In Osun State, Muyiwa, son of Chief Bola Ige, a former Governor of the Old Oyo State and former Attorney General of the Federation is one of the insiders playing on the big table with Governor Rauf Aregbesola. Though an erstwhile Commissioner, the younger Ige still serves as a consultant to the Government to the State. The fact that he currently serves on pro bono basis is an indication that he is one of the men whose judgments are treasured and trusted by the Governor.
In this interview with PMParrot/Parrot Xtra’s Publisher, OLAYINKA AGBOOLA, WOLE ADEJUMO, REMI AJAYI and KUNLE GAZALI, Muyiwa Ige spoke on issues including graphic description of how his father was brutally gunned down and why he is optimistic that the killers won’t walk free for long. He also took time to explain why he feels the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is capable of stepping into the shoes of the likes of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Pa Abraham Adesanya as Leader of the Yorubas. Excerpts:
We all know that there are no Commissioners at the moment in the State of Osun, but you are still seen around with the Governor, what is your duty and what are you doing presently?
I guess your question is directly related to what is happening in the State of Osun as related to governance. Well, Exco was dissolved on the 26th of November; however, since then, there is a crop of us that are consultants to the Governor. It is obvious that constituting a cabinet now has cost implications and so by virtue of the fact that there is paucity of funds; it means that you creatively run government utilizing resources that have been available or are still available to achieve the goal.
So we are consultants to the Governor but on a pro bono basis, what that means is that we are working for free and to also establish the fact that there is no lacuna as relates to governance in the state.
You were in the last administration with Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and of course you know criticisms have poured in left, right and centre in connection with finances of the state. Where do you think the Governor got it wrong?
We didn’t get it wrong. I know that there is an overwhelming campaign of calumny over the last couple of months, like a vendetta against the administration. I don’t want to be more specific than that. If you notice, there is a national newspaper that is hell-bent on just targeting the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, even the leadership of the daily newspaper has said that it has a vendetta against us but we are not deterred, we are focused. So when you say where did we go wrong, in terms of government unusual, we’ve not done anything wrong, in terms of providing for the betterment of the common man in the State of Osun, we have not done anything wrong, in terms of providing rapid development in the state, we’ve not done anything wrong, in terms of stretching resources as far as we can probably do, so that we can get value for money, we’ve not done anything wrong. The fact that we have also encouraged the development of the civil service, civil servants, professional training, we’ve not done anything wrong. As far as the environment is concerned, making it conducive for living, we’ve not done anything wrong, re-branding the psyche of our people to let them have ownership in governance, we’ve not done anything wrong, making sure that children are fed daily in the school feeding programme, we’ve not done anything wrong.
Provision of school uniforms, provision of even employment for 20, 000 youths yearly and two batches have successfully been completed, that is 40, 000 young people have been engaged, we have not done anything wrong. So what we’ve done right is to ensure that we plug leakages and we make sure we deliver the goals for the collective good.
Of course you must have heard it being said all around that the State of Osun cannot pay its civil servants, the State of Osun is owing civil servants, some people have not been to work for months, when you hear these things, how do you feel?
Civil Servants are back to work. Please get that right. I think your question is belated because civil servants are back to work but to properly address the issue you tried to raise, fortunately, the dust has settled on that and by the grace of God, we will not go through that quagmire again in the State of Osun. If you recall, in 2013, precisely July, it was Ogbeni’s administration that made a lot of noise that hell was breaking loose in Nigeria, they kept telling us that there was no money, 400, 000 barrels of crude oil were being stolen everyday but with the benefit of the present administration and President Buhari’s silent revolution, we are finding out the mess that took place within the Federal Government of the immediate past administration. We also found out that they intentionally stifled and attempted to strangulate states like Osun to make sure that rapid development did slow down, even the immediate past president, when he came campaigning in Osun, he was telling people that he would not give us our ecological fund money or release our funds unless they vote for him but Osun people know better and they made sure that he was booted out.
We thank God because there is a ray of hope. There is good funding that will be coming now to ensure that salaries are fully paid. We thank the civil servants for actually cooperating with the government. Remember I mentioned earlier that it was Ogbeni that raised the issue about a year and a half ago. A little about what happened, the Commissioners of Finance of the various states would attend the FAC meeting which is where they share the national cake and whenever they were short, all the Commissioners would walk away, before they got back to their bases, they would have wired them the money. So a state like Osun that was getting 4.6 billion, they would go for FAC meeting they would tell them your own portion is 2.8 billion and it just started getting reduced like that. I think the last one was 460 million, yes, that bad.
With all that we have learnt since, it just shows that the administration of Goodluck Jonathan really put this country in a mess. Serious mess. For them to even mandate that no sub-national government, that is state government must borrow money, we found out that they borrowed N473 billion just to pay salaries of federal workers. Is that double speak or what? Anyway, Osun is out of the doldrums and ominira ti de (we are free), salaries will be paid, hopefully, there will be a wave of payments before the end of this month and by the middle of September, all outstanding debts should be paid. And then, there was a summit in Osogbo recently to review the way forward. That is part of participatory government, taking the message to the people, let it be their own decision, let’s examine all the various areas of governance and let the people now tell us that if you say government is too top heavy, the decision must come from the people; which means they must have a sense of ownership.
How is the Bola Ige family taking it that your dad’s killers have not been found since 2001?
We are in this country Nigeria and the chief law officer was cut down and a trial or a sham of a trial was conducted and nolle prosequi was entered and eventually the prime suspects were asked to walk and they are still walking around now. By the grace of God, they won’t be walking around for too long because I have always said that once there is a sensible government in place, hopefully, we will get justice. I believe that the government that we have today means well. And many people believe that they might want to revisit some of the high profile assassination cases, fortunately, capital offense is not time bound.
I know there was a pronouncement by the Inspector-General of Police sometime ago which was a bit diversionary because if you read through, even through the fine prints, he was an active participant at the time, he is trying to direct focus away from the prime suspect. But I believe everyone will get their comeuppance and the natural law which is the law of karma will always take its rightful place.
Again, as a family, we can’t prosecute because it’s the state against the suspects and all we can do is offer information that we may have and plead with the government of the day to ensure that justice is done for everybody, all the high profile cases inclusive of Dele Giwa’s.
Your dad distinguished himself in public service and politics and you seem to be following his footsteps already. How would you say being the son of Chief Bola Ige molded you for the role you presently play?
Over and beyond the excess baggage I carry around all the time, I appreciate the goodly heritage that I have and I also always have it as my mantra that ranti omo eni ti iwo nse (remember the son of who you are). There is tremendous goodwill that comes along with being an offspring of Bola Ige and the Late Justice Atinuke Ige. I am indeed a proud offspring of the two great Nigerians.
The excess baggage that I mentioned is not excess as far as carrying it because it comes with the package life offers, so you just take it in your stride and keep forging ahead.
The Ooni of Ife died recently, at the burial service, APC Governors were conspicuously absent, you were also absent. Is there any reason attached?
Well, as for the APC governors, I think you need to ask them but the State of Osun was well represented, the Vice President of the nation was there, again I can’t really speak on that because I am not party to whatever their schedules were. For me, you asked why I wasn’t there. I don’t particularly like going to funerals!
The story of the assassination of Chief Bola Ige cannot be told without the cap-removal-issue coming to mind. It happened there in the palace of the late Ooni and one would probably feel that was why you decided to shun the programme. Can you recollect what happened that day and can you recollect and paint a picture of the occurrence?
It was quite unfortunate that the unfortunate episode of cap removal happened at the palace of the Ooni. Chief Bola Ige was the man that gave the staff of office to Ooni Sijuade and he had gone to attend the chieftaincy investiture of the wife of the President at the time, Stella Obasanjo, of blessed memory. And from all indications, as he was walking in into the palace, the main court of the palace, there were all kinds of derogatory songs and the prime suspect was hiding with their thugs and somehow, between himself and the Chief Detail who is a state service personnel, they were able to reach over him to grab his cap and his chain and I think they removed his glasses. Thereafter they purportedly threw it up and it got hung on a tree. What my father told us was that he told the late Kabiyesi that he would not leave until they brought his cap and so he encouraged the prime suspect to go and retrieve the cap. He got the cap and as he was moving out also, he was put in the vehicle of the Director of the State Service of the state at the time, he asked them to go in one direction but they drove him towards another direction. So he told them ‘I told you there is no way out here, you need to go back.
The whole conspiracy that had started from that day ended, culminating in the attack and assassination of December 23, 2001. That’s it in a nutshell, what transpired that day. He got his cap back, even the necklace; I have it because my sister gave it to him. I have the bracelet.
But that was an abomination. You know what it portends in Yorubaland. It is almost sacrilegious to remove the cap of an elderly statesman who is not a yeye (irresponsible) person. But like I said, everyone will get their comeuppance.
On the 23rd December, 2001, you were there…
(Raises right hand, cuts in) You remember where you were too on that day, right? And you remember where you were when you heard the news of the assassination. It was a black Sunday, a black Christmas for everybody.
You were in the house with him. How exactly did it really happen?
Yes, I was with my father, we went to Lagos earlier in the day, he dropped his brother off at Oluyoro Hospital and then came back to the house. He got out of the car, asked for the Bodija police officers if they had come; that was about 8.30 and unfortunately, they had not come that evening which was quite interesting; with the benefit of hindsight… And my father left instruction that when they come, they should come and collect their Christmas present because everybody gets a present, be it Christmas, New Year or Easter or end of Islamic fasting, everybody gets a present. And so, he came in, we talked, he was supposed to be in Esa Oke that day but we changed his schedule to now travel the next morning which was Monday the 24th.
Nine minutes after was when they came in and they cordoned all of us off in one wing of the house and isolated my father. The security personnel that we had come home together were nowhere to be found only for us to discover they had gone out to eat, for which they were instructed not to go and eat but that they should wait to take my aunt back to Oluyole Estate. But again, all of us witnessed the sham of a trial and the various witnesses that testified.
When they entered the house, you saw them…
No, they were already in the house when I saw them. If you know my father’s house well, there are two wings in the house, so my mum, my aunt, my son and my wife and some other family members were on one wing. We just noticed that there was a bit of ruckus, so when I went to check because my wife went to collect food for my son and then I noticed that she did a stutter step and I was like what’s going on? So by the time I got there, I saw someone with a gun so I had my hands up and they started bringing everybody from downstairs into the room and I observed that of all the people that were in the room… the security, the Chief Detail, the orderly, the security personnel that were supposed to have been around were the only ones missing. And then my mum, God bless her soul, spoke to them that they shouldn’t harm anybody. It was just a decoy and there was a lone gunshot. We all heard that, then we heard them leaving.
Shortly thereafter, my sister came into the house. What was interesting was that when she now arrived, the security personnel that were nowhere to be found were downstairs at the time. They had locked us in, by the time they opened the door and I went out to check my dad, I found him lying on the ground. I told everybody to back off and then we carried him to the hospital. The same hospital we had been like an hour before. What’s also interesting was that we found out later that the security personnel, when they returned from where they had gone, went to check him his room and touched him and confirmed that he was cold and went back downstairs and sat and they later told my sister that she should go upstairs that he was upstairs. How callous? I gave him CPR, there was a tissue coming out from his left side, I pushed it back in, I tried mouth to mouth resuscitation. We took him to the hospital after, just like I carried my mum.
I read an interview in which you said “they may gloat that they have killed Bola Ige, but whatever they want to become, their ambition will fizzle out…
(Cuts in) they, that is collective, all of them put together. There were eleven suspects.
“If they want to be Governor, it will not be possible”…
Let’s not dwell on that, we are wasting our energy on inconsequential and irresponsible people.
As far as you are concerned, who do you think killed your dad?
Who do I think killed my dad? We’ll find out very soon.
During your dad’s funeral programme, Professor Wole Soyinka made a statement; he said “Bola Ige’s killers are here with us”. How did you feel hearing that statement?
Keep in mind that Professor Wole Soyinka is my godfather and he was very close to my father so he wouldn’t just make a statement without understanding and appreciating the level of what he is speaking about. So the statement was poignant, right on point. I am sure it went to the marrows of those that were present because it sent jitters down their spines.
Well, the killers are still walking now, they were there, whether by proxy or by extension or connection. It was also found out that the party was a nest of killers. But we thank God we are in the era of change and definitely Nigeria will not be the same again. There is a sensible government in the country. Let’s just watch.
There are words here and there that you want to become the Governor of Osun State.
Who gave you that information? Well, what is the qualification of holding elective office? You must be over 30, you must be a Nigerian, you must not be a criminal. So, the same way you are eligible to be anything politically, is the same way that I am eligible. Once you have a will to serve the people. If it is about self-aggrandizement, no. Our people are smarter now; they won’t just put anybody in governance that just wants to be there for the sake of just dancing around and blowing sirens.
Yoruba people are smart, they know who their leaders are, they know who would serve them. So even if you are consumed by inordinate ambition, you will never succeed in Yorubaland. It’s all playing out now, we have personalities who just by virtue of self, want to take roles either in the assemblies or what have you, that will be short lived.
There is this leadership tussle in Yorubaland and there have been arguments here and there on who the leader of the Yoruba should be. In your opinion, who do you think should be called the leader of the Yorubas now?
If you x-ray this issue of leadership of the Yorubas, let’s rewind back like maybe 60 years, when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was elected as the Yoruba leader, not that he wanted it. And he was a young man at the time, was he not 45 or 46? But because of all the hard work he had put in. If you also now fast forward after that, 1997/98, there at the Premier Hotel, election in the Afenifere was conducted. Even at the time, they wanted my father to be elected but he stepped down that Chief Abraham Adesanya should be the leader of the Yorubas and he was elected Deputy Leader.
Since then, there has not been a unified forum where election of Yoruba leaders has been conducted. So, seeing that interplay politically in the last 12 years, post 2003, post the election of Obasanjo and obviously post the demise of Chief Bola Ige, the Yoruba race has been struggling for leadership, some of our people have gone astray under the guise of mainstream politics. But at this time and place, the Yorubas have come together to at least marshal plans that will be for the betterment of the Yoruba race. Nobody has been elected Yoruba leader yet, I think it’s high time that election is done whereby there is a baba ni ‘gbejo. All the ethnic nationalities, somehow, they are able to get themselves together to move forward.
I am not saying we are not moving forward but all those that have gone astray, they must be brought back into the fold. The greater goal is the emancipation of Yorubas. The Yoruba nation that is over 40 million strong must be united and we must govern ourselves well. The best interest of the Yorubas must be at the forefront. Yes we are all Nigerians but I am first an Esa Oke man before an Ijesa man before a Yoruba man before a Nigerian.
What criterion or what are the criteria you think should come into play when considerations are being made for who should become the leader of the Yorubas?
Again, be it political, be it socio-economic, all of these qualities must come into play but most importantly, leadership. The leadership qualities, being able to build consensus among all the various groups and forge ahead. Politically, the only personality that is flying the flag is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu because he has gone from one state to even extending or grabbing governance in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
There must be consensus among the Yorubas and those that have gone astray, in as much as won ti so nu (they are lost), they must be brought back into the fold and made to realize that the greater glory is for the unification of the Yorubas.
If you are asked to nominate somebody, who will you nominate?
Well, what are the options?
Maybe Obasanjo or Tinubu?
Obasanjo is not a Yoruba irredentist. Osoba, Baba Bisi Akande has the charisma, Asiwaju has the charisma, he has the chutzpah, that’s the Israeli word for guts. He has the broad shoulders to carry it. General Akinrinade could be. But is it just about gerontocracy? I don’t think it has to do with age. I think it has to do with strategy. So of all of those, if you are to grade them at all, I would say a combination of Tinubu and Baba Akande.
But if you are to choose one person?
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has the wherewithal not just resources.
You come from an influential background where it was rumoured that the names of Senior Advocates were normally written from your dining table. What does it feel like coming from such background?
Names of Senior Advocates? No o, but even if you heard it, you should know that it is very unlike Ige for something to be written behind closed doors. My father was very liberal. He allowed democracy to thrive. If you had a superior argument, your argument would carry the day. It is only unfortunate that we’ve gotten ourselves caught up in the morass where some people would sit behind closed doors and be writing such. It is very unlike Ige. Even if you heard it, you should be the one championing the cause that it is not possible, never.
What are the responsibilities the name ‘Ige’ downloaded on your shoulder?
If you recall I said the excess baggage is heavy. It is only after my parents transited to the great beyond that I had an idea of the sacrifice that they have made, how they were always willing to help others, be it education, health, anything, looking after people, cousins, relatives, the ones you don’t know, and it was not as if my father was wealthy but he solved people’s problems. That was most invaluable.
Fortunately and unfortunately one cannot run away from that level of responsibility and in as much as one can do, you do, the one you cannot do, you are open and honest that it’s not that the will is not there, but somehow, you can’t all get sorted. Again, one should be thankful that one comes from good stock and one has a goodly heritage.
After your dad’s passage, some people came out to say they are his children, I know one that is a journalist and he is doing well, he is carrying the family’s name excellently well. What is your relationship with them?
Are you one of them? You can also come and say you are his son (general laughter). I don’t know him, you know him so go look after him. K’olomu da omu iya e gbe (let everyone be on his own).
Are you saying Bola Ige does not have a love child?
It is idiotic.
If you were not an architect, what would you have been?
Interesting question. I have no idea (laughs). What is interesting is that my father asked me what I wanted to be and I told him I wanted to be an Architect so it was my decision to be an architect. I picked my school, I picked to go to America on my own, the only thing my father did was that he called Dr Alex Ekwueme to confirm if I was on the right track, if the school I wanted to attend was a good school and Alex Ekwueme who is an architect did confirm that I was on the right track. Maybe I would have been a lawyer but there are too many lawyers in the family. Fortunately my wife is a lawyer, so I don’t need to go that route again. However, everybody needs law, so maybe in some years, I’ll go and take a crash course in Law, I’ll do a two-year programme in Buckingham or something. So when they start speaking legalese, nobody will be cheating me.
Are you a politician?
I am an architect (general laughter). We are all political animals. I know you are trying to stoke the fire so you can go on a negative level but being a politician doesn’t mean you have to engage in all the atrocities and bad press that our politicians have been getting. It is an opportunity to serve and again, you are only a politician if you are going into it for the betterment of the lot of the common man which means you give up yourself and you are also a servant of the people. Any politician that goes into politics just out of greed will not last.
On the social ladder, there are some people they refer to as “ajebutter”, you fall within that class, what was your first day as a commissioner like? How did you relate with the people?
It is quite obvious that you are the “ajebo”, I am the “ajepaki”Which people? My people? What do you mean the people? It is quite obvious that you are the “ajebor” because when you are asking me how do I relate with these people, it shows you are disconnected from the people, I am in tune with the people. I have never been disconnected if you know who I am. I am a grassroots person. If you go to the NURTW people or the market seller whether in Osogbo, Ilesa, Esa Oke, Iwo, anywhere, or both of us stand or try to buy booli or something, I will connect with them better than you (general laughter).
Political office is service. 12 commissioners in a state of 4 million people, the ratio is one in 342,000. It doesn’t always come but when you have the opportunity, make good use of it, serve diligently with all your heart and fortunately also, the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is focused, runs government unusual, we worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week trying to make Osun better and Osun is the better for it because Osun can never be the same again with the introduction of this administration and the amount of work we have done is unprecedented. I take it in stride, knowing that it is about service and that you are there to serve the people, they are not there to serve you. At every stop on the way you must make sure that you solve their problems.
When I was in the Ministry of Lands, even when we were going to separate structures, those that did theirs illegally, we educated them that what you have done is illegal and they said okay. So you educate them that it’s not proper and so our people know right from wrong and our people also appreciate good things. You can see some of the urban renewal initiatives going on in the state capital, the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, I’m not sure if you knew the train station, the way it was then. What we have now is special and by the time it is commissioned, ah! People are taking walks now in the evenings, even at the train station, there are sidewalks provided so you don’t have to walk in the streets where koropes would hit your elbows or run over you. So we encourage quality living, we have restored healthy living and I’ll say it is most invaluable, the opportunity, it is special.
You play polo. What else do you do to relax when you have the time?
I play soccer, I play table tennis, you can’t play me in table tennis. I play scrabble, I do every sporting activity except swim. Unfortunately I am like a rock in water (laughs) but my wife has given me a challenge now because she couldn’t swim before but now she can swim. And my kids were ordinarily fearful of the water but they are like fishes now. Now I am the only one left but I will challenge them too or rather, I will take up the challenge. I also play squash, in squash, you can’t beat me. It is good to be fit and to engage in sporting activities because exercise is a mindset also and it helps you to relax.
Is there anything you can never be caught doing?
Ah! I must never be caught doing things not expected of one. I must always uphold honour and integrity; I must always uphold the tenets of an omoluabi and also a true son of Bola Ige.
If President Buhari decides to nominate you as a Minister, will you take up the challenge?
I mentioned earlier that it is a call to service. If it is within my core competence, why not? It is to serve the people. Again, one cannot exist in a vacuum so that kind of invitation will not just come unilaterally. You have to carry everybody along, the party, the citizenry and all your people.
Governor Aregbesola has been governor for five years more or less, what do you personally think he is doing that is not right?
There is nothing that he is doing that is not right because it is targeted at a blueprint, so there is an agenda, there is a Green Book. Everything that is being done in the state has been researched, there is a focus, there is a manifesto, there are guiding principles. So there is nothing that he is doing that is not right.
Are you saying he is a perfect man?
It is not about perfection, it is about governance. All he has been doing have been laid out.
What message do you have for politicians?
Not only to politicians but to the entire citizenry and the civil servants that we should all continue to support this administration, this is the administration that came in almost five years ago and we have seen development, we have seen empowerment and it can only get better. The truth of the matter is that before the end of this year, things will dramatically improve in the state of Osun and development will come. There will be more money to be spent, there will be more investment and Osun can never be the same again.
This interview first appeared on www.pmparrotng.com
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