Chief James Ajibola Idowu Ige ( ; 13 September 1930 – 23 December 2001), popularly known as Bola Ige, was a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He served as Federal Minister of Justice of Nigeria from January 2000 until his

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

in December 2001. He previously served as governor of

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

from 1979 to 1983 during the Nigerian Second Republic.

Background

James Ajibola Idowu Adegoke Ige was born in Esa Oke,

Osun State Osun (; ), is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73 km, to the south by Ogun State for 84 km and to the wes ...

in the South Western part of Nigeria on 13 September 1930. His parents were Yoruba natives of Esa-Oke town, in the old

(now in

).Ige left Kaduna and headed south to the Western region at the age of 14. He studied at Ibadan Grammar School (1943–48), and then at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

. From there, he went to the

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where he graduated with a law degree in 1959. He was called to the bar in London's

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1961. Ige established Bola Ige & Co in 1961, and later became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He became well known in the country for his oratory prowess, as well as his advocacy work on civil rights and democracy. Ige's faith was

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. Uncommonly, Ige spoke all the three major Nigerian languages, Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa fluently. He wrote several books, and an anthology of articles and tributes about him was published shortly after his death.

Early political career

During the First Republic (1963–66), at the age of 31 he was at the centre of the Action Group crisis, when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was pitted against his deputy, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. He became a rival of Olusola Olaosebikan for succession to Obafemi Awolowo. Ige was a Commissioner for Agriculture in the now-defunct Western Region of Nigeria (1967–70) under the military government of General Yakubu Gowon. In 1967, he became a friend of

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

, who was a commander of the army brigade in Ibadan. 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 The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

. Towards the end of the 1970s he joined the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the successor to the Action Group. When General Olusegun Obasanjo initiated the Second Republic, he was elected as governor of Oyo State from October 1979 to October 1983. Adebisi Akande, later to be governor of

after it was split off from Oyo State, was his deputy governor during this period. In the 1983 elections, when he ran for re-election as the UPN candidate, he was defeated by Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo. Ige unsuccessfully challenged the election in court. However, Olunloyo lost the seat three months later to a coup staged by Generals

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

and Tunde Idiagbon. Ige was detained after the coup, accused of enriching himself with party funds. He was released in 1985, after the next coup, by

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August 1941) is a Nigerian statesman and military dictator who ruled as military president of Nigeria from 1985 when he orchestrated a coup d'état against his military and political arch-rival Muhammadu ...

, and returned to his legal practice and to writing. In 1990, he published ''People, Politics And Politicians of Nigeria: 1940–1979'', a book that he had begun while imprisoned. He was one of the founders of the influential Yoruba pressure group, Afenifere. Although critical of the military rule of General

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. Abacha's seiz ...

, Ige avoided political difficulties during this period.

Fourth Republic

Following the restoration of democracy in 1999, Ige sought the nomination of the Alliance for Democracy party as a presidential candidate, but was rejected. President Obasanjo appointed Ige as minister of Mines and Power (1999–2000). He was not able to make significant improvements to service provided by the monopolistic National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). He then became Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2000–2001). In September 2001, Ige said that the Federal government had initiated a program to re-arrange and consolidate the laws of the Federation, publish them in digital form, and make them available on the website of his ministry. He campaigned ardently against the imposition of the Sharia law in the northern states of Nigeria. In November 2001, he said that the Federal government would not allow the

Sokoto State Sokoto ( Hausa: ; Fula: , ''Leydi Sokoto'') is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country. It is bounded by Republic of the Niger to the north and west for 363 km (226 miles), and the states of Zamf ...

government to execute the judgement of a verdict passed by a Gwadabawa sharia court to stone a woman, Safiya Hussaini to death for committing adultery.

Death

On 23 December 2001, Ige was shot dead at his home in the south-western city of Ibadan. He had been entangled in squabbles within his party in

. The previous week, the long-running feud between Osun state Governor Bisi Akande and his deputy, Iyiola Omisore, had apparently contributed to the death of an Osun State legislator, Odunayo Olagbaju. The government of President

deployed troops in south-western Nigeria to try to prevent a violent reaction to the murder. Although various people were arrested and tried for involvement in the murder, including Iyiola Omisore, all were acquitted. As of November 2010 the killers had not been found. He was buried in his home town in Esa-Oke, Osun State. In a speech at his funeral, he was quoted as saying that he was sure that Nigeria was worth living for but he was not so sure that it was worth dying for.

Books

* ''Golden Quotes: a selection of my favourite inspirational quotations''. Ibadan : Pocket Gifts; Oxford : African Books Collective istributor c2000. x, 163 pp.; 19 cm. * ''Detainee's Diary'' Ibadan : NPS Educational, 1992. 262 p. ; 23 cm. * * ''Constitutions and the problem of Nigeria'' Lagos: Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 1995. 36 pp.; 21 cm. *

References

External links

* Banjo, Ayo (ed.), ''Bola Ige: Passage of a Modern Cicero. An anthology of views, reviews and tributes, dedicated to the Nigerian politician assassinated in 2001.'' B/w illus, 215pp, NIGERIA. BOOKCRAFT LTD, , 2003. Paperback * Ladigbolu, A. G. A., Prince. ''The success of Bola Ige administration in the old Oyo State of Nigeria''. igeria Lichfield Printing Co., 003vii, 160 pp.: ill. ; 22 cm. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ige, Bola 1930 births People from Osun 2001 murders in Nigeria 2001 deaths 20th-century Nigerian politicians 20th-century Nigerian lawyers Action Group (Nigeria) politicians Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria) politicians Alumni of University College London Assassinated Nigerian politicians Attorneys general of Nigeria Deaths by firearm in Nigeria Federal ministers of Nigeria Governors of Oyo State Ibadan Grammar School alumni Justice ministers of Nigeria Lawyers from Ibadan Nigerian Christians Nigerian officials of the United Nations People from Zaria People murdered in Ibadan Senior advocates of Nigeria Unity Party of Nigeria politicians Unsolved murders in Nigeria Yoruba lawyers Yoruba politicians Assassinated governors and heads of sub-national entities 21st-century governors African politicians assassinated in the 2000s Politicians assassinated in 2001 Alumni of the UCL Faculty of Laws University of Ibadan alumni