Bola Ige killed out of envy’ — Son
Those who murdered Chief Bola Ige, former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, 19 years ago, did so because of envy and they shall live by it, the deceased’s son, Muyiwa, has said.
Chief Bola Ige SAN, until his assassination by gunmen at his Bodija, Ibadan home on December, 23, 2001 was the deputy national leader of the pan Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere.
Muyiwa Ige was among other family members who celebrated the 90th posthumous birthday of the late astute politician at St. Anne’s Church, Molete, Ibadan on Sunday. for Thanksgiving service and prayers.
Thanking God for the life of his father, Muyiwa Ige, an architect, noted that his late father bequeathed a good legacy of selfless service, good leadership, integrity, honesty and legacy of seeking the best for the common man.
The gruesome murder of Chief Bola Ige, he said, was unfortunate, adding that those responsible did so because of sheer envy and bitter jealous.
The young Ige, who served as Osun State Commissioner for Lands and Physical Planning under ex-governor Rauf Aregbesola, recalled that when Chief Bola Ige was in his late 20s, specifically by the age of 29, he was on the global platform with Martin Luther King Jnr. in Athens, Ohio in 1959, moving a motion for blacks to have the opportunity to vote in America.
He said: “My father really loved young people. He believed in the emancipation of the common man and elevating young people. A lot of his peers didn’t like him for that because they could not understand young people.
“But that was the essence of Bola Ige, and it was part of the envy that ate into the souls of some of those who didn’t like him. Nonetheless that was their problem. Bola Ige came to this world, did his bit, and his legacy lives on.”