During the final moments of his life, the now late Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Atakumosa-East Central local government of Osun State was as abandoned and unprotected as other vulnerable citizens being killed across the country every day. He was shot dead, in the early-morning hours of April 11, in his residence in Igangan, Osun state.
According to his son, who equally sustained gunshot injury during the incident, the politician was assassinated by a band of gunmen who lured him out of his house and shot him repeatedly.
Saying that political assassination has engulfed southwestern Nigeria since the start of the fourth republic is just like stating the obvious. This act has snuffed lives out of intelligent and productive individuals, thereby changing the fortunes of the region.
This ugly scenario may have unfolded due to desperate struggle for political and economic power or consolidation of such power, seeing politics as a do or die affair, personal aggrandizement, intolerance of the opposition and a host of others, but what calls for concern is the frequency, effects on current political dispensation and the fact that the riddles surrounding their deaths remained unsolved.
Some of the most high profile political murders in south-west from the start of the fourth republic to the present day:
Bola Ige | December 2001
Chief Ige was a Nigerian lawyer, politician and the Minister of Justice before his death.
Some cold-blooded killers paid him a terrible visit in his Bodija residence in Ibadan on December 23, 2001. He was shot dead in his bedroom. His death aroused national pity and concern. However, up till today, his killing still remains a mystery as his killers are yet to be brought to book.
Odunayo Olagbaju | December 2001
Like Ige, he is also an Osunian. The sitting lawmaker got killed in Ile-Ife on December 21, 2021, three days before his kinsman was killed.
Osun state lost two political figures (Olagbaju and Ige) within three days. The atmosphere then was tense. It was an era that witnessed a personality clash between the then governor of the state, Chief Bisi Akande and his deputy, Otunba Iyiola Omisore.
The personality clash resulted in serious political tension and tremor. As Bola Ige solidarized with Governor Akande, Hon. Olagbaju of PDP was known for always defending the deputy governor in the state assembly.
Dele Arojo | November 2002
Dele Arojo was a People’s Democratic Party, PDP gubernatorial aspirant in Ogun State. Tragedy befell his nuclear and political family on November 25, 2002. He was gunned down by unknown persons in Lagos, and that marked the poor and sudden end of his political journey.
Arojo was a strong and popular political image. Considering his influence, he was said to have stood the chance of becoming the next governor of Osun State after Olusegun Osoba in 2003.
Unfortunately, his hope for more political excitements and cruise was dashed as he never lived to witness, not to talk of participating, in the election.
Emily Emope | December 2002
She died in the early hours of Monday at University College Hospital, Ibadan where she was receiving treatment. Emope was the women leader of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Ekiti State. She got bathed with acid in December 2002 by unknown persons and died from the injuries.
She was a staunch supporter of the then Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Niyi Adebayo and a strong supporter of his second term bid. She, unfortunately, could not live to witness the 2003 election.
Sulaimon Hassan-Olajoku | May 2005
The people of Gbongan in Osun State can’t forget the tragedy that befell one of their sons on May 15, 2005.
Olajoku was a staunch supporter and a key financier of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s Oranmiyan group. He was murdered by some unknown assassins at Gbongan, Osun State. He, unfortunately, didn’t live to witness the Osun 2007 gubernatorial election.
Funso Williams | July 2006
Funso Williams, a popular and influential Lagos PDP gubernatorial aspirant, was assassinated in July 2006. He was left in the pool of his own blood, after he had been strangled and stabbed at his home in Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi.
Before his assassination, he was reported to have vowed to seize control of the state from the Alliance for Democracy Party. He could not live to see if his aspiration manifest or not.
Ayo Daramola | August 2006
Ayo Daramola was a financial expert and World Bank consultant. He was the Chairman of Ekiti State Poverty Reduction Agency (EKPRA).
On August 13, 2006, at a Press conference in his hometown – Ijan-Ekiti, he formally announced that he was joining the governorship race for Ekiti State under PDP. But Daramola would not live to read the printed news of his declaration as he was murdered in cold blood few hours later.
Kehinde Fasuba | January 2009
Kehinde Fasuba, a look-alike twin brother of Taye Fasuba, then Ado-Ekiti LG Chairman was killed on January 03, 2009. Taye Fasuba himself escaped death in 2004.
The late Fasuba had earlier declared his intention to contest for the Ekiti Central Senatorial District ticket. He unexpectedly encountered his death while returning from a political meeting in Ado-Ekiti.
Dipo Dina | January 2010
Dipo Dina, Nigerian politician and chartered accountant from Ogun State, fell to the bullets of heartless murderers on Monday, January 25, 2010 around Covenant University, Ota. He was a defunct Action Congress (AC) gubernatorial candidate in 2007.
He was on his way to his home on Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi. He was kidnapped and taken in another car to an unknown location where he was killed.
Does assassination work?
Rising insecurity ravaging Nigeria today can be linked to the struggle of the political class. They make use of thugs and mercenaries to implement assassination plots. They bankroll election violence by paying hungry youths to snatch ballot boxes and kill uncooperative voters. In the end, they leave them to use what they provided them with at will.
The political class portrays our style of politics as a do or dies venture. A few days ago, in the middle of a conversation with a friend of mine, he, mindlessly, said: “a Nigerian politician does not kill, he removes obstacles”. This statement further re-explains the desperation of our political elite. It describes them as being allergic to a sane and responsible style of governance and politics. And people can do the abominable to achieve political success.
Michael Burleigh’s Day of the Assassins reminds us that political murder is as old as mankind. It is not constant, however: we go through phases. But such murders rarely achieve their ends but rather change the course of history.
Opposing politicians most time always come to terms, when their interests for self-aggrandizement align. For instance, Governor Bisi Akande and Otunba Iyiola Omisore now share the same political ideology under the ruling APC. Olagunsoye Oyinlola once joined the APC and openly campaigned for Aregbesola. The list of opposing politicians who later romanced after deadly fights are endless.
Beyond the question of whether assassination is ever morally justified is the question of whether it works. Benjamin Disraeli declared in 1865, after the murder of Lincoln, that “assassination has never changed the history of the world”. And even those we think did change things, such as those stated earlier, are not necessarily determinative So it is high time our politicians saw politics as a call to national duty and sacrifice; and not a catalyst for terror, annihilation or crude absurdity.