1959 meeting of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bola Ige

Arare picture has emerged showing a meeting between two one visionaries whose lives would later be cut short by the assassin’s bullet — Civil rights leader, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, United States on April 4, 1968 and lawyer, politician, and public intellectual, Chief Bola Ige, shot dead in his home in Ibadan in December 23, 2001. He was the Minister of Justice and Attorney- General of the Federation at the time of his death.

King Jr. was an African American minister and activist who became the most visible leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi.

The photograph shows King, Jr., famous for his ‘ I Have A Dream’ speech at the 18th Ecumenical Student Conference on the Christian World Mission in Ohio.

Ige, the overseas secretary for the conference, is on the right, and the gentleman in the middle is believed to be Dr. Winburn Thomas, dean of the Frontier Forum on Racial Tensions.

King, Jr. visited the Ohio University campus from December 27, 1959 to January 2, 1960, to speak at the international church collegiate youth conference.

The conference was sponsored by the United Student Christian Council and the World's Student Christian Federation. Billed as the "largest student conference in the free world," 3,600 college students from 100 nations came to Athens, Ohio, to discuss the themes of "Racial Tensions" and "Technological Upheaval" among others.

Many students came specifically to hear Dr. King. Several white students who participated faced action from their respective universities for meeting with students of other races to prepare for the conference.

Mr. Bola Ige, co- secretary of the 18th Ecumenical Student Conference ( right) held at the University of Ohio, Athens Ohio, Rev. Martin Luther King jnr ( left) and another guest at the daily news briefing during the conference which held between December 27, 1959 and January 2, 1960.