Hon. James Ajibola Idowu Adegoke Ige was born in
Esa Oke, Osun state in the South Western part of
Nigeria on 13 September 1930. His parents were
Yoruba natives of Esa-Oke town, in the old Oyo
State (now in Osun State). Bola 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.
Bola 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. Bola Ige's faith was
Christianity.Uncommonly, Bola Ige spoke all the
three major Nigerian languages, Yoruba, Ibo and
Hausa fluently.
During the First Republic (1963–1966), at age 31
he was at the centre of the Action Group crisis,
when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was pitted against
his deputy, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. He
became a rival of Olusola Olaosebikan for
succession to Obafemi Awolowo. Bola Ige was a
Commissioner for Agriculture in the now-defunct
Western Region of Nigeria (1967–1970) 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.
Towards the end of the 1970s he joined the Unity
Party of Nigeria (UPN), the successor to the Action
Group. When General Olusegun Obasanjo initiated
the Second Republic, he was elected as governor
of Oyo State from October 1979 to October 1983.
Adebisi Akande, later to be governor of Osun State
after it was split off from Oyo State, was his deputy
governor during this period. 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 Bola was detained after the coup, accused of
enriching 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 a founder member of the
influential Yoruba pressure group, Afenifere.
Although critical of the military rule of General Sani
Abacha, Bola Ige avoided political difficulties during
this period.
Following the restoration of democracy in 1999,
Bola Ige sought the nomination of the Alliance for
Democracy party as a presidential candidate, but
was rejected. President Obasanjo appointed Bola
Ige as minister of Mines and Power (1999–2000).
He was not able to make significant improvements
to service provided by the monopoly National
Electric Power Authority (NEPA). He then became
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria (2000–2001).
In September 2001 Bola Ige said that the Federal
government had initiated a program to re-arrange
and consolidate the laws of the Federation, publish
them in digital form, and make them available on
the website of his ministry. He campaigned
ardently against the imposition of the Sharia law in
the northern states of Nigeria. In November 2001
he said that the Federal government would not
allow the Sokoto State government to execute the
judgement of a verdict passed by a Gwadabawa
sharia court to stone a woman, Safiya Hussaini to
death for committing adultery.
Bola Ige was about to take up a new position as
African's Representative on the United Nations
International Law Commission when he was
gunned down in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

May he continue to rest in peace.

NB: Copied from Ibadankiniso fbk page

Another unresolved murder. Has any one been prosecuted for his murder? NIGERIA, CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY!!!

Nigeria, I hail ooo

Who killed Bola Ige?

Legendary

Sprumbabafather:
Who killed Bola Ige?

$1000000 question

Somebody even rose through the controversy to become a more popular lawyer and another one a senator

May more questions to ask, what about Funsho Williams and the rest

A great man.

Rich biography..

Unresolved murder case...

The President, at the time of his death, knows the answer. So please, go and ask Obasanjo, the chief security officer of Nigeria at that time.

Sprumbabafather:
Who killed Bola Ige?