Judges, Lawyers gather to pay last respects to former chief judge of defunct Bendel state

Lawyers and judges around the country last weekend converged for a valedictory Court Session at the Edo State High Court premises to pay their last respects to a well respected colleague, the late Justice Josiah Ajasa Poutinkumo Oki, former Chief Judge of the defunct Bendel State.

Paying her respects, the Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Idahosa stated: “Today, the Edo State and Delta State Judiciary mourn the exit of the former Chief Judge of Bendel State, His Lordship, Justice J.A.P. Oki, a quintessential jurist who expanded the frontiers of liberty and justice.

“Even as we mourn, we celebrate the fulfilled life which His Lordship lived, being favoured by God to have attained the age of 89 years and the privilege of being the father of six loving children and grand father of 14 beautiful grand children. A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.

“For the great legal icon in whose honour we are here gathered, he imbibed and exhibited the principles of truth and truthfulness, justness and justice, firmness and fairness. Indeed, His Lordship’s contributions to the development of law and the sustenance of a viable judiciary in the defunct Bendel State in particular is so immense, the finality of death cannot draw a curtain on his contributions.”

Also speaking at the event, the deceased’s son, Paul Oki noted that his father had lived a life worthy of emulation. “He set many examples, he set very high standards for his children, fellow Judges, legal practitioners and indeed everybody that had one thing or the other to do with him when he was alive. He had one simple philosophy, which was honesty, integrity, focus, hard work, diligence; those timeless values were his values.

“He inculcated them in each of his children, in all the lawyers that appeared before him and everybody who came in contact with him in all his 89 years on earth. He was somebody this country was really proud of, he was indeed a rare gem, not because he was my father, but because of the values he represented,” he said.

Okeaya Inneh, SAN, who was also at the ceremony, urged practitioners present to emulate the qualities of the late judge.

“New entrants to the bench should learn how to be painstaking and quick at getting at the points in issue in arriving at justice,” he said.

In her address, the chairman NBA Benin branch, Princess Iyomon, said: “From his profile, there is no gainsaying that this erudite jurist was an asset to his family, community, state and Nigeria in general. I wish I were a lawyer during his time as Judge and the Chief Judge of the defunct Bendel State.

“It should be noted that the entire Benin Bar frowns at the present impasse which is crippling the economy of the state in all ramification. On the part of the Government revenue is being lost on a daily basis. On the part of lawyers, we have been deprived access to court for over two months while litigants and those in custody do not have where to ventilate their grievances and prove their innocence.

“We use this opportunity to call on the state government to do the needful just as other states in the federation have done with particular reference to our sister state, Delta.”

Justice Josiah Poutinkumo Oki served the defunct Midwestern Region of Nigeria in several capacities. After his successful training in Canada and the United Kingdom, between 1960-1964, Josiah Oki engaged in private legal practice until his appointment as Agent-General of the former Midwestern Region in the United Kingdom.

During his tenure as Agent-General, he acted in the best interest of the Midwest Region, which was then a young Region, having been carved out of the defunct Western Region in 1963.  Military incursion into Nigeria politics began in 1966 and it was this same year that Josiah chose to return to Nigeria.

In 1967, at age 42, he was appointed into the Midwestern Regional Executive Council as Commissioner for Works and Transport. In 1968, at age 43, he was appointed Chief Registrar of the High Court of Midwestern State. In 1971, at age 46, he was appointed a High Court Judge. While serving as a High Court Judge, Justice Oki was called upon to serve the Midwest Region now Midwest State, as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. Justice J.A.P Oki is the only Judge to have served the state in that capacity.

In 1985, at age 60, he attained the peak of his career when he was appointed the substantive Chief Judge of Bendel State, a position he occupied until he retired in 1990, having attained the statutory retirement age of 65.