By Emeka Obasi
As the first governor of Kwara State, Brigadier David Laisi Bamigboye began the process of Reconciliation in 1967 long before Gen. Yakubu Gowon made the ‘No Victor, No Vanquished’ proclamation at the formal end of the Civil War on January 15, 1970.
Bamigboye, then a 27 – year – old Major, had as wife, Mrs Chinyere Beatrice Bamigboye ( nee Asagwara), from Uzoagba, near Owerri, in the newly created East Central State (ECS). They met in Zaria and got married in Lagos in February 1965.
In a pleasant divine arrangement, the Administrator of ECS, Ajie Ukpabi Asika’s wife, Chinyere, (nee Ejiogu), also hailed from Owerri (Egbu). It did not take long, for the two First Ladies to bond, carrying their husbands along in the process.
Bamigboye, having attended school in Zaria, a town that melted tribes and tongues together, was totally detribalised. With an Igbo wife, he was meticulous in choosing those that worked with him. Abdul Ganiyu Abdulrazaq and James Mejabi had Zaria links.
Abdulrazaq was appointed Commissioner while Mejabi became a Permanent Secretary. The former spoke fluent Igbo having attended school in Onitsha and Buguma respectively (His son is Abdul Rahman is the present governor of Kwara State).
Mrs Abdulrazaq was born in Aba. Two commissioners, Isa Obaro and Joseph Ogbeha bore middle names, Abonyi and Anene, that sounded Igbo.
Three years after the war, Bamigboye and Asika, worked out an Exchange Programme between their states. The best 10 pupils from the East at the end of the June 1973 Common Entrance exams gained scholarship to study in Ilorin.
The best 10 from Kwara moved to Enugu. Asika had enjoyed full scholarship at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Five boys, Chinaka Obasi (Architect and Oshinanwata Dim – na – Nume), Ikechukwu Aporo Emesobum (Engineer and former Abia State Commissioner for Works), Godwin Abugu (who died in the 2012 Dana Air tragedy as Dr. Ike Abugu), Udensi Okoli (who joined the Nigerian Customs Service) and Chuks Nwosu (who died as a medical student of the University of Benin in 1982) were driven to Government Secondary School, Ilorin.
The five girls, Amechi Obasi, Helen Mbamalu, Felicia Attah, Francisca Ndulue and Cecilia Chidomem became fresh students of Queen Elizabeth Secondary School, Ilorin. The Bamigboyes received the ten Easterners at Government House Ilorin.
The two Chinyeres were so close and brought their husbands together through state visits. They had a lot in common. Their wedding was in 1965. Chinyere Asika was born in June (1939), Chinyere Bamigboye died in June 2025.
Ajie Asika was born in June (1936) and died in September (2004). Brig. Bamigboye died in September (2018). Both women died in Lagos, just like the former governor.
When the Bamigboyes got married in Lagos, the chairman of the wedding reception was Gen. Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi. The wedding invitation RSVP was signed by Capt. Ignatius Obeya, whose wife, Angelina, hailed from Owerri.
Mrs Bamigboye and her husband visited Uzoagba regularly and two of her brothers, also joined the Army. Boniface Asagwara (N/2402) passed out from the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1970 and retired as a Major. Lawrence Asagwara (N/7414) enlisted much later and left the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Mrs Bamigboye died in her husband’s Ikeja home recently. I got in touch with her first son, Kola. He said : ” She was very generous and hard-working.
Her Igbo name is Chinyere, just like the Administrator of East Central State, Ajie Asika’s wife. They were extremely close as they shared a lot in common.”
Kola recalled how her parents met. “They met in Zaria where she was living with her family and working as a teacher while he was in the Army as a Captain. As you are aware, Kaduna is a melting pot for Nigerians from all walks of life.”
Kola has five siblings, Femi, Funmi, Bukky, Victor and Emmanuel. I wanted to know if they followed their father’s footsteps by marrying from outside Yoruba land. “Oh, we didn’t cross the River Niger well enough”, was his response.
However, the younger Bamigboye is a Pan Nigerian. “Having come from a diverse background, with a Yoruba father and Igbo mother, moreso, as an Army kid who went to military schools, this significantly shaped my multi – ethnic perspective of Nigeria as a unified entity.”
The Chinyeres also had another Igbo sister married to one of the governor’s during the Gowon era. Jumai Nwachukwu’s husband, Col. Musa Usman, was governor of North Eastern State.
Air Force officer was born in Enugu and Jumai’s brother, Ike Nwachukwu, was also a military officer. Their Ovim, Isuikwuato dad, married a Katsina woman.
Governor Bamigboye’s younger brother, Theophilus, also served in the Army and became military governor in two different states, Bauchi and Osun, respectively.
The senior Bamigboye served in the Congo, with United Nations peace keeping forces. His Aide de Camp, Samaila Iliya, became a Major General and commanded United Nations forces in the Congo.
His wife, Deborah Iliya, was Nigerian Ambassador to Congo during the Muhammadu Buhari years. Their son, Gwani, was an Army Major.
Chinyere Bamigboye, like many other Igbo women married to Federal Officers during the war, should be remembered for her mental strength.
It was not for nothing that her husband visited liberated areas. Gov. Bamigboye, was in Enugu to encourage his course mate, Yakubu Danjuma, to be cool with Biafrans. Love from Igbo land, found Captain Bamigboye, in 1965. I doubt if it occured to his wife that if she removed the last four letters of Igbomina, her hubby was Igbo. Love between Uzoagba and Omu Aran. One Nation, One Love.
