As the first governor of Kwara State, Brigadier David Laisi Bamigboye began the process of reconciliation in 1967 long before the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon made the ‘No Victor, No Vanquished’ proclamation at the formal end of the civil war on 15 January 1970.
Bamigboye, then a 27-year-old Major, had as wife, Mrs. Chinyere Beatrice Bamigboye (nee Asagwara), from Uzoagba, near Owerri, in the newly created East Central State (ECS). They met in Zaria and got married in Lagos in February 1965.
In a pleasant Divine arrangement, the Administrator of ECS, Ajie Ukpabi Asika’s wife, Chinyere, (nee Ejiogu), also hailed from Owerri (Egbu). It did not take long for the two First Ladies to bond, carrying their husbands along in the process.
Bamigboye, having attended school in Zaria, a town that melted tribes and tongues together, was totally detribalised. With an Igbo wife, he was meticulous in choosing those that worked with him. AbdulGaniyu Abdulrazaq and James Mejabi had Zaria links.
Abdulrazaq was appointed Commissioner, while Mejabi became a Permanent Secretary. The former spoke fluent Igbo having attended schools in Onitsha and Buguma respectively. (His son, AbdulRahman, is the present Governor of Kwara State). The senior Abdulrazaq’s wife was born in Aba. Two commissioners, Isa Obaro and Joseph Ogbeha bore middle names – Abonyi and Anene – that sounded Igbo.
Three years after the war, Bamigboye and Asika worked out an exchange programme between their states. The best 10 pupils from the East at the end of the June 1973 Common Entrance examinations gained scholarship to study in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. The best 10 from that state moved to Enugu, capital of the then ECS. Asika had enjoyed full scholarship at the University of California, Los Angeles, United States of America.
Five boys – Chinaka Obasi (architect, who later earned the traditional title of Oshinanwata Dim-na-Nume), Ikechukwu Aporo Emesobum (engineer and former Abia State Commissioner for Works), Godwin Abugu (who died in the Dana Air tragedy as Dr. Ike Abugu in 2012), Udensi Okoli (who joined the Nigeria Customs Service) and Chuks Nwosu (who died as a medical student of the University of Benin in 1982) – were moved to Government Secondary School, Ilorin.
Five girls – Amechi Obasi, Helen Mbamalu, Felicia Attah, Francisca Ndulue and Cecilia Chidomem – became fresh students of Queen Elizabeth Secondary School, Ilorin. The Bamigboye received the 10 Easterners at Government House, Ilorin.
The two Chinyeres were so close and brought their husbands together through state visits. They had a lot in common. Their wedding was in 1965. Chinyere Asika was born in June 1939, Chinyere Bamigboye died in June 2025. Ajie Asika was born in June 1936 and died in September 2004. Bamigboye died in September 2018. Both women died in Lagos, just like the former governor.
When the Bamigboye got married in Lagos, the chairman of the wedding reception was General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi, who later became the Head of State. The wedding invitation RSVP was signed by Capt. Ignatius Obeya, whose wife, Angelina, hailed from Owerri.
Mrs. Bamigboye and her husband visited Uzoagba regularly and two of her brothers, also joined the Army. Boniface Asagwara (N/2402) passed out from the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1970 and retired as a Major. Lawrence Asagwara (N/7414) enlisted much later and left the Army as a Lt. Colonel.
Mrs. Bamigboye died in her husband’s Ikeja home recently. I got in touch with her first son, Kola. He said: ‘She was very generous and hard-working. Her Igbo name is Chinyere, just like the Administrator of East Central State, Ajie Asika’s wife. They were extremely close as they shared a lot in common’.
Kola recalled how her parents met. ‘They met in Zaria where she was living with her family and working as a teacher, while he was in the Army as a Captain. As you are aware, Kaduna is a melting pot for Nigerians from all walks of life’, he said.
Kola has five siblings – Femi, Funmi, Bukky, Victor and Emmanuel. I wanted to know if they followed their father’s footsteps by marrying from outside Yoruba land. ‘Oh, we didn’t cross the River Niger well enough’, was his response.
However, the younger Bamigboye is a pan-Nigerian. ‘Having come from a diverse background, with a Yoruba father and an Igbo mother, moreso as an Army kid who went to military schools, this significantly shaped my multi-ethnic perspective of Nigeria as a unified entity’, he said.
The Chinyeres also had another Igbo sister married to one of the governor’s during the Gowon era. Jumai Nwachukwu got married to Col. Musa Usman, who was governor of North Eastern State. The Air Force officer was born in Enugu and Jumai’s brother, Ike Nwachukwu, was also a military officer. Their Ovim, Isuikwuato dad married a Katsina woman.
The senior Bamigboye’s younger brother, Theophilus, also served in the Army and became military governor in two different states – Bauchi and Osun.
Bamigboye served with the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces in the Congo. His Aide-de-Camp, Samaila Iliya, became a Major General and commanded United Nations forces in the Congo. His wife, Deborah Iliya, was Nigerian Ambassador to the Congo during the Muhammadu Buhari years. Their son, Gwani, was an Army Major.
Chinyere Bamigboye, like many other Igbo women married to federal officers during the war, should be remembered for her mental strength. It was not for nothing that her husband visited liberated areas. Bamigboye, was in Enugu to encourage his course mate, Yakubu Danjuma (who retired as Lt. General), to take it easy with Biafrans.
Love from Igboland, found Bamigboye in 1965. I doubt if it occured to his wife that if she removed the last four letters of Igbomina (Bamgboye’s dialectal unit), her hubby was Igbo.
Love between Uzoagba and Omu Aran (Bamgboye’s hometown). One Nation, One Love.
