By Oba Femi Ogunleye
There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heaven, so says the scripture. I am glad to be around at this season and time to celebrate my own, a great achiever and an accomplished icon, His Excellency, Judge Prince AbdulJabar Bolasodun Adesunmbo Ajibola,SAN, KBE, CFR, a renowned international jurist, world court judge, acknowledged scholar, benefactor par excellence and founder of a citadel of learning in the historic city of Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria as he marks 80 years birthday anniversary and 8th founder’s day of the first Islamic University in Nigeria, the Crescent University, Abeokuta.
As a pre-destined “abiku” toddler in the early 40s, the only survivor of 14 siblings of same mother, I was an over guided ward within the entire neghbourhood comprising Alebiosu, Awaye, Labuta, Osupori, Ajanbadan, Apaara, Oyegaa, Ekerin and Osumo’s houses (all in a seeming deliberately delineated family circus in Totoro, Owu, Abeokuta); suffice it to understand why, despite the closeness of our houses and families, (Awaye’s House where I was born is the next door neghbour to Alebiosu House which belongs to the Ajibolas) I had a faint recognition of a wonderful brother Omo-Oba Bolasodun Ajibola, even as he attended the popular Alfa Bisi’s Quranic class in Ajambadan compound which I also attended within that period.
Howbeit, I was usually a delightful guest to our Royal father, Olowu Gbadela Ajibola at the Owu palace, Oke-Ago Owu, Abeokuta each time I accompanied my mother to pay homage to her cousin, the kabiyesi who often would exude his affection for me by placing me on his laps, fiddled with the metal bangles on my both ankles to produce the desired musical sound and ran his fingers through the plaited hair on my head, all to the joy of all the Owu traditional religionists with whom my mother and I had come to the palace and on leaving, my pockets and hands would be full of pot-pourri of gifts from kabiyesi, making our accompanied drummers to assign me a signature song: “Okesoto Iyanda, a n’iyi l’owu, Oke omo iya oloosa”.
There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heaven, so says the scripture. I am glad to be around at this season and time to celebrate my own, a great achiever and an accomplished icon, His Excellency, Judge Prince AbdulJabar Bolasodun Adesunmbo Ajibola,SAN, KBE, CFR, a renowned international jurist, world court judge, acknowledged scholar, benefactor par excellence and founder of a citadel of learning in the historic city of Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria as he marks 80 years birthday anniversary and 8th founder’s day of the first Islamic University in Nigeria, the Crescent University, Abeokuta.
As a pre-destined “abiku” toddler in the early 40s, the only survivor of 14 siblings of same mother, I was an over guided ward within the entire neghbourhood comprising Alebiosu, Awaye, Labuta, Osupori, Ajanbadan, Apaara, Oyegaa, Ekerin and Osumo’s houses (all in a seeming deliberately delineated family circus in Totoro, Owu, Abeokuta); suffice it to understand why, despite the closeness of our houses and families, (Awaye’s House where I was born is the next door neghbour to Alebiosu House which belongs to the Ajibolas) I had a faint recognition of a wonderful brother Omo-Oba Bolasodun Ajibola, even as he attended the popular Alfa Bisi’s Quranic class in Ajambadan compound which I also attended within that period.
Howbeit, I was usually a delightful guest to our Royal father, Olowu Gbadela Ajibola at the Owu palace, Oke-Ago Owu, Abeokuta each time I accompanied my mother to pay homage to her cousin, the kabiyesi who often would exude his affection for me by placing me on his laps, fiddled with the metal bangles on my both ankles to produce the desired musical sound and ran his fingers through the plaited hair on my head, all to the joy of all the Owu traditional religionists with whom my mother and I had come to the palace and on leaving, my pockets and hands would be full of pot-pourri of gifts from kabiyesi, making our accompanied drummers to assign me a signature song: “Okesoto Iyanda, a n’iyi l’owu, Oke omo iya oloosa”.
Prince Bola Ajibola
One of my early lessons as a child from the reverend Olowu Gbadela Ajibola was that he was an epitome of love and kindness to all and sundry. Although a devout Muslim, Kabiyesi never shunned people who kept faith in other religions particularly the traditional ones who often thronged the palace. He might not believe in their faith but as the custodian of culture and tradition of his people, he was open and available all the times for the pleasure of his subjects. Not only would he grant them royal pleasance, he would also give them bounty gifts before they departed the palace. He was a listening royal father who was adored by his people from Abeokuta to all the hinterland villages and hamlets.
In later life when I came across Prince Bola Ajibola, the truism in the Yoruba proverb “Omo t’erin ba bi, erin ni yio jo” (the calf of an elephant is not unlikely to replicate any other animal) is self-pronounced in his character. I took notice of this indefatigable and hard working lawyer in 1978 when I was in Nigeria Airways Public Relations and he was among our choice of lawyers for the public inquiry before Justice Oluwa over the F.28 plane disaster at Emene, Enugu. His faithfulness to his creator, his humility, his humaneness, his care, hospitable mien and attention to details throughout the celebrated inquiry and thereafter accentuated my memory of Olowu Ajibola and made me often thankful to God for being an Owu man.
Three reckonable musketeers in Owu kingdom, Abeokuta that surfaced in the 50s and are still available today are in the persons of eminent personalities, Chief Olusegun Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, Judge Bola Ajibola and Oba Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu, the Olowu of Owu Kingdom. These three people are often a delight to meet together and share from their memorabilia. The three people are either classmates or school mates at the prestigious Baptist Boys High School, Okegunya where they shared the same hilly and sloppiness of the high ambience of the legendary school depicting a philosophical lesson that if you work hard, you are bound to be on top but if you do otherwise, the sloppiness is the route downward! Judge Bola Ajibola particularly is a reservoir of hilarious but scintillating humor.
Prince Bola Ajibola’s success in life is illustrative of Time and Chance lesson which says: “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all”. If he was not elected as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association at the time he was, perhaps, he would not have been picked to represent the Bar in General Ibrahim Babangida government as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. If he was not the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nigeria, perhaps would not have had the opportunity to have the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria compiled and published at such an audacious political climate nor could the Hague’s doors be opened to him to complete the terms of late Justice Taslm Elias and get other dignified appointments that followed. What a time and chance!
Besides Judge Ajibola’s brilliance and contributions to advocacy, arbitration, jurisprudence, legal education and administration as well as diplomacy which are distinctively admirable, his consummate love for humanity propelled him into floating two major NGOs, the first being African Concern, dedicated to eradicate poverty, hunger, disease and human displacements, among the various wounds of the Africans and the second, the Islamic Mission for Africa, established to present the Islamic religion in a positive, peaceful and tolerant manner throughout the continent of Africa.
While the African Concern has created sustainable impact in the life of Africans through donations of series of relief materials to the needy, peaceful resolutions of disputes here and there in the continent and rehabilitation of refugees also in many parts of Africa as well as provision of information, knowledge and entertainment through the communication organ of the NGO, the African Concern Magazine, IMA which came ahead of its time, taking the serious damage being done to the image of an otherwise peaceful and tolerant religion of Islam by the generally abhorred Boko Haram in some parts of Nigeria, is now best placed to engage in structured communication with other Islamic leaders in the country to find lasting solutions to the spreading carnage odiously labeled religious.
The ice on the cake of the profound legacies of Prince Bola Ajibola is the establishment of the first Islamic University in Nigeria, the Crescent University in Abeokuta, opened in 2005. The vision of the University, according to Judge Ajibola, is to provide a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for youths from different cultures and religions to mix and interact peacefully and mature into a skilled, honest and responsible Nigerian and global citizens.
In its 8th year of existence, Crescent University has fulfilled its objectives and visions as the campus has become a mini Nigerian city where though tribes and tongue may differ, in oneness they are vivere, amare, discere (living, loving and learning) with large population of sponsored students from various states in the north and south of Nigeria. The environment of the university is serene; the architecture is uniquely fascinating with quality academic facilities including teaching and resource materials. Understandably, the University’s College of Law, named after the proprietor, though still young, is radiating great signs of future leadership in its class. Judging by the performance of graduates from the university and their placements either in other academia for advancement or employment, in Nigeria and abroad, the university is riding high in the ocean of credibility and accreditation.
Judge Bola Ajibola’s accomplishments coupled with series of awards and honours granted him so far are impressively massive that time and space are not permitting to list them but as a living testimony to the passion and selflessness with which he handled London outpost as Nigeria’s High Commission in the UK between 1999 and 2002,I say here without being immodest that his contributions to the betterment of Nigerians and governance in Nigeria in all sectors are yet to be surpassed.
Locally in his traditional domain as Olori Omo-Oba in Owu kingdom, Judge Ajibola remains a unifying factor in the monumental change in the traditional jurisprudence of his clans in Egbaland. When some village heads (Baales) were to be promoted coronets to facilitate socio-economic development for the rural areas of their dominance, Omo-Oba Ajibola was at the ceremony in Olowu’s palace to pronounce the instrument of installation of the Owu Obas and charged them to be loyal to the Owu crown as they ensured the unity and healthy development of their respective domains and Egbaland in general. In addition, he teamed up with the Balogun Owu, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Olori Parakoyi Owu, Chief M. Ola Yusuf and Olowu, Oba Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu, to design and fund an empowerment program for the rural areas where the coronets were appointed.
While wishing Omo-Oba Ajibola more years of good health and added wisdom to guide him in fulfilling the commands of his creator, I like to commit him to this lesson from the scripture: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”
Oba Olufemi Ogunleye,Towulade of Akinale town, Ogun State
Three reckonable musketeers in Owu kingdom, Abeokuta that surfaced in the 50s and are still available today are in the persons of eminent personalities, Chief Olusegun Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, Judge Bola Ajibola and Oba Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu, the Olowu of Owu Kingdom. These three people are often a delight to meet together and share from their memorabilia. The three people are either classmates or school mates at the prestigious Baptist Boys High School, Okegunya where they shared the same hilly and sloppiness of the high ambience of the legendary school depicting a philosophical lesson that if you work hard, you are bound to be on top but if you do otherwise, the sloppiness is the route downward! Judge Bola Ajibola particularly is a reservoir of hilarious but scintillating humor.
Prince Bola Ajibola’s success in life is illustrative of Time and Chance lesson which says: “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all”. If he was not elected as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association at the time he was, perhaps, he would not have been picked to represent the Bar in General Ibrahim Babangida government as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. If he was not the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nigeria, perhaps would not have had the opportunity to have the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria compiled and published at such an audacious political climate nor could the Hague’s doors be opened to him to complete the terms of late Justice Taslm Elias and get other dignified appointments that followed. What a time and chance!
Besides Judge Ajibola’s brilliance and contributions to advocacy, arbitration, jurisprudence, legal education and administration as well as diplomacy which are distinctively admirable, his consummate love for humanity propelled him into floating two major NGOs, the first being African Concern, dedicated to eradicate poverty, hunger, disease and human displacements, among the various wounds of the Africans and the second, the Islamic Mission for Africa, established to present the Islamic religion in a positive, peaceful and tolerant manner throughout the continent of Africa.
While the African Concern has created sustainable impact in the life of Africans through donations of series of relief materials to the needy, peaceful resolutions of disputes here and there in the continent and rehabilitation of refugees also in many parts of Africa as well as provision of information, knowledge and entertainment through the communication organ of the NGO, the African Concern Magazine, IMA which came ahead of its time, taking the serious damage being done to the image of an otherwise peaceful and tolerant religion of Islam by the generally abhorred Boko Haram in some parts of Nigeria, is now best placed to engage in structured communication with other Islamic leaders in the country to find lasting solutions to the spreading carnage odiously labeled religious.
The ice on the cake of the profound legacies of Prince Bola Ajibola is the establishment of the first Islamic University in Nigeria, the Crescent University in Abeokuta, opened in 2005. The vision of the University, according to Judge Ajibola, is to provide a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for youths from different cultures and religions to mix and interact peacefully and mature into a skilled, honest and responsible Nigerian and global citizens.
In its 8th year of existence, Crescent University has fulfilled its objectives and visions as the campus has become a mini Nigerian city where though tribes and tongue may differ, in oneness they are vivere, amare, discere (living, loving and learning) with large population of sponsored students from various states in the north and south of Nigeria. The environment of the university is serene; the architecture is uniquely fascinating with quality academic facilities including teaching and resource materials. Understandably, the University’s College of Law, named after the proprietor, though still young, is radiating great signs of future leadership in its class. Judging by the performance of graduates from the university and their placements either in other academia for advancement or employment, in Nigeria and abroad, the university is riding high in the ocean of credibility and accreditation.
Judge Bola Ajibola’s accomplishments coupled with series of awards and honours granted him so far are impressively massive that time and space are not permitting to list them but as a living testimony to the passion and selflessness with which he handled London outpost as Nigeria’s High Commission in the UK between 1999 and 2002,I say here without being immodest that his contributions to the betterment of Nigerians and governance in Nigeria in all sectors are yet to be surpassed.
Locally in his traditional domain as Olori Omo-Oba in Owu kingdom, Judge Ajibola remains a unifying factor in the monumental change in the traditional jurisprudence of his clans in Egbaland. When some village heads (Baales) were to be promoted coronets to facilitate socio-economic development for the rural areas of their dominance, Omo-Oba Ajibola was at the ceremony in Olowu’s palace to pronounce the instrument of installation of the Owu Obas and charged them to be loyal to the Owu crown as they ensured the unity and healthy development of their respective domains and Egbaland in general. In addition, he teamed up with the Balogun Owu, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Olori Parakoyi Owu, Chief M. Ola Yusuf and Olowu, Oba Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu, to design and fund an empowerment program for the rural areas where the coronets were appointed.
While wishing Omo-Oba Ajibola more years of good health and added wisdom to guide him in fulfilling the commands of his creator, I like to commit him to this lesson from the scripture: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”
Oba Olufemi Ogunleye,Towulade of Akinale town, Ogun State
good talk sir.
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