Shola Omoshola: A story that needs to be told, a hero that needs to be known

BY TUNDE ADENIJI

This Tuesday, October 11, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari conferred national honours on Nigerian citizens and foreign nationals (over 447) who have distinguished themselves in their respective professions in contributing to national development.

One name was conspicuously missing (according to his family and colleagues) and has remained missing for the past 26 years since his passing. An officer and a gentleman described as a servant leader, workaholic, a thoroughbred professional, uncompromising in his adherence to the law, and one of the most distinguished and gallant officers ever entrusted with the safeguarding of aviation security in Nigeria.

Akinola Sola Omoshola was a man who lived and made the ultimate sacrifice for his mission to reform aviation security and policing in Nigeria to those who revered him or a rebel without a cause (complete with a death wish), to those who didn’t. We were told that the IBB government invited him to return home in 1987(?) to help reform aviation security.

The good doctor probably shared Thomas Hobbes famous argument that without government, life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”. Fortunately, Hobbes was spared the torture of living in Nigeria during the military rule in the mid-1990’s. Thank God we now live in a democracy!

The late Justice C. Oputa described those times thus: “The personal ambitions of the head of state, his or her fears and apprehensions; his or her enemies, real or imagined, become matters of state interest and concern, deserving state intervention and state protection, and as borne out by the evidence before us necessitating State-sponsored assassinations, murders and “disappearances”.

The Home News of New Brunswick published a fantastic back story on Omoshola in its July 19, 1983, edition. Shortly on arrival in America, he was so impressed with the relatively high spirit of service of the US police compared to their Nigerian counterparts. It moved Omoshola to change his initial study choice from food science to criminal justice and he would later obtain a PhD in law enforcement. Akinola spent years volunteering to teach criminal justice at Nyerere Education Institute and shared his aspiration to return home to reform police administration. In his own words: “If I could get this much education, I am in a position to give back what I gained”. Pressed further, if he thought Nigeria would welcome his criticism in what he described as a corrupt system? His uncanny response was: “I would be glad to go to jail and even die in jail to reform the police”.

The author never knew Omoshola personally but those who did regaled me with tales of his great exploits. I heard of his incorruptibility and his penchant for openly exposing anyone unfortunate enough to offer him a bribe. They claimed that as the airport security officer at Murtala Mohammed Airport, he arrived at the office by 7am and usually remained till past 1am. He once reportedly stood in front of a bullion van to stop its unauthorised access to the airside. There were reports of assault on his person by other security agencies that once degenerated into ripping off his uniform. Bloodied but unbowed till the very end! Yet it took over us over 8 months to get his picture and decades later, few will talk about him, while the entire worldwide web is almost bare of any mention of his name!

The real tragedy of Dr Omoshola’ s life is not his gruesome death by a bomb explosion on the way home from work, or the failed attempt at desecrating his memory, the real tragedy is in the seemingly pervasive unwillingness to share his stories/lessons for posterity, or to learn from it, not to talk of immortalising his name.

We hope our small contribution to keep his memory alive will spur others share too. If you have any information on late Dr Akinola Sola Omoshola or wish to share a different version of his life and times, please do share. Our intention is to learn/share about his leadership and achievements and celebrate a true Nigerian hero.