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Sofola: My Life as a Lawyer, Social Crusader and Statesman

Mr. Kehinde Sofola (SAN), Second Republic Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice passed on on Sunday, March 25, 2007, at the age of 83. He was buried according to the Islamic rites yesterday at his home -town, Ikenne, Ogun State.

When he turned 80 on March 10, 2004, he spoke extensively with The Guardian crew of Gbolahan Gbadamosi and Muyiwa Adeyemi, where he preferred to be seen than heard, except when he was in court doing what he knew how to do best.

Mr. Sofola was highly principled. An ardent follower of the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe who he said fired his imagination to join the campaign for Nigeria's independence. Sofola was a prince from Ikenne, Ogun State. Until his death, he refused to take any chieftaincy title and was often amused when people referred to him as a chief. In this interview, Sofola spoke on why he did not join Action Group (AG), his relationship with the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and how to have a just society.

Because of his legal cum political legacy, the interview is reproduced.

The childhood

I was born into a Moslem family and my father, Chief Sani Sofola, had many wives. In those days and in our setting, you rarely knew your real mother. Nobody was jealous of the other. No one was over ambitious and nobody thought evil of another. It was a very good family union fostering in love. But my father was a disciplinarian. Oh! We were brought up in a very strict and disciplined environment. He was such a strict man that you did not smoke or drink alcohol and nobody in the whole town of Ikenne dared carry empty keg of palm wine to pass through his house. He took no nonsense from any child. This really helped us as we were growing up and we grew up to be very serious. If a child offended him, the mother was in trouble. My father would say, woman, you don't train your son or your daughter and if you monitored what he was doing, he would not behave so. And the mother would have to get one of his friends to appeal to him.

But nowadays, parents don't look at what their children do. They don't care where they go and what company they keep. And consequently, you find some of the boys sleeping under the bridges because the parents have no interest in disciplining their children. And I am serious about this because when a child at a formative stage is left alone without discipline, he grows up without discipline and he only copies the behaviour of his friends. Which simply means a blind man leading a blind man. A father who has got the experience is not there for him. The child goes to the primary school in that manner, goes to secondary school, then to the university. You now discover that they often misbehaved because nobody had led them to tread the right path.

I must confess to you that I don't know the number of children my father had; we were very many. You know we have a culture in Yoruba that you don't count children. You know we are Omo Alares.

School life

As I said, I come from a Moslem family. My elder brothers were sent to Moslem schools known as Ile Kewu (Koranic school) where they learnt Holy Koran by heart. My father's friend suggested that they should send us to school. My father didn't like that because of the fear that the pupils would be converted from Islam to Christianity there.

I was lucky that my father agreed that I and my twin brother (Taiwo) should go to school. We started at Ikenne Methodist School (CMS) and we didn't stay more than one year there when we were beaten for not coming to the Sunday School. My father objected and withdrew us from there to Ikenne CMS School. I still recollect some of my mates in school. There was Solomon Sofowora now dead. I know Dr. Z.O. Ososanya, he is an accountant, he was the second accountant in Nigeria next to Chief Akintola Williams. He is still alive. There is Mr. M. A. Soriyan, a teacher and principal of Government College, Mid-West at one time.

At Ikenne, the highest standard you could go was Standard Four. When it became necessary that I must continue my education, I was sent to Sagamu. When I finished there, the question now was where do I go for my secondary education. I took examinations to the Baptist Boys High School (BBHS), Abeokuta and they accepted me from my primary education straight to Class Three because I got all the answers correct. I did not start from class one and if you like, you can call it triple promotion.

Do you know that even when I joined them in Class Three those in Class Four were coming to me to work Algebra for them. I was very good in mathematics. You know BBHS is known for producing many great leaders in this country. That was the school President Olusegun Obasanjo attended although he did not meet me in school. I left in December 1943 and he came in January 1952. But we met occasionally at Old Boys Association meetings.

When I left BBHS in 1943, I got a very good remark and the school had a good result as all of us came out with grade one. I happened to be one of those exempted from London Matriculation of those days. I remember that in our final year, government sent a Labour officer to our school to interview some of us to be thrown into labour market, in the following year and to look at our result and post us to where we were going to work. I was posted to the Department of Railway. I spent seven years in Railway and I can tell you there was much discipline at Railway at that time.

I was posted to Ibadan and I was also the then secretary of the Nigerian Railway Civil Servants' Association. In a way, you can say that I was an activist because we the younger ones at that time were so much interested in fighting for freedom from our colonial masters.

In 1951, they gave me scholarship to study Accountancy in England. I knew that was not what I wanted. Some people advised me to take it that when I got there, I would change over to study Law which had been my desired ambition. I said no. I resigned my appointment in Nigeria and went to London to study Law. I was inspired to real law since I was in the secondary school because of our determination to join the crusade for the independence of Nigeria. In fact, we were regular readers of the West African Pilot, especially the writings of Ojike Mbonu every Friday. We were reading these publications as we were reading our Bible or Koran. We were determined that Nigeria just must get her freedom.

Even some of us went to the extent of dropping our foreign names. That was why I also dropped my Moslem name. I am still a Moslem. But I was named Hussain and my twin brother was Hassan. But because of the campaign for emancipation of Africa and Nigeria, I dropped my foreign name. Some Christians dropped both English and Christian names and stuck to only Nigerian names.

Before that time, my father was not answering Sofola, he was bearing only Moslen names. I had to sit him down to ask him what his real family name was. He told me Sofola and I changed there and then. Later my father changed his name to Sofola. When I wrote my final examinations, I put my name as Kehinde Sofola. And since then, some of my senior and junior brothers joined me to answer our real family name.

Chieftaincy title

I refused to take any chieftaincy title because we have our own tradition in Yorubaland. If you belong to the royal family, you are debasing yourself by taking a chieftaincy title. Thereafter, they said I am Otunba. If you call them chief now, they will say no but before they were very happy about it. Chieftaincy title is awarded to any person in the community whose work and conduct are satisfactory and acceptable to the community.

I give you an example in Remo. There was one late Reverend W.F. Mellor, he was a Methodist Missionary and because of the good work he did, the Akarigbo of Ijebu Remo gave him a chieftaincy title. You can see, an English man got it. Why should I from a royal house also go for that? You know, once you give me a chieftaincy title, you expect me to be closer to you. Any moment, you can just receive a call from the person who gave you the title that he is going to Europe tomorrow, you must send him a return ticket. Or I am having a visitor tomorrow and I want you to be around. You will just be saying yes sir, yes sir. I cannot agree to do that kind of thing. If you are a mister, you get that entitlement as soon as you are of age. Some of the people got their chieftaincy titles withdrawn.

Decision to read law

As I said earlier, all of us in secondary school wanted to be part of the campaign for Nigeria's independence. I told my father that I wanted to be part of people to save this country. I told him I wanted to go abroad in search of the golden fleece. He said: "What are you going to do there?" I said I wanted to study Engineering. You know I was exempted from London Matriculation. I was being coached by a teacher in Grammar School then while I was working. So, my father said, engineering, no. You shall go and study Law. I said yes sir. In those days, you did not ask your father questions. You dare not disagree with him. If my father were to be alive today as I am 80, I dared not refuse his order. That is the way it used to be in Yorubaland. But now, you know what is happening.

I attended Kennington College of Law, London between 1951 and 1952 then 1953 and 1954. I was called to Lincoln's Inn in November 1951, the same night with Margaret Thatcher. When she was in power, people suggested that I should get in touch with her but I said no.

On the photograph we took on the day we were called to Bar, she sat next to me. We signed cards together and I still have my card with me with her signature on it. I didn't go to her when she was in power as many suggested. I am a proud man.

First day in court

When I was called to the Bar in February 1954, I stood behind to do what is called practical course. We were attached to a body set up by Council of Legal Education in England which will teach you how to carry out your work in court and so on. That practical course was for six months and I still have the photograph. Those in the picture were from various parts of the world and I was in my agbada with my abeti aja cap (laughs). So when we came home, we were to beg people to allow us join their chambers. I went to T.O.S. Benson chambers, he was not available, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya who was there had also gone for campaign. But because of my background and experience, I didn't need anybody to tell me anything. I grabbed the file and went to the High Court in Tinubu Square. You know where you have the fountain water in Tinubu Square had the High Court there before. Most of the buildings around Tinubu were occupied by lawyers. And when lawyers came out from the court and walked around majestically, they were beautiful to look at. If you were at the opposite side facing them, you will want to be like them.

I went to the court there before Justice Joblin. I was to face the late Chief H.O. Davies who was acting for the petitioner in a divorce case. I was acting for the woman who was the respondent. I lost the case on the merit (laughs). At that time my dream for Nigeria was after independence, Nigeria would become an Eldorado.

As the late Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe used to tell us, because we strongly believed in him, the government of Nigeria, for Nigerians and by Nigerians is the best government, Zik really brainwashed us, or that may be the wrong word to use. He opened our eyes. Before that, when people saw Europeans, they would be shaking, they saw them as extraordinary human beings, but Zik kept on telling them that they were normal human beings like Nigerians. At the time the colonial masters were ruling us, there was discipline. The roads were good, taps were running, transportation was perfect but now the whole thing has gone down the drain. I don't know why our people who travel abroad would get there and enjoy themselves only to come to Nigeria and do something else.

Involvement in politics

I had a dream of playing an active role in fashioning a better Nigeria and that was the reason I joined NCNC. I wanted to contribute to national development. And that is why I did not join the Action Group (AG). Although, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was my cousin, I didn't like the party. If I had wanted to be selfish or join a party for personal gains, I would achieve that better in AG because Awolowo was my cousin. But I joined NCNC as a matter of principle and political conviction especially when it was obvious that the leadership of AG were very stubborn and selfish.

I knew Awolowo more than those who called themselves his followers. When he came from England, I was still at Ibadan working at the Railways. Every morning I put down my bicycle to go and great him, good morning Sir before I go to the office, whether it was raining or not. And at the reception party organised for him, I made the vote of thanks. I was really impressed that out of nothing, he scaled all hurdles to go to England to go and study and came back. I was very much impressed. You know, he was the Secretary of the Transport Union and he was collecting money. He gathered a lot of money in the process to finance himself abroad and paid back when he came back. I didn't hate him as many would think but I quite disagreed with his politics and the way Ikenne was polarised. We had a situation where husband and wife had to divorce because of politics. He didn't do what he was preaching at Ikenne and that is the truth.

There was a time that AG supporters were ordered to go and kill all NCNC members. Our members had to run away from the town. But when I heard of that, I went back, opened my gate and brought a lot of them to my house. A lot of people were killed because of not sharing the same political idea with them. They even burnt down my father's house and he said he was going to use my father's house as a football field. That annoyed me. I borrowed money and built it with block. And the role he played about chieftaincy matters in Ikenne was nothing to write home about. These are some of the reasons why many people in Ikenne did not support his political ambition.

Let me also give you a mild instance why I did not believe in him. In every community, there was a communal land. In Ikenne, we have Igbo oro. It is a piece of land where women should not enter. When Awolowo came back from England as a lawyer, he did his best to get that community land for the family he said he belonged to. And the community took him to the customary court. He won. Then the community hired barrister Awoyele of Ijebu-Ode, who died in the process. The community lost the case.

But as a good Muslim, I've been doing a lot to bridge the gap between the two families. During the Sallah period, I give ram to Awolowo family. And the first year I did it, his wife came immediately to thank me. I sat her down and said that do you know that the trouble in Ikenne should be over by now. Uptill, now we have not got a monarch. The last monarch died 20 years ago.

Election as NCNC candidate in Ikenne

That is an interesting story. The NCNC put me as a candidate at Iwaiye ward. Awolowo said I couldn't win that election. They told the Alakenne to ring the bell the night preceding the election that nobody should come out. I went to hire gas lamp and got my people, that we were going to walk throughout the night, from one door to the other. The late Gbagbamos came, Rewane also came to influence my people but they could not succeed. People in my ward came out en mass and vote for me. When they told Awolowo that I won the election, he was very furious.

If I and Awolowo had worked together, the difference I envisaged was that I would have been in position to tell him the whole truth and my candid opinion about his actions on some issues. Can you imagine when he was fighting Akintola, the gentleman prostrated before him and Awolowo said no way.

Marital life

I got married in 1948. I have one wife, but I married twice. The second one is the daughter of Chief Adeola Odutola, the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland.

Advice on how to have a just society

My answer is simple. If I sweep the front of my house clean and my neighbours on my right and left do the same thing and everyone on the street does the same thing, the whole town will be clean. In other words, charity begins at home. The country is rotten because parents don't have time to mould the character of their children. People go to the Law School and pass out without learning law because people sit for examination for them. There is a lot of impersonation even in common entrance examinations.

Sometime ago, I employed a secretary in my office, he brought me his certificate. He had a degree and a certificate in computer science. He had a certificate in secretarial studies including shorthand. They said they interviewed him, I said no need because I was impressed with the certificate. But when he started work, I was disappointed. I'm not sure he passed out of primary school. The society is getting rotten. It is as bad as that. If I train my children and you also train yours, then we shall have a better society. It is shameful that Nigeria is ranked as the second most corrupt nation in the world. People collect money to vote and get the result of having bad leaders. You vote them there, many of them not because they are worth to be there but because they have money. So, once people sell their conscience, they should expect these results.

Insecurity in Nigeria?

I am very worried by the spate of killings in Nigeria. When you say in the name of politics you kill another human being when Holy Books say thou shall not kill, it is very bad. You should know that you are going to die one day. Nobody has come to this world and lives forever. We should let people know that is bad. We can stop these killings collectively as Nigerians. Those who killed Bola Ige did not have any grievance against him, they had nothing against Rewane or Harry Marshall but they used them.

The other time we had the problem of a judge in the High Court who ordered that a governor is no longer a governor. The Inspector General of Police said he got instruction from above. I want to say sincerely that we have a duty to make Nigeria great. We have to cooperate. And all of us will benefit from it and particularly, our children. Those in America and Europe had earlier worked hard to make their countries great. We can do the same thing. We go there and enjoy it, we can do the same for ourselves.

And those in government, I feel we should all leave them in peace and let them run their terms successfully. Another year of election is around the corner, when they can look for another opportunity. It is not good for anybody because he lost election now to be planning to truncate the government. They should remember that the government there is representing the people. They should allow them to work for the people to make their lives good. We should stop using out time fighting and killing ourselves. And stealing our country's resources must stop. After all, if you die you won't carry anything to God. If you render good service, people would continue to remember you and your grand children would also be happy about your achievement, that you did your best when you were in government.

One day, you will see a signpost that says 'sorry, this road does not belong to Lagos State, it belongs to the Federal Government,' another day you will see 'this road belongs to the Federal Government but repairs is in progress. This should stop. Both the Federal Governments are representing and working for the people. The fight is a waste of time because this country belongs to all of us. I want to appeal to everybody to take it easy and exercise patience. I want to say that God Almighty that sees the inside and outside of everyone of us is still there watching. If you do well, it is being written by God. And those who are doing well should continue to do well and those who are not doing well should change for the better.

Secret of agility at 80

One, I thank God Almighty for everything. Two, I don't drink alcohol and I don't smoke. And that is the discipline I've got from my father right from birth. I still hold it and I still carry it till today. Three, I take balanced food, I don't eat rubbish. I eat Ikokore very well. And of course, I don't do what many people do, I don't womanise.

Memorable days

There were moments of joy and sadness, but I remember a murder case I handled which involved a mother and her only daughter. I took up the case without taking money, including the cost of filing cases. The lower court said they should be killed, I appealed. The Court of Appeal discharged and acquitted the mother but for the daughter, they dismissed our appeal. Not still satisfied, I went to the Supreme Court. I fought because I believe in justice, that she ought not to be condemned to death. And the offence simply was that they were living in face-me-I-face-you building, and someone put stove at the veranda and in the process, somebody fell down and died. I was very happy when the Supreme Court discharged the daughter. I did not know them till now and I don't want to know them. But I am interested in seeing that justice is done. But the days I was sad were when my father and mother died. I wept.

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/law/article01/270307

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May we be strengthened with the ability, willingness and capabilities to be good ambassadors of Nigeria contributing to its uplifting, rather than its detriment. - Cxsm