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Nigerian Muslims Bid Ige Farewell With Prayers For Peace
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| Bola Ige - assassinated on Christmas eve |
Report By Sulaiman Osho
ABEOKUTA, Nigeria, Jan. 8 (IslamOnline) – Muslims in Nigeria observed special prayers in all the mosques of the Federal Government during special Jumat (Friday) services for the repose of the soul of Nigeria's Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief James Ajibola Ige.
Ige, who was assassinated at his Bodija home in Ibadan, south-west of Africa's largest country on the eve of Christmas 2001, is to be buried on Friday, January 11, 2002.
Prayers for peace in the federation against such blood shed were also held in all the mosques. In his sermon, the Chief Imam of Egbaland, south-west of Nigeria, Alhaji Shittu Bello, called on Nigerian politicians to learn from history and desist from violence so as to maintain a stable democracy in the country.
Praying to Allah to grant the country the desired peace for socio-economic development in the country, he appealed to the government to give special attention to security of lives and property at all levels. The Muslim scholar maintained that the fear of God should be upper-most in the minds of Nigerian politicians if their struggle for power was truly in the interest of the masses.
In his speech at the special Jumat service at the mosque of Islamic Movement for Africa (IMA), the Deputy-President of the organization in Abeokuta, Alhaji Mufutau Adeolu Balogun, called for peace in different spheres of Nigerian environment politically, economically and socio-culturally.
He stated that as a religion of peace, Islam called for peace at all spheres of life. He pointed out that Nigerian politicians should allow peace to reign supreme so that the people may benefit from the new democratic set-up.
In a detailed ten-day burial program for the former politician and legal luminary which started Friday, January 4, 2002, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Professor Jerry Gana, revealed that a celebration of life and inter-denominational farewell service will be held for the deceased at the Tafawa Balewa square, Lagos at 10.00 a.m. on Thursday, January 10, where dignitaries will pay their last respects, while the wake will be held at All Saints Church, Bodija, Ibadan on the same day at 6.00 p.m.
Special prayers for peace were also held in churches in Nigeria last Sunday as part of the burial program for Ige. The churches also prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased, who was a Christian.
Ige was given the title of "Cicero of Nigeria" because of his brilliance in public speaking He was also a lawyer of high repute, newspaper columnist with The Nigerian Tribune, prolific commentator, fearless political leader, statesman, author, artist and Yoruba leader.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, a close friend of Ige, who was also a frontline patriarch of the arts, is leading a team of the arts community to pay the last respects to the legal giant.
Soyinka, who rushed back to Nigeria from the United States on hearing the news of the death of the deceased last week stated that Ige deserved every tribute paid to him by the various artists in Nigeria. He revealed that Ige was a former patron of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), and the National Association of Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP).
As part of the tribute of the arts community to Ige, a three-hour Cultural Show of drama, poetry and music will be held at the Cultural Center, Mokola, Ibadan from on Wednesday, January 9.
It will feature different cultural groups, from the national troupe to different groups from all the six south-western states of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's judiciary held a joint special court session of Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti states in honor of Ige at the High Court complex, Ring Road, Ibadan on Tuesday.
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