Chief James Ajibola Idowu Ige, simply known as Bola Ige, was a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He also served as Federal Minister of Justice for Nigeria. He was murdered in December 2001.

NAME: Chief James Ajibola Idowu Ige,

DATE OF BIRTH: 13 September 1930 – 23 December 2001

PLACE OF BIRTH: Esa Oke, Osun state

OCCUPATION: Politician

EDUCATION: He studied at Ibadan Grammar School (1943–48), and then at the University of Ibadan. From there, he went to the University College London where he graduated with a Law degree in 1959. He was called to the bar in London’s Inner Temple in 1961

CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES: 

During the First Republic (1963–1966), at age 31 he was at the centr of the Action Group crisis, when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was pitted against his deputy, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. He became a rival of Olusola Olaosebikan for succession to Obafemi Awolowo. Bola Ige was a Commissioner for Agriculture in the now-defunct Western Region of Nigeria (1967–1970) under the military government of General Yakubu Gowon. In 1967 he became a friend of Olusegun Obasanjo, who was a commander of the army brigade in Ibadan.

In the early 1970s, during the first period of military rule, he devoted his time to the anti-racism campaign of the World Council of Churches.

PUBLICATIONS: Ige, Bola. Golden quotes : a selection of my favourite inspirational quotations. Ibadan : Pocket Gifts ; Oxford : African Books Collective [distributor], c2000. x, 163 p. ; 19 cm. ISBN 978-129-496-5
Ige, Bola. Detainee’s diary Ibadan : NPS Educational, 1992. 262 p. ; 23 cm. ISBN 978-2556-45-9
Ige, Bola (1995). People, Politics And Politicians of Nigeria: 1940–1979. Heinemann Educational Books. ISBN 978-129-496-5.
Ige, Bola. Constitutions and the problem of Nigeria Lagos : Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 1995. 36 p. ; 21 cm. ISBN 978-2353-43-4
Bola Ige (1991). Kaduna boy. NPS Educational. ISBN 978-2556-35-1.