Bayo Ojo, Parry Osayande: Where are they now?

The whereabouts of these three ex-public servants is not known since they left office; however, looking at the periods they were in office, their exploits cannot easily be forgotten; ELEOJO IDACHABA writes.

Bayo Ojo

Chief Christopher Adebayo Ojo (SAN) was the Attorney General of the Federation in the last tail of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. He was once the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). Ojo who hails from Ife-Ijumu in Kogi state had his primary school education in Maiduguri and Kaduna and post-primary education in Zaria. He proceeded to the University of Lagos where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Law in 1977. He was then called to Bar in July 1978, after completing his law school programme.

Subsequently, he began his career as a corps member when he appeared as defence counsel in a rape case before Hon. Justice Anthony Iguh of the High Court of Justice Enugu in 1978. He, however, lost the case because of the overwhelming evidence against his client.

As Attorney-General, unlike his predecessors and successors, he regularly appeared in courts personally to argue cases on behalf of the government. He was also noted for his efforts at decongesting prisons by engaging lawyers in private practice to defend various individuals who were being held by the state without trial. He also had a limited measure of success in advocating for improvement in the welfare of younger lawyers.

Since he left office in 2007, not much has been heard about him nor was he noticed in any major public event. He is, however, said to have a thriving legal outfit in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

Parry Osayande

Mr. Parry Osayande, a former police officer, left service in the rank of a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) after working in almost all states of the federation. He joined the Force in 1960 as a cadet inspector in Ikeja Police College, but later went through several training abroad like the Police Staff College Bramshil, Metropolitan Police College and the Royal Institute of Public Administration all in England. In Nigeria, he was at various times at the Police Staff College and the Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies all in Jos.

As a police officer, he was one of those whose service in the Force was reckoned with because of the special assignments he carried out. For example, in 1986, following the terror unleashed on then Bendel state by the notorious Lawrence Anini and his gang, Osayande was deployed to the state to effect their arrest. He also led the operation that suppressed religious inspired riot in Bauchi in 1990 and the Kano religious riot of 1991. He also led the federal government delegation to Namibia under the auspices of the United Nations Transition Group when that country gained independence.

Apart from these, he served in Ondo, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Benue and Lagos states. This Edo state ex-cop has an impressive resume that qualifies him for the top most job in the Force, but he left service in 1992 as a Deputy Inspector General. Because of his service, former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as chairman, Police Service Commission in order to bring his wealth of experience to bear in reforming the Force. In an interview he granted years after retirement, he talked about a way to reform the Force.

“If you want to effect a change in the police, you have to examine what is on ground and then identify the defects before you can get change. I do not see any wisdom in the proliferation of security agencies. Now, they are quarrelling over who does what and who does not do anything,” he had said. He was the one that disclosed that the former acting chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, was indicted by the police and nearly sacked in 2010 for keeping official documents in his possession. In recent times, no one has heard much about him again.

Walter Feghabo

Walter Feghabo is a retired naval officer relatively unknown in the public square, but he was the pioneer military administrator of Ebonyi when the state was created by late Gen. Sani Abacha in 1996. He was later deployed as the military administrator of Delta state under Gen Abdusalami Abubakar. Feghabo was the one that handed over the governorship seat of Delta to James Ibori in 1999. He retired from service thereafter when President Obasanjo directed that all military men who once held political appointments should leave the service.

After then, he was no longer seen in any public event until 2016 during the foundation laying ceremony of the new Ebonyi state Government House when he appeared publicly alongside Governor David Umahi in Abakiliki. Those who knew Feghabo while he was in the navy said he was a fine officer who does his job with all diligence; no wonder he was preferred by Abacha as a pioneer military administrator of Ebonyi state.