By Rotimi Bello
Nineteen years ago, the nation was thrown into gloomy mood when Chief Bola Ige – then Attorney General and Minister of Justice – was murdered inside his palatial home in Ibadan. Lamentable and heart breaking as it was, the premeditated assassination of this great man would never cease to be painful to his close associates, political soul mates, legion of admirers and ardent supporters of this iconic political figure.
Honestly, chief Bola Ige’s premature death was painful because he was a rare gem, a comet and a paragon of virtue. He was a man of exceptional intelligence and dynamic personality. Looking at his foray into law and politics, he had one foot planted in the legal profession and the other in that of politics and he was firmly rooted in both fields.
His thorough knowledge of legal interpretation and politics was superb and sensational. Who among the current politicians could furnish us with a vivid encyclopedic size account of event, happenings, boardroom politics, lobbying, daily and routine political and diplomatic maneuvering in governmental circle?
As an ardent observer of Nigeria’s current political history, prior to his premature demise, I have been looking forward to his memoir. Knowing fully that the greatest legacy that (Cicero of Esa Oke) could have bestowed and bequeathed to us, is nothing but his comprehensive memoir. Sadly enough, his untimely death had denied us that golden opportunity of reading his memoir which would have served as a political souvenir, encyclopedia and a lodestar for the coming generation.
Who else among these hungry politicians (apart from three musketeers of EL-Rufai Accidental Civil Servant; Segun Adeniyi, Power, Politics and the Death of President Yardua, and President Obasanjo in My Watch) could document and report objectively Nigeria political maneuvering at the federal level unabridged for public consumption and consideration? It is not an overstatement that Uncle Bola was instrumental and downright involved in the drafting of the constitutions of PDP, AD and APP – the first three registered political parties of this current political dispensation. He knew so much about Nigeria and Nigerians and he knew it so fluently.
During the dour and darkest days of Abacha scorched-earth-policy, his intellectual detachment, stout heart, lucid brain, self-sacrificing character (which landed him in jail), his courage and faith about Nigeria never ceased to inspire the democrats and Nigerians with fresh hope and confidence.
Indefatigably working for the betterment and social-political development of Nigeria nation, as was highlighted in his last letter to President Obasanjo prior to his assassination, Uncle Bola cherished friendship irrespective of political leaning or suasion.
Nineteen years after the assassination of this great man, the Nigerian Police Force is yet to unravel the killer. The question still remains who killed Chief Bola Ige? The security men attached to him who claimed to have gone to feed themselves and left the flank opened to assassins were all set free and nothing has been done about the case. The blood of Chief Bola Ige is definitely crying for justice and vengeance. The best way to immortalize this great man is to expose those behind his cruel assassination.
Rotimi S. Bello lives in Abuja and could be reached through [email protected]