Nine years after his murder by unidentified persons, progressive politicians on Sunday converged on the Esa-Oke, Osun State hometown of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige (SAN), where they paid tributes to his memory.
The National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Chief Bisi Akande, led many other politicians, included Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, to the tomb of the departed politician in the family house known as Solemilia Court to offer prayers for the repose of his soul.
Akande, who attended a remembrance service held at the Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, Esa-Oke, said Ige’s political disciples would not depart from the philosophy of selfless service.
The deputy leader of pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, was murdered in his Bodija residence in Ibadan on December 23, 2001, while serving as the AGF in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Chief Iyiola Omisore, and some other politicians arrested for alleged involvement in the murder were set free by the court.
While in prison custody, Omisore ran for the Osun East senatorial seat on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and won.
Speaking at the tomb, Aregbesola said Ige’s killers had not been able to silence his ideals, stressing that the late Yoruba leader was victorious in death.
The governor said, “Uncle Bola Ige may no longer be physically present here with us, his spirit is alive. His ideas are living. Uncle has proved to us that even in death, there is victory.
“There is victory in death and that victory is scored when an individual devotes his life to the development and advancement of his people, his community, his country. Whenever he drops dead, the world will always remember him. That means he is victorious even in death.”
Aregbesola said if Ige were still alive, he would have supported the plan by Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states to develop a joint railway project, assuring that the ideals of the defunct Western Region would be re-enacted by progressives in the South-West.
Among dignitaries at the ceremony were Ige’s eldest son, Muyiwa; daughter, Funso; the Chairman of the ACN in Osun State, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; a former member of the House of Representatives, Prof. Sola Adeyeye; an ACN chieftain, Mr. Ayo Afolabi, and Mr. George Adedeji.
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