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Grafting
the Cicero’s Epitaph
By TONY IYARE
In grafting
a befitting epitaph on the tombstone of the slain Minister of Justice
and Attorney General of the Federation, Chief James Ajibola Ige,
71, it may be necessary to reflect on the divergent thoughts on
the issue. In epitaph writing, there are two contending schools.
One informed by the dictum that it is immodest to honour oneself,
argues that the task of writing the epitaph of the dead should be
left to others. “It is immoral and indecent to seek to honour oneself”,
says this school. The other school of thought says it is not particularly
unsavoury to dictate the lines of one’s epitaph. This may be leaning
on the prosaic saying of the Sardauna of Sokoto and former Premier
of defunct Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello that if you do not
sing your own praise, no one will do it for you. But the striking
thing is that the two schools draw important personages making the
thesis and literary arsenals on both sides very persuasive. While
the first President of Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe believes it is
the business of others to decide the manner of his requiem, Dr Chidi
Amuta, one of our best literary minds introduces another dimension.
For him any
attempt by someone to write his epitaph, Will or take a life assurance
is a bad omen which suggests that death is near. “I will chase away
anyone trying to sell me a life assurance package or asking me to
do a Will because he doesn’t wish me well”, he says. But Thomas
Jefferson, one of the fathers of American independence not only
designed his tombstone but also wrote his epitaph. Jefferson, one
of the most captivating US presidents had crowned his great accomplishments
with these words for his epitaph: “Author of the Declaration of
American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious
Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia”.
The renowned
Nigerian educationist and activist, Dr Tai Solarin also wrote his
epitaph. Even before he dropped dead, a few days after the historic
Walk for Justice in Lagos, alongside people like Nobel Laureate,
Professor Wole Soyinka and others in 1994, Solarin had scribbled
his epitaph: “Here lies the remains of Dr Tai Solarin, who lived
78 years for humanity” and tucked it into the breast pocket of his
son, Tunde. In a previous piece entitled “An Epitaph for Abacha”,
written in November 1995, two years before the death of the former
Nigeria’s military strongman, General Sani Abacha, I had contended
that while we may grant purists like Jefferson and Solarin the privilege
of writing their epitaph, it may be catastrophic to extend it to
others. Imagine what the likes of notorious robbers like Lawrence
Anini, Mighty Joe and others would have done to their epitaph. They
may even hire some of our most profound writers to do a crafting
that would completely obliterate their infamous image. “Here lies
Lawrence Anini, a prominent business man who contributed to the
prosperity of his countrymen”, the hired crafters of Anini’s epitaph
may have written.
The English
sensing the false transfiguration of even demons if this is the
rule, would not allow the image of one of their most infamous rampaging
robbers to go with the wind. When he died, they made sure his epitaph
unambiguously depicted his dare devil exploits while he was alive.
“Here lies a burglar, this stone was bought with the money found
on him”, they wrote. The other problem with allowing people to decree
the manner of their requiem is that circumstances may be inauspicious
for such wish to be carried through. When that happens the wish
of the dead may be imperilled. The lines of a very incisive poem
entitled The Choirmaster’s Burial, which I learnt in my formative
years in secondary school, is quite apposite. Having played so many
to their dead, this famous choirmaster requested from the congregation
in his church that Mount Ephraim should be sung around his graveside
when he finally dies. They saw no reason not to grant this simple
wish. Unfortunately the famed choirmaster died in the dead of winter,
making it impossible for his simple wish to be carried through.
So the great choirmaster was interred without any tune. A great
lesson that people should be wary about decreeing the manner of
their burial. Perhaps if he had left his requiem entirely in the
hands of his flock like the great Zik would argue, he would have
got a more resounding burial interspersed with sonorous hymns inside
the church and away from the vagaries of winter. Welcome back to
Ige and his epitaph.
It is possible
that his lot may not be like the famous choirmaster. But I do not
know how easy it would be to carry out Ige’s wish of not wanting
a government hijack of his burial like it happened to elder statesman
and former chairman of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO),
Chief Adekunle Ajasin after he died in 1995. While I’m still resolving
the riddle of the Ige family to give a man of many parts like Chief
Bola Ige, the nation’s number one law officer a ‘private burial’,
I would think we have an unrestricted access to think up the lines
of his epitaph. What’s in a name, some will argue. But Ige’s celebration
of the sobriquet Cicero may have caused him to die like the popular
Roman orator in controversial circumstances. Bola Ige lived in the
perpetual eye of a storm and his death has indeed set a tone of
controversy. Whether in Afenifere where he was deputy leader, the
defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) where he emerged as governor
of old Oyo State, Alliance of Democracy (AD), the politics of his
home state, Osun and as a minister in a predominantly People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) federal government, Ige’s brash disposition and caustic
language had inflamed passion.
Gifted for
his oratory which puts him on the same stead with Cicero, Ige unknown
to many, was also gifted in his immense eclectic potentials. To
have drafted the constitution of the PDP, AD and the All People’s
Party which he intended to sell a Bola Ige/ Umoru Shinkafi automatic
ticket, speaks volume of his vascillatory tendencies. Deep inside
he seems to have a strange personality. On the one beat, he was
an Awoist and human rights crusader, on the other he had a predilection
for Uncle Segun (President Olusegun Obasanjo), maintained a rosy
relationship with Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola, had launch with Abacha
and schemed to be running mate to former President Shehu Shagari
in the run up to the 1983 election. For his epitaph, I will therefore
write thus “Here lies Chief Bola Ige, SAN, an accomplished politician
and orator who had a great capacity to be here and there”
Obasanjo,
Anyim & Co
The controversy
stirred by the Electoral Act signed by President Olusegun Obasanjo
on December 6, 2001 is still alive and almost taking a very comical
dimension.
Have you heard
someone who said their caucus decided to insert the offending clause
80(1) hoping that they will explain it away as printers devil when
queried by the people. Don’t laugh. Obasanjo’s explanation that
the decision to include the clause was actually taken by the People’s
Democratic Party caucus with the famed Mr fix it minister, Chief
Tony Anenih and the Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim playing the
arrowhead is equally preposterous. Little wonder the party’s chairman,
Chief Audu Ogbeh has been dancing himself lame and boasting about
the PDP holding sway for 60 years and perhaps for ever. I do not
know why the political elite is still deluded by the power of taking
the people on a vain ride. Is it not intriguing that these men could
decide in their dark caucuses to rein in a process of civilian dictatorship,
exclude others from political participation and expect that we will
merely chorus hallelujah. They must have misread the temperament
of the Nigerian people that we are ready for another jolly ride
with political leaders out to lead them by the nose. We have made
too much fuss about the diabolical clause 80(1) and the Senate and
House of Representatives have jumped into the fray by amending it
and pretending that all is now well with the Electoral Act. We must
not deceive ourselves that the clauses that deal with the order
of elections and the tenure of local government chairmen are not
land mines waiting to explode. The veil reference to rely on section
182 of the 1999 Constitution and the clause which deals with disqualifying
candidates on the basis of false certificates are also part of the
grand design to exclude others and prepare grounds for the overall
victory of the PDP.
The intention
of slating the presidential election first to achieve a band wagon
effect, a throw back to the notorious landslides and moonslides
of 1983, is a sure way of enthroning the PDP as the only formidable
party. The idea of extending the tenure of local government chairmen
to four years retroactively is also part of the process of outsmarting
governors who are either in the opposition or considered recalcitrant
in the power equation. A situation where laws are made to satisfy
immediate individual political aspiration is condemnable. This is
the price we are paying for installing people who were the pillars
of Abacha’s transmutation plan. It is therefore understandable why
they have resisted the agitation to discuss and re-engineer Nigeria
and move this country on a higher pedestal. But it will be naďve
to continue to wish that Nigeria will still be governed the old
way.
Our agitation
against the obnoxious Electoral Act will not wither away unless
those entrusted with our political future and destiny are resolved
to govern according to the dictates of the people.
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