Cry for Justice beyond the grave:

Chief Bola Ige, Attorney general of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was gruesomely assassinated on the 23rd of December 2001 in his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State of Nigeria.

Professor Wole Soyinka Nobel laureate and a close associate and longtime friend of Chief Bola Ige during a press conference (recently) angrily brought to surface the suspicious assassination of Chief Bola Ige and emphasised that justice must be served.

Certain individuals linked to the gruesome death of the exemplary Justice minister were tried and acquitted - but Professor Wole Soyinka and other prominent Nigerians continue to smell rat.

The death of Chief Bola Ige hurt me deeply mainly because of his close relationship with my father. Late Chief Bola Ige and his family were close friends of my father, Pa Francis Ayoola Oshunremi who equally and ironically died under suspicious circumstances in the month of December 2001 in Lagos State of Nigeria.

The pair were good friends from the 1950s during the Action Group era through to the formation of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN in 1978.

My late father was one of those who managed the campaign machinery of late Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, who went on to become the first civilian governor of Ogun State. Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, another associate, also became the first civilian governor of Lagos state and particularly that of Chief Bola Ige who subsequently became the first civilian governor of old Oyo state.

This class of prominent politicians driven by laudable purpose and many more were frequent visitors to our rented accommodation in Ibadan/Lagos in the late 1970s to the middle 1980s. The unity and future prosperity of Nigeria were central to there union as I frequently heard them debate on several issues facing the country then.

They all knew and recognised my father was a man possessed with unique talents of language, oratory, tactics and ability to galvanise and persuade people to follow any laudable cause. Daddy was instrumental in drafting many political speeches and the organisation of political rallies. Daddy’s contribution was central to Chief Ige's victory as he was particularly close to daddy and appreciated all his efforts.

Although there are a lot of conspiracy theories associated with the assassination of Chief Bola Ige in his Ibadan residence, those responsible for his murder are yet to be apprehended till today.

Those who callously took the life of the innocent political giant of our generation can continue to run but will never be able to hide from their conscience. As my late father often said, the conscience of man will forever be his judge and teacher. The conviction of guilt in the heart whether it comes to the surface or not is a silent killer. The spotlight will forever be on the conscience of the perpetrators of Chief Bola Ige’s murder.

The news of the sudden and tragic death of Chief Ige reached me in my then Basildon, Essex residence in the United Kingdom. On receiving the news my feeling was at the time (and remains the same) that justice died in Nigeria. He was the minister of justice who never got justice. The mystery and circumstances of his death remain a watershed on the conscience of Nigeria.

As the killers of Chief Bola Ige remain at large I am convinced they will meet their own Waterloo as their conscience will gradually kill them. The spirit of Chief Bola Ige will continue to torment and suffocate them.

The gravity of the loss of Chief Bola Ige will forever remain in the conscience of every Nigerian who knew him!

I personally enjoyed the free education education policy in the south-west part of Nigeria which Chief Bola Ige implemented fully in the old Oyo State then.
May his soul find repose in the bosom of the Lord, amen.

Israel Ayodele E. A. Lazarus Oshunremi

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Politik