But not many Nigerians know that Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN possesses the above qualities and attributes in sufficient measure. He has in the past four decades maintained exceptional clean living and clean thinking. He is highly dedicated to the Nigerian cause and dream. Above all he is an outstanding intellectual and legal genius. He took his professorial chair of the highly rated Faculty of Law, University of Lagos at a comparatively tender age. He also took the silk (the Senior Advocate of Nigeria) at a fairly very young age.
He anchored the international conferences that led to the establishment of Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Federal Road Safety Commission and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN said at the conference that preceded the establishment of the NDLEA:
“It is fairly difficult to discern any pattern in policy formulation and legislation on the drug problem and this is hardly surprising. Law making in this area has always been a direct response to prevailing public opinion and exigencies of the time. Thus drug laws have been variously made on the premise that a social problem of drug use exists”.
Professor Yemi Osinbajo also spearheaded the unification of the criminal laws and procedure of Northern and Southern Nigeria. This project was awaiting the signature of former President Ibrahim Babangida before he stepped aside in 1993. It is disheartening that some curious officials at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja, have now appropriated the authorship of that project to themselves. He has also documented and published a widely acclaimed comprehensive Nigerian Customary Laws.
Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN appeared before us at the Failed Banks Tribunal, Lagos Zone from 1997 to 1999. The Judges including the writer can readily bear tribute that his oratory, elocution and presentations were exemplary.
In fact his strong sweep of thought and wonderful dialectics in court place him in the league of legal grandmasters like late Chief Rotimi Williams SAN, Late Chief Clement Obiora Akpamgbo SAN and Professor A. B. Kasumu SAN.
As Attorney General of Lagos State, Professor Osinbajo recommended and saw through, the implementation of a welfare package for Judges of Lagos State High Court, far higher and better than those enjoyed by Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He is very urbane, decorous, humble and highly respectful. He had remained religious and unspoilt notwithstanding rapid successes.
In 1991 he co-edited an epic work entitled “Democracy and the Law”. It is my surmise that the book would now come to him handy as he begins the enormous and onerous business of democratic governance and the strengthening of democratic institutions in Nigeria.
Evidently in Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN, General Muhammadu Buhari has a soul-mate and a dependable comrade in the task of ensuring that Nigeria no longer staggers. I can testify that a sip of executive powers will never produce intoxication in him.
Justice Umezulike (OFR, FCIArb.) is the Chief Judge of Enugu State
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