Chief Bisi Akande, former interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress also joined other great Nigerians to mourn the demise of a former lawmaker representing Osun East, Senator Mijisoluwa Akinfenwa.
He described him as a politician who showed him brotherly love as an inmate in Agodi prison, Oyo State.
Akande, in a tribute on Friday to Akinfenwa, who died on Thursday in Ibadan, said he shared a deep personal relationship with the deceased, who nearly became sick due to sadness when he (Akande) was sentenced by the military to 44 years imprisonment 35 years ago.
The former Osun State governor said he felt deeply sad and shattered to learn of the sudden death of his long-time friend whom he met since the formation of the Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria.
Narrating his experience with the late former commissioner for education in the old Oyo State, Akande said, “Sometime towards the end of February 1984, just a few weeks after my temporary release from Kirikiri Prisons, I went to check on Mr Akinfenwa at No. 33, Rotimi Williams Avenue, Bodija, in Ibadan. I met him in pain. He had bandages around his ankles.
“It was not until I was re-arrested in a white safari suit, kept in a pond of dirt for three nights at the army barracks, Mokola, and being taken for detention at the NSO headquarters in Eleyele on Monday, April 2, 1984, that I again saw Senator Akinfenwa among other commissioners detained in my old official quarters at No. 754 Links Reservation. My captors drove there to parade me before them in wicked humiliation.
“When I later joined them in Agodi Prisons on Friday, April 27, 1984, Akinfenwa demonstrated very deep brotherly love for me throughout our stay together in the awaiting trial cells – particularly in August and September 1984 during my trial at the Ibadan Special Military Tribunal. He nearly became sick due to his sadness around October 16 when I was sentenced to 44 years imprisonment.”
The former APC interim chairman also revealed that the late senator volunteered to give evidence on his (Akande) behalf and did his best to make life comfortable for him for the rest of his stay in prison.
“Unknown to him that I would be released on August 16, 1986, in his bid to cultivate Agodi Prisons’ friendship for my sake, he took the prison senior officers out for dinner on August 15, 1986. During the 30 days of Bola Ige’s release before my release, he was constantly picking quarrels openly with Uncle Bola and Sir Dele Ige, accusing them of complacency in getting me out of prison.
“He showed absolute friendship and love towards me and expressed disappointment that I was released to my lawyer instead of him, so he could drive me out of Agodi Prisons. We later became great family friends,” Akande said.
He added, “He, among others, worked with me thereafter to build Afenifere, which metamorphosed into NADECO in Osun State during the dangerous Abacha military era. As the Osun State Chairman of Afenifere, I remember with admirable pleasure that only Senator Akinfenwa stood by me among the vice chairmen of Afenifere in Osun State when the battle to form the Alliance for Democracy became the only practical option in Abuja on September 8, 1998.
“Senator Akinfenwa met me recently in my home at Ila-Orangun. He was looking healthy and radiant. We were happy together and reminisced about many aspects of our relationships – including our recent ugly duel over AD national chairmanship – and we joked and laughed at each other. I did not suspect it was going to be our last meeting.”
Credit: punchng.com
