Bola Ige

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 in December 2001. His parents were Yoruba natives of Esa-Oke town, in the old Oyo State (now in Osun State).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. From there, he went to the University College London, where he graduated with a law degree in 1959. He was called to the bar in London's Inner Temple 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. Uncommonly, Ige spoke all the three major Nigerian languages, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa fluently. 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, 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. 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 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, 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, Ige avoided political difficulties during this period. 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). He campaigned ardently against the imposition of the Sharia law in the northern states of Nigeria.

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 Osun State. 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 Olusegun Obasanjo 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 having said 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 [distributor], 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.