6th November, 2013
By Bamidele Aturu
The news of the passing of the indefatigable fighter and friend of the oppressed, Comrade Baba Omojola, hit me in Kogi State truly like a thunderbolt. I had switched on my phone in the morning following his demise to catch up with the latest news only to see the unbelievable announcement by one of our comrades that Baba was no more. It was unbelievable as there was no hint that he would soon leave us. The last time we spoke was in late August. I had called to apologise to him that I would be unable to attend his 75th birthday anniversary as I was outside the country then. He prayed for me in Yoruba as was his wont, ‘oko a refo oo’. If I knew that would be our last conversation I would have told him some, if not all, of the things that I now say in this tribute.
Baba as anyone who knew him closely would readily attest was humility personified. While his ego was as diminutive as his physique, both were in inverse proportion to his intellect and commitment to rid our nation of cant. From about 1988 when I first met him in Jebba Street, Ebute Meta until he breathed his last, I never saw him raise his voice even when he disagreed most vehemently with anyone. One could not but be awed by his uncommon simplicity of life and elegance of character, the dialectical fusion of which made him a unique human being. Many of us in the student movement in the 80s benefitted tremendously from his generous spirit and pocket. He was not rich by the vulgar standards of the Nigerian ruling elite, although he could have been richer than any of them if he had pressed his undoubted prodigious intellect into the service of crass capitalism as many of the so-called wealthy Nigerians do. Nevertheless, he was not poor either, as he touched our lives in ways that ephemeral money cannot. He taught us ideas and virtues that money cannot. As the Editor of Mass Line, a journal devoted to exposing the contradictions of capitalism, he encouraged us never to despair in the struggle to rescue and rebuild Nigeria. Now is the appropriate time to repay publicly some of the debts my generation owed to him and his colleagues. Baba was one of our pillars in the popular 1989 anti-SAP uprising that shook the military junta to its foundations. Together with the late Alao Aka-Bashorun, they assisted us significantly. On a personal note, I cannot forget his support for the annual Law and Social Law Development lectures organized by Bamidele Aturu and Co. He attended all but one of the previous events. Indeed, he was the chair of the last lecture delivered by Professor Adele Jinadu on Social Security in October, 2012. Being a gentleman to the core he called to apologise that he could not attend the one he missed. I shall remain eternally grateful for his friendship and comradeship, although he was old enough to be my father. Indeed I regarded him as a father for the love he showered on me and for his confidence in our firm. Truly, I cannot recall the number of clients Baba had sent to us, including himself. Even though they were not lucrative briefs, I always emphasized to my colleagues that they were priority cases as I knew that he would not support injustice. I was truly flattered when he inscribed on the copy of the biography of Imoudu that he authored the following words: ‘Bamidele Aturu Esq. The temple of peoples’ justice’. I sincerely hope and pray to live to that expectation.
Comrade Omjola was passionate about the national question and so I was not surprised that he died in harness championing the cause he believed. As some of our comrades he saw the resolution of the national question as part and parcel of the resolution of the larger social justice question. While I see the correctness of their perspective, I have not been able to make myself active in practical organizing in that direction for a number of reasons. First, many reactionaries have latched onto the national question as a means for further looting our country. For them the whole struggle is about parcelling the national cake among the ethnic nationalities and by ethnic nationalities they refer to themselves and their base interests. Second, some of our comrades, unlike Baba, see the resolution of the National question as an end in itself. I do not think that is correct; and third, I believe that all of us cannot be active on platforms for self-determination as they are sometimes fancifully referred to. Baba posed the question in a revolutionary way until his death. Those genuinely interested in resolving the question should emulate and learn from Baba.
It is a testimony to the quality of life that he lived that even reactionaries of the worst variety recognized his worth. I was shocked to see how they flocked to his rented apartment in Surulere to eulogise the people’s hero. True, they do it for publicity; but it is also correct to say that they are truly shocked that it is possible to live without amassing wealth or stealing public resources. The lesson as the scriptures remind us is that ‘a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possessth’. Baba lived that scripture to the end even though he was an Orunmila devotee. We have lost a colossus and a true friend of the oppressed. The struggle continues.
•Aturu, Constitutional lawyer, writes from Lagos.