…Says ‘My Father Was Disappointed Abuja Became More Like Capital Of North’
A traditional ruler in Akureland, Oba Olumuyiwa Akintola Aguda, is one of the children of late jurist and scholar, Justice (Dr.) Akinola Aguda. In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, he talked about the life and times of his father. Excerpts:
What are you to late Justice Akinola Aguda?
He was my father. I’m his second son though I have an older brother who currently resides in the United States of America.
Your father was a man of many parts, a jurist, a scholar, pan-Africanist and humanist, as a son, what kind of father was late Justice Akinola Aguda to you as a father and what kind of husband was he to his wives?
My father was a caring father to all of us. There are 10 of us from two wives. My father was married to two women. He was very strict with us but was very caring. He gave us the best he could within his limit. He instilled in us honesty, hard work and discipline as virtues to imbibe. He did that right from childhood.
People of his era were known to be disciplinarians, was he one of such?
Yes, he was but in reality he never used the cane on us. He was tough but at the same time very kind to us. If he frowned at you that means you have done something so terrible for him to do that. We never really had any serious issue with him as children while growing up.
What kind of attitude will a child put up for your father to wield the stick against any of his children?
My father hated laziness of any kind. My father hated dishonesty; he never liked anyone who told him lies. Whatever the situation, he wanted anyone of us to tell him the truth at all times. He wanted people around him to be hard working and he loved academic excellence.
He frowned at children who don’t do well in their academics. Don’t forget that my father had a doctorate degree in law and he was a very brilliant man, so he wanted us to toe his brilliant line too. Some of us are not as brilliant as he was but we tried our best academically.
What was his typical day like? When did he wake up in the morning? What were the first things he did?
The first thing he did whenever he woke was usually to ask for tea. He was someone giving to drinking tea early in the morning. After that, he would request for his breakfast and from there he went to work when he was actively working. Whenever he came back from work, he would take his siesta and go to his study.
While there, he would read books or write things. He was fond of writing and in the evening, he took din- ner before going back to the study. He would be there till about 10 to 11 pm before retiring to bed. My father was very studious as an academician.
At a time, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Ife. He was even the first dean of that faculty. To his credit, he wrote a lot of law books. My father was more of an academic while at the same time a celebrated jurist.
How was he able to joggle his work schedule as an academic and a jurist?
I think my father was gifted because he was a workaholic. He spent lots of hours in his study. He used to read and write a lot of books or articles. Like I said, I think he was just a hard-working man who had very little time for pleasure. He never attended parties that many people were wont to do.
What was his favourite meal?
I will say he loved pounded yam so much, which he ate at least once a week. He never really had any particular food as his favourite. He told us that he would eat whatever was given to him by his wives. He told us that he never rejected any food provided it was edible.
When did you children see him in the morning before going to work?
When we were kids, we saw him before going to school. He took us to school then if he was around. At a point in time, he used to drop us off in school when we were very young but later he employed drivers to take us to and from school. Don’t forget that he had a very busy and hectic schedule of activities.
Did he have people that came to visit him and what kind of visitors came to your house?
He had many friends that used to visit us at home in those days. We had people like Justices Karibi-Whyte, Ogundare, Craig, Candide-John- son, Odumosu and the likes. Most of the people that I mentioned are dead now. Many of his former classmates in Government College Ibadan such as Chief Daramola also used to come to our house.
What was his relationship with successive military regimes in Nigeria?
He was appointed the Chief Justice of Western State by the Murtala Mohammed-led government immediately it came on board in July 1975. I think that was his first major involvement with the military government. Before then, he was appointed a judge by the former Military Governor of Western State, Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo, in 1968. Sometime in 1971, he was appointed to the first Chief Justice of Bostwana.
What happened was that the president of Botswana, Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama came to Nigeria to re- quest the government of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, that he wanted a brilliant judge who could head their judiciary and somebody nominated my father who had shown some sterling qualities at the bench in the Western State at that time and he was well acclaimed. He had a doctorate degree at that material time.
It was the time he was delivering brilliant judgements. He eventually became the first African Chief Judge of Botswana. By the time he came back in 1975, he went back to the Western Nigerian judiciary. He had hardly settled down when late General Murtala Mohammed made him the Chief Judge of Western State.
He was the last person to hold that office until the state was broken into three by the government of General Mohammed in 1975. The states were Oyo, Ogun and Ondo. Being a native, he was appointed the first Chief Judge of the newly created Ondo State.
What about his relationship with ex-Head-of-State, Olusegun Obasanjo?
He had an infraction with him when he was the Chief Judge of Ondo State. There was a case filed against FEDECO which was the electoral body like INEC that we have today. FEDECO was headed by late Chief Adegborioye. At that time, there was a case involving FEDECO and Chief Omoboriowo refused to appear in court and was eventually sentence to prison for six months for contempt.
He had an option of fine to pay but problem came when Obasanjo wanted to interfere in the litigation but my father resisted and insisted that the right thing must be done. Out of protest, my father resigned from the Ondo State judiciary. He captured the events in his autobiography which he titled, ‘Flashback’.
What was his relationship with the Chief Obasanjo after the incident?
I am aware that towards the end of his life, Chief Obasanjo approached him to do some work in Kenya or somewhere. They had a cordial relationship. I think that they had a very cordial relationship. He moved on and I think he achieved some form of fame after he left the Ondo State judiciary.
Did he tell anything about his experience in Botswana?
We visited him when he was there in 1974. I think he had a wonderful time in Botswana. The country is a peaceful and well managed country. I have a very pleasant memory of Botswana. I think he missed Nigeria, so he had to come back after he finished his term; he never wanted his term renewed. He was offered a second term but refused. He was eventually there for only three years.
There is no way you discuss the story of the Federal Capital Territory that you won’t mention the name of your father; did he in anyway tell you how he got involved with the project?
All I know is that at that time, he was approached by the military government under General Mohammed to be the chairman of a panel to propose a capital for the country. At that time they went round the world to visit some countries that had undertaken such project before. They took documents and did some research with the likes of people such as Dr. Tai Solarin, Monsignor Pedro Martins.
So, the proposal was that the capital be relocated to Abuja which eventually came to pass. He however was disappointed with the implementation of the entire project because at a point in time, Abuja became more like the capital of the North than that of Nigeria. He wasn’t too happy with that before he died.
Why did he feel so?
May be because the people that had been appointed into offices in Abuja were Northerners. The intention of those that came up with the idea of Abuja was that it would eventually become a real capital of the country. He felt it should a neutral territory for all Nigerians irrespective of tribe and religion. I think that was some level of disappointment that he had.
Did he ever tell you why they arrived at that location as the chosen site?
They wanted somewhere very central in the country that would serve as the capital. That place was inhabited by people who were eventually relocated by the government.
Apart from the regrets that you mentioned, did he feel fulfilled being part of the committee that eventually carried out the job?
Yes, he was eventually honoured by government but initially, the Presidential Villa was named Akinola Aguda House. I think it was former Military President Ibrahim Babangida that later said the place was not grand enough and went to build another one. That Akinola Aguda House was now relegated to the residence of the Vice President. Initially, it was designed to be the residence of the President before the construction of the Presidential Villa.
What are the things you remember about your late father?
My father was a witty man. He was very jovial. He used to tell us stories about the past. My father could pass for a comedian. He can be strict at the same time. He was kind as well and had listening ears. My father had solution to every problem people had.
Could you recall your last encounter with him?
My last encounter with him was at a time he was already ill. On that day, we went to visit him at home. He spoke with us but I saw that he had lost some weight. I went back home and it was later, a couple of weeks after that time, he had died.
What was your immediate reaction when you heard?
It was a terrible shock to me. I was in Akure when I learnt that he had died and I had to quickly get to Lagos where he was living. I went to the mortuary to see his remains.
When did he die?
He died on September 5, 2001.
Are satisfied you with the efforts by government to immortalise him?
I’m not too happy with the way things are. Initially, when he passed on the Nigerian Institute of Advance Legal Studies used to do some lecture series in his honour; I can’t see anything that significant that had been done in his memory.
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