Ethno-religious leanings or socio-political ideology
notwithstanding, it is almost improbable for any society to underestimate the
contributions of some people to the emancipation of its people and the
realization of the dream of its founding fathers. For instance, America will
forever remain grateful to the likes of Martin Waldseemuller, Stephen Moylan,
George Washington and Martin Luther King Jnr.
for their contributions, one way or the other, to the realization of the
American dream as a land of equal opportunity for all.
 |
| *Bola Ige |
In like manner, China’s economy wouldn’t have become “the fastest sustained expansion by a major
economy in history” to the extent of having “lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty” but for the
political sagacity and economic ingenuity of leaders like Chairman Mao Zedong
and Den Xiaoping.
In a word, the world owes Winston Churchill, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Ayatollah Khomeini and others a debt of gratitude for their efforts at leaving the world better than they met it. Here in Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and Ahmadu Bello, among others, have left their marks in the sand of time and one is not in doubt of their place in world history.
In a word, the world owes Winston Churchill, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Ayatollah Khomeini and others a debt of gratitude for their efforts at leaving the world better than they met it. Here in Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and Ahmadu Bello, among others, have left their marks in the sand of time and one is not in doubt of their place in world history.
Among such great Nigerians who have also etched their
names in gold is the late Bola Ige. Ige was a poet, novelist, writer, founding
member of Afenifere socio-cultural
group and devoted Christian. He was a multi-lingual, gifted orator who did so
much to promote socio-cultural integration and the Yoruba Agenda. A deep
thinker and an irrepressible crusader for the Common Good, he was once the
Secretary of the youth wing of the defunct Action
Group (AG) and he eventually rose to the peak of the Party hierarchy. Amid
the uncertainties of life, the ‘Cicero of
Esa-Oke’ walked in integrity and in the beauty of democracy.
A prominent lawyer, once described as the luminary SAN
(Senior Advocate of Nigeria), Ige was former Commissioner of Agriculture in the
defunct Western Region of Nigeria. He was also the governor of the old Oyo
State between 1979 and 1983. In 1999, he sought the nomination of the
now-rested Alliance for Democracy
(AD) as a presidential candidate but the rest, as they say, is history.
Bloodied but unbowed, the Afenifere
chieftain was later appointed, first, as Nigeria’s Minister of Power and Steel;
thereafter, Attorney General and Minister of Justice. In fact, Ige was the
African Representative designate to the United
Nations International Law Commission before death struck on December 23,
2001.
For us in Nigeria, Ige proudly stands in the class of John
Kennedy, George Bush and, perhaps, Bill Clinton, whose politics have in no
small measure electrified America. Rather than accumulate instant wealth and
sudden fortune, his legacy lies in the ‘Four
Cardinal Programmes’ as espoused in the manifesto of the-then Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). Among
those things he introduced that would live forever in the hearts of the people
was how he democratized the education space. It is a fact of life that, without
his intervention, many people might not have gone to school. And, because they
were educated, majority of them are now in the top echelon of the appurtenances
of power, contributing their quota to nation-building. It is also interesting
to note that, like John, Bola’s assassination “precipitated a national nervous breakdown” and fatalistic sense of
futility.
Well, Nigerians must be alert to the fact that remembering
Ige is not all about naming places or monuments after him. Of course, there are
perhaps enough of that! In my view, it’s time we started dealing with the
socio-psychological underpinning values of monuments, which is the celebration
of humanity, not mere ‘monuments’, the glory of which is likely going to fade
away or perish with time. Instead, what we need now is the internalization of
humanity institutional monuments, which deal with humans in the heart of hearts
of people.
Till date, the world looks at America’s premier political
dynasty, whose politics “inspired the
idealism of the Sixties”; and the Bush-Davis-Walker family, which included two presidents, two first
ladies, a state governor and a senator, with immense admiration. In the 1960s,
Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham had a rare privilege of understudying Kennedy’s
case while on internship at the White House. It is perhaps the realization that
a typical society has its own institutional pattern that motivated the future
Clintons to remain in the Democratic Party. Even, Barrack Obama could not
afford to sidetrack “the last of the
Kennedys” in his quest for America’s 1st Citizen. Today,
America’s 42nd and 44th presidents are better for it! But
I doubt if a 10-year-old Nigerian will not ask if a titan like Awolowo ever
passed through this land. No thanks to the removal of History from the school
curriculum.
With regard to natural expectations, democracy finds full expression in being a political system of competition
for power. But then,
why can’t the children of Nigeria’s heroes past ride on the wave that has been
created by their heroic parents? This brings me to the tricky question of
‘political recruitment’ and ‘leadership mentoring’ patterns in Nigeria. For
example, Muyiwa (Ige’s son) has no reason to be struggling for a place in
Nigeria’s power ladder with persons of lesser political pedigree; not even
within Uncle Bola’s locality.
Unfortunately, ours is a country where
warped systems prevail! The tragedy of leadership in this
part of the world is that, for the strangest of reasons, political neophytes
and clumsy characters, whose penchant for transactional politics, political
entrepreneurship and manipulation of passions knows no bounds, just emerge as
‘leaders’ and foist themselves on the people. But all that must change in order
to encourage future generations! Needless to repeat that the younger Ige has
the name, qualification, experience, reputation and the pedigree which
eminently qualify him to, as it were, step into his father’s shoes! The more
reason he and others in his shoes must be encouraged wherever and whenever they
show interest in politics because they have a name to protect.
May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
grant us peace in Nigeria!
*Komolafe writes in from Ijebu-Jesa, State of Osun, Nigeria (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
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