By Emeka Obasi

He was appointed Military Governor of West Central State in May 1967, and shortly after Maj. David Lasisi Bamigboye, took oath of office, the name changed to Kwara.

Gen. Yakubu Gowon had balkanized Nigeria into 12 states. Curiously, Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu, was named Governor of East Central State [ECS]. That was at a time the Eastern Region opted for Biafra.

Of course, Ojukwu, never accepted that lowly job. Lt. Col Olu Obasanjo recommended Dr. Tony Ukpabi Asika, a Political Science lecturer at the University of Ibadan. Gowon named him Administrator of ECS.

Bamigboye was at the number two Headquarters Area Command, Nigeria Army, Ibadan. He had earlier served with Maj. Emma Ifeajuna at the Second Brigade, Lagos between 1964 and April 1967.

The new Kwara State consisted of Ilorin and Kabba provinces, that is, Ilorin, Lafiagi-Pategi,Borgu, Igala, Igbira and Kwara Koton Karfe Divisions. Bamigboye was an Igbomina, from Omu-Aran. He had an Igbo wife from Uzoagba.

As a Cadet of Course One, Nigeria Military Training College[NMTC] Kaduna in 1960, Bamigboye had Igbo mates. Ben Gbulie, Simeon Uwakwe, Paschal Odu and Joseph Ihedigbo, were from the East.

There were also mates from other parts of the country like Yakubu Danjuma, Alani Akinrinade, Emmanuel Abisoye, Martin Adamu, Pius Eromobor, Sule Apolo Godwin Alabi-Isama and Ignatius Obeya. Obeya and Danjuma would later find wives in the East.

Bamigboye and Asika were appointed from Ibadan. The latter enjoyed a Rockefeller Scholarship, at the University of Los Angeles. In 1972, he visited the former in Ilorin and both worked out a scholarship scheme between Kwara and ECS.

It took off in October 1973 when 10 ECS pupils moved to Ilorin for their secondary education. Ten pupils from Kwara were sent to Enugu to also commence post primary studies.

The five boys and girls from ECS were the best in the 1973 Common Entrance Exams. They emerged following a tasking interview for all candidates that scored 36 points, the highest obtainable at the time.

The successful ones were: Ikechukwu [Aporo] Emesobum, from Niger Close Primary School, Enugu. Chinaka Uzonwanne Obasi, Community Primary School, Dim-Na-Nume, Isu. Udensi Okorie Udensi, Urban School, Umuahia. Jonathan Chuks Nwosu, Udi Road Primary School, Enugu and Godwin Ike Abugu, Community School, Umuida, Enugu-Ezike.

The girls were: Helen Mbamalu, Ngwa Road Primary School, Aba. Amechi Kalu Obasi, Akasi Primary School,Ututu, Arochukwu. Cecilia Chidobem, Zik Avenue School, Uwani-Enugu. Felicia Attah, Central School, Opiuno, Nsukka and Francisca Ndulue, Ezechima Primary School, Onitsha.

The East Central State/ Kwara State Student Exchange Programme was on course. The boys were sent to Government Secondary School, Ilorin while the girls began studies at Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin.

Bamigboye invited the 10 Easterners to Government House Ilorin and what a memorable occasion it was when he shook hands with each one of them after taking a group photograph.

Students from Kwara found new homes at College of Immaculate Conception[CIC] and Queens School, Enugu respectively. ECS Commissioner for Education, Ifeanyi Ifebigh and Chairman of the State Schools Board, Dr. Offia Nwali, made them feel at home.

In Ilorin, Mr. S.A. Oshatoba, principal of G.S.S assigned Ajikobi, Alanamu, Gambari and Fulani Houses to the new boys in town. There they met senior Igbo students like Frank Omenka, Victor Aniago and Frank Odiachi.

Omenka and his mates were damn good footballers and helped the school win the state secondary schools cup. One famous player was Folorunsho Gambari [Gambus] who would later lift a continental trophy with Shooting Stars. Omenka later became am Army colonel.

The Scholarship Programme continued long after Bamigboye and Asika were sacked in 1975. In 1974, Iche Iduma, Emma Nwonyeugbo, Chiedo Chukwueke, Ezenwa Mojekwu and Sunday Anierobi joined.

The next year saw Victor Ojukwu, Ndubuisi Osuagwu, Boni Nweke, Patrick Oguanyia and Emeka Nweze joining the train.

The girls who came after the 1973 set included: Angela Igboanugo, Ida Eruchalu, Victoria Onukogu, Isioma Ndili,, Oluchukwu Umeadi, Ifeoma Chukwuemeka, Blessing Ngozi Kalu and Obiageli Ikeomu ,among many others.

The ECS Boys distinguished themselves. Emesobum ended up as Head Boy. Obasi received commendation at the 1978 Speech and Prize- Giving Day, he bagged the Best Geography Student Award.

His prize was a book. When he got back to his seat and opened it, there was the 100 naira cash Award for the Best Behaved Student, Bolingo. Obasi walked back to the high table and handed over the cash to the Principal, Alhaji Adebayo.

Discipline was maintained. At the end of their class one final exams in 1974, Nwosu was dragged to Oshatoba by the French tutor, a woman. His offence was writing in green ink.

His score of 75 was canceled. He got zero as punishment. The boy did not report to his father who was an Anglican Bishop, quite unlike some of today’s children. Nwosu left the school in 1978 with a distinction.

The Bamigboye children are all over the globe doing well as professionals and preaching unity. Engineers, Architects, Medical doctors, Pharmacists. There are many internationals among them.

Abugu qualified as an engineer in the old Soviet Union. He died in the 2012 Dana air crash. Sadly, Ezenwa Mojekwu’s younger sister, Adaobi, also died in that crash. Ezenwa, an engineer had passed on earlier. Another engineer, Patrick Oguanyia, is also late.

Nwosu, a medical student of the University of Benin, died right at the Ugbowo Campus gate in 1982. His car broke down and as he got down to fix it, a reckless, bus driver crushed him.

These boys –turned-men still have fond memories of Brig. Bamigboye, whose passage was announced on September 23. A 1961 graduate of the Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, he served in the Congo under Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi.

They are also in touch with old friends like Raimi Jimoh, Ahmed Waziri, Ocholi Abalaka, Dele Alabi, John Ako, Mumini Olumoh, Ola Awoyemi, Dayo Bako and Gbenga Bolarin.

It is my belief that Gov. Dave Umahi will rally his fellow South-East governors to support this friend of the zone, in death. They could also get in touch with one of Bamigboye’s later years’ successors, Bukola Saraki, whose father, Dr. Olusola Saraki, was one of Dim Ojukwu’s buddies, right from Kings College.