FOR decades, hundreds of conferences have been held on the importance of breaking the barriers that national borders colonialists imposed provide against the development of Africa. They have all ended up as gas, mere words.
One man – Raila Amolo Odinga, former Prime Minister of Kenya, steeped in opposition politics – wants to pull down the obstacles to African integration, and with a rapidity that only a few imagine.
He comes from a family that is traditioned in pushing erected frontiers that ring “impossible”. His father Oginga Odinga was Kenya’s first Vice President. He parted ways with Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first President, on fundamental national policies. Kenyatta wanted an alliance with the West, Odinga preferred the East. When the matter could not be resolved, the Vice President resigned. The Odingas are steel-willed too.
Detentions, denial of access to political platforms did not stop them from ending Kenya’s 40-year one-party state in alliance with Kenneth Matiba.
Raila Odinga is vying for Chairman of the African Union Commission with a clear agenda of what he intends to do. His two opponents: Mahamamoud Ali Youssouf (Djibouti), and Richard Randriamandrato (Madagascar).
The other candidates’ experience is limited by their non-direct involvement in the management of the affairs of AU. Odinga stands out in that sphere.
He was AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa for five years, during which he had hands-on experiences with the continent’s gaps in infrastructure and had high-level involvements with Heads of Governments of different African countries and made high contacts across top international agencies.
For another five years, he was Prime Minister of Kenya, running a government of 42 Ministers, and a bureaucracy that stretched almost like as long as the Nile, touching different parts of Kenya with their intricacies. Kenyans would joke that he is not a stranger to big numbers, coming from a family of 17 children that the older Odinga fathered through four wives.
AU has zoned the chairmanship to East Africa in line with its rotation provision that sees the position going through AU’s five zones. Odinga’s campaign for the Chairperson of the African Union, which he shared at the AU debate for the candidates, last December, is anchored on shared prosperity for Africa through intra-African trade, commerce, travels, peace, security, by having inclusivity, and sustainability in an Africa that will grow through pulling its different parts together.
It is a huge dream, possibly his parting gift to the continent, that he articulates at each stop in his campaign.
Odinga has surprised people with his passion for his ideas. He shares his zeal not from the comfort of his homes in Kisumu or Nairobi. He has been on the road campaigning. He has criss-crossed the continent with his message.
The new dimensions he has provided for campaigns for this position will enhance the quality of candidates for similar positions.
Odinga has the full backing of the Kenyan government. President William Ruto has spoken openly in support of the same message – African governments should shake down the shackles that visas and trade restrictions impose on Africa’s prosperity.
Odinga wants to speed through these bumps to create an Africa that many consider impossible. He is on a mission to prove that it is possible to have an Africa with different perspectives and prescriptions to deal with its troubles by itself. He believes that the continent’s opportunities can be harnessed and used to make Africa a better space that would generate a better present, and future for its youth, hundreds of who die yearly while migrating to Europe through the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean.
He is strong on education, gender equality, technology, democracy, good governance, and climate change.
The clarity of his proposals bears the imprints of his years of participation in the formulation and execution of international policies, projects and programmes.
African leaders, as they gather in Addis Ababa to take a vital decision that is central to the success of the Africa 2063 Agenda, should look Odinga’s way, for he knows the scores.
Finally…
WHY did Chief Bisi Akande, former Governor of Osun State, raise issues on the death of Chief Bola Ige, former Governor of old Oyo State, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, in the government of Olusegun Obasanjo, who was assassinated 24 years ago? Akande said some secrets on the matter were narrated to him by Lam Adesina, his Oyo State counterpart at that time. Lam Adesina is dead, Oluwole Rotimi, former military Governor of Western Region, who Akande, 86, claimed told him that Bola Ige would be in danger if he resigned from Obasanjo’s government, will be 90 in two weeks.
Akande said, “I know Lam Adesina went to court over the matter, and I also know his successor, (Rashidi) Ladoja, withdrew the case. Ask Ladoja; he would know more about Bola Ige’s death.
“I was the Chief Security Officer of Osun State at the time, not Oyo State. Lam Adesina was the Chief Security Officer of Oyo State, and he went to court, and the governor who took over from him, Ladoja, withdrew the case from court. I believe he has more information on Bola Ige’s death.
“Because there are many things you don’t want to tell the public. Now Bola Ige is dead, and Lam Adesina too is dead, so who will be my witness? Ladoja withdrew the case from court. Ask Ladoja; he would know more about Bola Ige’s death.
“One evening, he just called me and said, ‘I’m going to resign from this government.’ I said, ‘Please, sir, I will come back to you.’ I called his friend, Oluwole Rotimi. He asked me to advise him (Ige) not to resign because if he does, he’s likely going to die.
“I called Uncle (Ige) back and begged him not to resign. He said he had talked to Wole Soyinka and Bola Tinubu, and both of them had asked him to resign. I asked him not to resign. I then said, ‘You can go to Obasanjo, tell him what you are angry about, and tell him that if he doesn’t want you again, this is your letter.’
“He actually did so. Obasanjo asked what he wanted him to do, and they both agreed. When he was leaving, Obasanjo said, ‘Don’t give that letter to the press; give it to me,’ and he dropped the letter. Ige told me himself. It was later after that he was moved to the Ministry of Justice.
“He was killed in anticipation of what he might become in the future. It was a state murder. The government killed him. The government can kill anybody. Obasanjo wasn’t keen on investigating who killed Bola Ige but was interested in the stability of himself in power,” Akande.
Ladoja rebutted: “Chief Bola Ige was assassinated on December 23, 2001. I became governor on May 29, 2003, 18 months after he was killed. I didn’t withdraw the case. My government didn’t withdraw any case. The case was even prosecuted by the Supreme Court. Chief Akande lied against me, and he is old. This is not his first time. People say he lies. Even Baba Adebanjo said he lied in his book”.
Can we assume that the police are not interested in these allegations that Chief Akande made since 1 February 2025. The allegations were not about tenure extension.
ISIGUZO is a major commentator on minor issues