prof. Itse Sagay following the despicable display at De'rovans Hotel in Ibadan. President Obasanjo appointed
Ige as minister of Mines and Power between 1999–2000. During his life
time, Chief Bola Ige served as Minister of
Justice and Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between the
year 2000 and 2001. He was one of Nigeria most cleared minded voices of
conscience – the voice of the debased, the betrayed and the dehumanized when he
was alive. Worthy
of note is the fact that Bola Ige was an alumni of the only University, the
University of Ibadan and he spoke Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa and TIV languages
fluently.
It is on record that the Late Chief Bola Ige was
about to take up a new position as a member of the United Nations
International Law Commission when
the realization of same was cut short. On December 23, 2001, (20 years ago),
Chief Bola Ige was shot dead in Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital. The Nation’s
Chief Law Officer’s life was terminated. The said killing has been associated
with a lot of political beefing which goes a long was to show that Nigerian
politics isn’t only disgusting but also barbaric.
It’s been 20
years since the death of Late Chief Bola Ige and the mystery surrounding his
death is yet to be unraveled. Both the rulers and the ruled have been playing
the Ostrich. This presupposes the existence of serious problems in this Country
which require urgent government attention. It is on record that series of arrestd
were made but nothing came out from the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators
of the crime. Although various people were arrested
and tried for involvement in the murder but all were acquitted no thanks to the
shoddy investigations purportedly carried out by the Nigerian Police and their
political commanders as well as the Nigerian factor. Up till date, I
still find it difficult to believe that Chief Bola Ige could be dealt with in
such a manner by the system and country he fought hard to liberate from the shackles of
military dictatorship.
Whenever I drive pass his
office which is about 3 blocks away from mine in Ibadan, series of unanswered
questions flood my mind. Why was he killed? Who Killed Him? Why is it difficult
to find his killers? Why is it difficult to bring his killers to book? How did
our state of security degenerate to this level? What is the fate of the common
man in this Country? Why has it been difficult for the past and present civilian/democratic
governments to deploy resources to find Bola Ige’s killers twenty years after? These and many more
questions trouble my mind and leave me in a perpetual state of confusion. His
assassination in his home at Bodija, Ibadan was definately the climax of
assassinations in Nigeria and Africa as a whole and the foundation for various
security challenges that we as a nation have been confronting since then and
till this day.
The wife of Late Bola Ige, My
Lord, Hon. Justice Atinuke Ige (Justice
of the Court of Appeal) upon being informed about the death of her husband broke down and
screamed: Is this how my Bola will be treated? It was a pain too much to bear
for her. She could not live to continue to watch the horrendous drama and
despicable dance of shame before her very eyes. She joined the saints
triumphant 16 months after the gruesome murder of her beloved husband, our
father, mentor, benefactor and a dugged fighter who with the kind permission of
my sister Mrs Funsho Adegbola (Nee Ige) gave many of us the wings to fly.
Ladies and gentle
men, the truth of the matter is that there must be closure for the immediate
and political family of Late Chief Bola Ige. Any right thinking government
would deploy machineries to unravel the mysterious killing/assassination of Chief
Bola Ige and that of other Citizens whose lives were gruesomely taken. Our
joint refusal to so do will forever leave a dent in the history of this
country.
GENERAL IMPLICATIONS
Most often than not, we find
that there is always the recurring lack of political will to hold the
perpetrators of these heinous crimes accountable despite our claim of being a
democratic country. Nigeria has continued to, at an alarming rate too suffer human
rights violations resulting from security challenges, youth unemployment,
poverty and decaying judicial system. These violations include kidnappings,
assassinations, extra-judicial killings, injustice, rape, violence,
inequalities, inhuman and degrading treatment, discrimination and above all,
impunity, weak institutions and lack of political will to hold perpetrators
accountable. Most of the problems associated with successfully practising a
constitutional democracy in Nigeria bother on the unfortunate deviance from
practising the rule of law which basically states that no one is above the law.
Insecurity is unarguably
the greatest threat to Nigeria nascent democracy. In the southern part of
Nigeria, there is the menace of kidnapping for ransom and armed robbery.
Several lives have been lost in the process. In the northern part of the
country too, there is the problem of a mindless religious sect that has wasted
several lives and destroyed property worth billions of Naira. Insecurity is
capable of shaking the corporate existence of our nation. Anyone in doubt
should go through the Vanguard of yesterday with the headline ‘WE CAN END
INSECURITY WITHIN SIX MONTHS' at pages 5 and 35 credited to General Magoro. No
one could have painted the solid picture better and in fairness to him, the
elder statesman suggested serious solutions on how to combat the menace of
insecurity in the Country.
There is therefore the need to entrench the respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms to curtail the current challenges bedeviling
the country. Injustice to Bola Ige is injustice to all. We must all undertake
to speak in one unified voice of respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms
and justice for all.
Let me leave us
with this poser. Is it possible that Nigeria in the 21st century will sweep the
murder of its former Attorney General and Minister of justice under the carpet?
From my end, I SAY, GOD FORBID!
Thank you all for
your attention.
REFERENCES
1. Joe Igbokwe: THE LATE CHIEF BOLA IGE AND
NIGERIA. DECEMBER 23, 2011.
2. Obasanjo’s
govt knew, protected, rewarded those who murdered Bola Ige – Soyinka by Oladeinde Olawoyin
PREMIUM TIMES.February 7, 2019.
3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bola_Ige#cite_note-oln2-7
4.
VANGUARD News
Paper of 20th December, 2021.
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