Aka-Bashorun’s son: How my father saved Gani Fawehinmi’s legal career from traducers

…recalls dad’s relationship with Bola Ajibola, Fela, Beko, others

A former Vice Chairman of Kosofe Local Government, Mr. Olusegun Aka-Bashorun, is a son of a pan-Africanist and human rights activist, the late Mr. Alao Aka-Bashorun, who was also a president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, he spoke on the life and times of the fearless legal practitioner. Excerpts:

Your father was an erudite scholar, activist, pro-democracy advocate and a legal luminary who became the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); as a son, what kind of father was he to you and your siblings?
My father was a disciplinarian who made sure that all the values he got from his own parents were inculcated in all of us. He made sure that we all imbibed the right virtues very early in life. He did not in any way try to spoil us. He told us from the get go that his responsibility to us all was good education. He used to tell us that he owed us knowledge and that it was up to us how we apply. It is the legacy that we owe to ourselves in life. He used to let us know that he was not going to leave any property or money for us to inherit. He told us that quality education would stand us in good stead in life. So, we were not in any way surprised that when he died, that he left no will behind. It will interest you to note that he gave out all the property he had while alive. On two occasions he went out with his car and came back home in a cab just because he gave his car out to someone that needed it. My father was a socialist.

What kind of husband was he to your mum?
We lived in a polygamous home and people would assume that he might have had his favourite among his wives to prompt some form of jealousy here and there but while growing up we saw that he did well to balance up his feelings towards his wives. I think he tried to give all his children equal fatherly touch without any form of bias. On that basis, I will describe him as someone that tried his best to love us all.

You describe your father as a disciplinarian, does that suggest that he was given to wielding the stick whenever anyone of you crossed the line?
He was not given to caning us but he would usually give us corporal punishment whenever we offended him. He would ask us to stand down and rise up our hands when he felt angry with anyone of us.

What would a child do to make your father angry?
He would ask us to explain what a cup or a plate did to any of us whenever we broke the glass. He would ask ‘what did the glass do to you’. That really helped us in our relationship with him. He had this mechanical method to solving issues that we all eventually adopted that is really helping us in life. He encouraged us to always think logically and rationally in all we do. He never liked us wasting things. There was a day he came to the kitchen, one of such rare occasions because he was never used to going to the kitchen. He saw that we threw some pap into the trash can and he got angry. What he did was to remove the pap that we thought was bad. He washed it, dissolved the wraps of papa into a plate and started eating it. He called us while he was eating to tell us that doing things like this is bad and that we should not indulge in such as doing so means we will eventually be mismanaging our lives. He made it known that he did not like what we did at all. There was another time that we used sprite to drink garri (cassava flakes) and he saw that the plate gathered some ants. He knew that there was something particular about the garri. He queried us. Those are the instances that I can remember now. My father hated wastage so much.

By virtue of his status and numerous engagements, he must have been a very busy man; what time did he usually wake up in the morning and what were the first things that he did?
I remember that he usually woke up as early as 5 to 5:30am in the morning. When he did, we all joined in to clean the whole house. Every child knew what he had to do in the morning at home. We had our individual assigned tasks that must be performed. For me, I washed his clothes and iron them. For him, every child must perform his or her role in the house. He used such occasions to study us individually. At the end of the day, rather than giving us money separately, he would put freshly minted wads of notes in a closet where every one of us would go and take money. He would tell us that it (the money) was for us and that it was for the whole month for us to spend as we wished. He would now be watching us after then. If there was excessive expenditure, he would know. He would now watch if anyone of us was living extravagantly. I remember that that action was so effective because we eventually knew that he was watching. The move was to ensure that we didn’t go out to beg for money while at the same time teaching us to be prudent.

When did he eat his breakfast and what was his favourite meal?
In the morning, I can’t remember anything else apart from the fact that he drank coffee, which was usually specially prepared for him. We had a unique way of doing it (the coffee). For him to drink the coffee, whoever was preparing it must mix all the ingredients thoroughly before pouring the hot water. He would know if that was not done because of how it would taste in his mouth. He would tell you if you didn’t do it properly. He never missed his cup of coffee in the morning. He usually ate scrambled egg with toasted bread in the morning too. Some other times, he would skip breakfast.

Your house would have been a beehive of activities; what kind of people usually visited him at home?
You are right, the house was very busy but as we grew older, he found a way to get people to visit him in his office. I remember several occasions when the likes of Fela Anikulapo came visiting us at home. I remember a day Fela came to our house prompting policemen and soldiers to cordon off our streets. We were in our house when we heard people shouting that soldiers and policemen were coming. We didn’t know that they were coming to our house to pick up Fela. Everyone ran indoors and was watching, it was a real military operation that got people frightened. My father went to meet them and they told him that they were there to arrest Fela for breaking his house arrest terms. They said they wanted to take him away for running away from house arrest. My father responded by saying that he was Fela’s lawyer and that what he (Fela) came for was to consult with him. My father quoted relevant portion of the law that guaranteed Fela’s right to his lawyer. He said that was constitutionally guaranteed by the law. He told them that, Fela’s right to his lawyer was greater than the right of the state to detain him. The army officer and the policeman in charge now told my father that he would have to come with them too to explain that aspect of law to their superiors who sent them. When they put the two of them in the Black Maria and were being taken away, the whole street that was deserted now became full with people coming out to hail both Fela and my father.

When did the friendship between your father and Fela Anikulapo start?
I remember the story told to me by Fela’s younger brother, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti. I visited him because of his closeness to my late father whom he visited very often why he (my father) was alive. He (Beko) told me that when they were carrying coffin to Dodan Barracks to protest the killing of Fela’s mother, how my father insisted that he would have to go with them but Fela insisted that he shouldn’t because he (my father) would need to come and bail them out when they got arrested. That was the level of commitment and friendship between the two of them.

What was his relationship with other prominent lawyers of his time; let’s start with the late Gani Fawehinmi?
As a matter of fact, I have two letters that the late Gani Fawehinmi wrote to my late father. The first one was written in 1978 and the second one was in 1987. The first one really explained the relationship in details. He praised my father and described him as somebody who cannot be compared to another person. He called him all kinds of beautiful names. I saw Chief Fawehinmi a year or two before he passed on and he told me what happened between them not knowing that I had read the letter he (Fawehinmi) sent to my father. He told me that he had some confrontations with some elite lawyers who were doing everything possible to have him debarred. Unfortunately for him (Fawehinmi) an incidence occurred and some people wanted him debarred. What happened was that a suspect ran into Fawehinmi ‘s office. The police came to look for him and instead of allowing the police to do their work, they (the police officers) were beaten up by the boys who there. This prompted many lawyers who hated Fawehinmi to call for his debarment. It was my father who took up his case and won it for him and for that, Fawehinmi will always be grateful to my father. At that time, my father was the Lagos State chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). My father defended Gani so eloquently and won. Fawehinmi said he was being targeted for not being elitist in his approach to his profession. Many people in the legal profession felt Fawehinmi was being too confrontational in his approach. My father defended him and won.

Apart from the late Gani Fawehinmi, what was your late father’s relationship with other legal notables like the late FRA Williams and other established law icons?
Despite his many engagements as an activist and pan-Africanist, you will never know that my father was close to many of them. He was very close to them even though he saw the need to confront them in public. My father was very close to the late Bola Ajibola in the struggle until one day my father found out that Baba Ajibola was about to be appointed the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. This prompted my father to contest the presidency of the NBA. It would interest you to know that my father never wanted to contest the presidency of the NBA but the news of the appointment of Baba Ajibola prompted him. He saw the need to be at the opposite side to Baba Ajibola.

Why so?
Immediately Baba Ajibola left the presidency, my father decided to succeed him. I remember that (former Military President Ibrahim) Babangida sponsored a lawyer from Ibadan who eventually lost to my father who won overwhelmingly. Baba Ajibola told the establishment not to allow my father win because he knew what my father could do. I know that he would give us (the government) one hell of a fight particularly that he was the attorney general. It was in the interest of Baba Ajibola not to allow my father to take over from him.

Didn’t that rupture the friendship between the two of them?
Yes! I can tell you about personal experiences that I saw practically. Baba Ajibola had a son called Segun whom we used to hang out with even though he was much older than me. When my dad became the NBA chairman, he called me to say that he didn’t want to see him or any of the children of Baba Ajibola in our house again. I initially didn’t realise what he was saying because all of us rolled together as one big family. The military had wanted to appoint my father as the Minister for Justice. I remember that his letter was brought to the house by General (Oladipo) Diya. It was my mum who received it who was also appointed the secretary of Onigbongbo Local Government. My father read the letter and after reading it tore it into two.