BOOK LAUNCH REMARKS

a benchmark on the bench
The biography of Hon. Justice Opeyemi Oke, the 16th chief judge of Lagos State

MUSON Centre, LAgos
November 15, 2019

I will take this privileged moment to make a few remarks. First, is to profess publicly my gratitude to the subject, Hon. Justice Oke, for extending to me the privilege to write her first biography. A prominent Psychologist once observed that a few things in life are greater than sharing one’s life story. For as many as will read this book, now and in the years to come, we remain grateful to Hon. Justice Oke for allowing it to be written.

There are many reasons why one’s life experiences, bundled together as a person and as a professional, are considered worthy of a biographic project. Those reasons range from the salacious to the substantive. Hon. Justice Oke’s life story is located on the substantive. A serious biography is essentially an inspirational enterprise. Justice Oke’s life story is a canvass upon which there is no more befitting portrait to paint than one of inspiration. It is a story about family; about the girl child; about motherhood and widowhood; about women in the professions; about career and dedication; about victory over destiny derailing adversities; about character, courage and candour; and about diligence and grace.

The strides of her professional career and personal life are repositories of practical sources and resources for a compelling biographic research. In addition to insightful and inspirational life lessons, the resulting account also contributes, modestly in my estimation, to Nigeria’s legal and judicial history as a work in progress.

Long before the return to democratic rule in Nigeria 20 years ago, the judiciary was on life support. Justice Oke joined the judiciary that time; in 1986 to be precise. Then, it was not an attractive option. She was propelled not by conditions of service but by her commitment to criminal justice (a passion of hers for which she had bagged a graduate degree in the US with full GPA, i.e. first class standing).

After 1999, upon Nigeria’s transition to civil rule, Lagos State Judiciary led the charge (as it had always done historically) to recover from the days of the locusts and cankerworms. By the away, some may not be aware of it, “Lagos Judiciary” is older than Nigeria and the “Nigerian Judiciar”y. Way behind the scenes and later right at the centre of the stage Justice Oke was perhaps the single most consistently dedicated actor in the legal and judicial reforms in Lagos Sate upon the return to civil rule. Those reforms set the pace nationally. She did those sacrificially with “I-am-here-send-me” disposition, serving under successive Chief Judges and doing thankless heavy liftings. Those efforts came together during her short tenure as the Chief Judge, where she demonstrated, as the saying goes, that “time is no hindrance to the surefooted.”

Whether under the military or under civil rule, the judiciary has always had to contend with the judicialization of politics and the politicization of the judiciary. Those are dangerous and persistent threats that overshadow modest progress made by the judiciary and the legal profession as a whole. It is important to look beyond the sensational headlines of the print media, the soundbites of the electronic media and the ‘alternative facts’ of the social media to tell our story with a sense of professionalism and responsibility. Chinua Achebe, it was who said that “Until animals begin to tell their own story, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” Not that we are animals. But the point of the adage and the metaphor is clear.

We need to tell our stories in a balanced, detached and yet human ways, devoid of catchy headlines. That way, we are able to follow the evidence wherever it leads and to accurately capture progressive flashpoints of excellence in the judiciary and the legal profession. Hon. Justice Oke’s story epitomizes what that approach could yield. She is a distinguished member of the legal profession’s hall fame and a worthy Giant of Nigerian Law. I am deeply grateful that together we are able, today, to capture and celebrate Justice Oke’s inspirational footprints in Nigeria’s judicial and legal history.

I invite you to get copies of the book, not only for yourselves but for your preferred institutions so that the book can get into the hands of the girl child, active and aspiring women in the professions and everyone else who needs to be inspired by the Justice Oke’s story.

Thank you.

Prof. Chidi Oguamanam Shell Hall
MUSON Centre, Lagos Nov 15, 2019

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