I have had to change the title of my tribute to a great man. It was originally entitled:
“Chief Allison Akene Ayida: Another old boy of King’s College (KCOB) bows out.”
Social media went on an orgy of frenzy – with reports, reflecting varying embellishments, that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris was sufficiently alarmed and concerned at the passing away of yet another “KCOB” – following the recent demise of former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme [aged 85]; Chief Tunji Gomez [aged 90] and Prince Adedapo Adeniran [aged 94] (all of whom were KCOBs), that he immediately despatched his trusted Deputy Inspector-General, Chief Taiwo Lakanu to proceed to Lagos and co-opt the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State Mr. Edgal Imohimi to get to the bottom of these serial deaths (all of them, except that of Dr. Ekwueme, in Lagos) involving illustrious old boys of King’s College, Lagos.
Inevitably, the police had to deal with the delicate issue of suspected foul play and the likely suspects!! Additionally, the Police could not ignore the coincidence with my candidacy as the next president of St Gregory’s College Old Boys Association following my very successful campaign in all thirty-six states of the Federation of Zimboda as well as warm reception and overwhelming endorsement by old boys of St. Gregory’s College worldwide (especially in the diaspora)!!
READ ALSO: A look at Legend Hotel Lagos Airport after two years in business
While investigations are proceeding, let us doff our hats to the colossus and legend – Chief Allison Akene Ayida who died in Lagos at the age of 88 years after a protracted illness.
From Google and Facebook, we are offered the following snippet (courtesy of Eric Teniola):
“Chief Allison Akene Ayida was born on June 16, 1930. He attended King’s College, Lagos from 1946-1952; Queen’s College, University of Oxford, England, where he graduated in 1956; London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, England, 1957; Assistant Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, 1971-1975;Chairman, UN Commission for Africa;Secretary to the Government of the Federation andHead of Civil Service of Nigeria, 1975-1977. He died on October 12, 2018.
He narrated the story of his life in a book entitled “Rise And Fall Of Nigeria” published by Malthouse Press Limited.
“I was brought up as an only son by my late parents. One of the virtues you imbibe early without a Big Brother is the habit of a self-sufficient and independent lone ranger. At 33, I was appointed to act as Permanent Secretary to the Federal Ministry of Economic Development, in 1963. I was the youngest Permanent Secretary in the Federation. It was part of an experiment to try out the then new breed in the civil service as Permanent Secretaries. I had to look up to senior colleagues such as the late Chief Michael Ani for guidance and leadership.”
In my previous capacity as the editor of “The Mermaid” (the college magazine of King’s College), I made the following brief remarks:
“I presume that it is well known that Chief Ayida entered King’s College in 1947 and along with Makanju earned double promotion to Form 3 and thereby became a classmate of Izoma Philip Asiodu and Otunba T. Adeoye Tugbobo. It was the Principal (Headmaster), Mr.J.R. Bunting who secured admission for both Asiodu and Ayidato his alma mater Queen’s College, Oxford University to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics [PPE] on scholarship.
After graduation both of them returned to Nigeria and joined the civil service. Asiodu was in the Governor’s office briefly before joining the Foreign Service while Ayida was in the Ministry of Education. It was Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, the Minister of Finance who facilitated the transfer of Ayida to the Ministry of Finance. It was no secret that Ayida was a protege of the Minister.
A whole chapter would have to be devoted to the exceptional courage of top civil servants led by Abdulazziz Attah (Oxford graduate) with Ayida, Asiodu, Ahmed Joda etc in tow who after the disastrous broadcast of Colonel Yakubu Gowon on 29th July 1966 (following the revenge coup d’état by Northern soldiers led by then Lieutenant-Colonel Murtala Mohammed) that there was no longer any basis for the existence of Nigeria as a nation, put their lives at risk by driving to Ikeja cantonment to plead with “fierce and supercharged” soldiers before gaining access to Gowon. All of them could have been shot! One of the soldiers was sufficiently sober to demand of the intruders:
“Who goes there?
Enemy or foe?
Proceed and be recognised.
Do you have your wife’s permission to embark on this dangerous (suicidal) mission?”
They performed the superlative feat of persuading Gowon to issue a retraction as follows:
“After further deliberations, my colleagues and I have resolved to preserve the unity of Nigeria as one nation.” (not an exact quote).
Northern soldiers had commenced packing their wives and children back to the North on trains, trucks, lorries and motor cars.
Perhaps this is not the right time to reflect on the lamentation and despair of Chief Olu Falae, Secretary to the Military Government of the Federation (January 1986 to December 1990):
“I did not know I had so many enemies until I became Secretary to the Government of the Federation [SGF].”
Similarly, Chief Ayida had his fair share of enemies and detractors. Perhaps, that is a subject for another day.
However, we can at least remind ourselves of our nation’s stormy and chequered history which is co-joinedwith the travails of the civil service and the strength of character (or otherwise) of successive SGF’s.
When the military took over on 15th January, 1966 with Major-General Johnson Aguyi-Ironsi as head of State, probably the most powerful civil servant was Ironsi’s kinsman, Chief Francis Nwokedi.
- To be continued next week
Bashorun J.K. Randle
