By Chris Paul Otaigbe
When the poor or the oppressed say and use these words ‘in a country where there is Rule of Law…’ to resist oppression from the Oppressor, one of the very few Judges, they have in mind, is Isiaka Isola-Oluwa.
Or, when the weak and the underdog says the Judiciary is the LAST HOPE of the Common man, one of the very few Judges, we ALWAYS have in mind, is the Judge who sent an Oppressor who felt he was above the Law, to death.
Even though most Nigerians never knew them by name, they know many of these very few INCORRUPTIBLE Judges had been leaving them, one after the other. But they still had hope, however, frail and fragile, because the oldest of them was still alive.
On Saturday, 9th May, 2020, they lost him.
In a dog-eat-dog society where the unfair advantage of the privileged keeps growing with impunity, May 9, 2020, would go down in history as the day, the poor underdog shed tears that tore his soul apart.
It was the day, the world of true and pure justice lost Isiaka Isola-Oluwa. It was the day, the oldest and perhaps, the last incorruptible Judge died. Ordinarily, his death provides cause to celebrate his centenarian existence on earth at 102, a glorious age attainable by none of his contemporaries or any in his class or calling. But for Isiaka, it was no longer about him as a person. It was about the Judge who had become a judicial adjective for clean, clear and pure justice for the Oppressed. It was about the man who had become an institution that held the purity of jurisprudence, and sustained the position of the Court in the heart of the common man, as their last hope.
The event of that fateful day had gone beyond his family because the larger family of Nigerians were sent into perpetual grief as death snatched the oldest straw of Justice left for them to hold onto. Even members of the elite attest to the great heart Isiaka personifies, according to the testimony of Chief Bode George, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“I am saddened, touched and disturbed by the passage of Justice Isiaka Oluwa. He was a good man, he was a Lagosian original, predicated on truth, fearlessness and justice. He feared no one. He embraced everyone – the downtrodden, the trampled, those who had no voice. There was certain defiance about this man, a deliberate insistence on ensuring that the truth must be told at all times, no matter whose ox is gored,” he said.
One of the families that would have cried inconsolably, when they heard the news of his death, was the Raji Oba family. It was Justice Isiaka who gave them the sweet taste of justice, when he sentenced to death, Alhaji (Chief) Jimoh Ishola aka. Ejigbadero.
Extremely wealthy and influential, Ejigbadero, was the man who shot Raji Oba to death over a land dispute, believing nothing would come of it because he felt his money gives him the pass to be above the Law.
It was a landmark judgment that has become a watershed in judicial history. In the case, Isiaka displayed rare, natural judicial wisdom and insight in his adjudication of the case that shook the camp of the Oppressors to its foundation.
The Ejigbadero case was an instant national sensation as it highlighted the human aspect of the chaotic land laws in Nigeria, especially in Lagos and its environs and its attendant capacity to disrupt and even destroy the lives of ordinary people. With mixed feelings and gratitude, the Raji Oba family who lived to see the day that bore an unfillable hole in their hearts, would cast their minds back to the day Justice Isiaka gave their dead and Late Breadwinner, a true peaceful rest in the Lord, when he sentenced their Oppressor and murderer of Raji Oba to death, deservingly.
Although, the celebrated case has been told in many of the tributes to the Late Judicial icon his passing, it is a story that can never lose relevance and resonance even today.
One of the famous people, Chief Jimoh aka. Ejigbadero was rich, streetwise, connected, and well known in Lagos in the 1960s and 1970s.
Darling to every big musician of those days, the surest way to become an instant hit was to sing about Ejigbadero. One prominent musician who made a hit, singing the praises of Ejigbadero, was Ebenezer Obey and His Inter Reformers Band, who celebrated Ejigbadero in his 1974 album.
Ejigbadero was that popular, and he was that powerful. Chief Jimoh claimed he had purchased all the plots of land around Alimosho-Egbeda villages from one Olubunmi family, adding that he had compensated all those whose land he had acquired in the area since 1970, and therefore, no one had any business staying on the land.
But the family of Raji Oba, one of the residents in the area, thought otherwise. And each time Ejigbadero came to the village with thugs to harass the villagers, the Raji Oba family always resisted, claiming that they would not quit the land. That was the state of things on the night of August 22, 1975, when he shot Raji Oba to death in the company of six of his thugs. But he had worked out a good alibi that could have extricated him from the tangled web.
Just as he was firing shots at Raji Oba in Alimosho village, music was blaring at his home where there was a party to celebrate his daughter’s naming ceremony. Immediately after shooting Raji Oba, Ejigbadero returned to the party, attending to visitors who could attest to the fact that he never at any time, left the venue of the party for another place.
On January 7, 1976, Ejigbadero was arrested on being the prime suspect.
In his autobiography titled: ‘A Life in Motion: Reminiscence of a Jurist at 100 years,’ late Justice Oluwa said he believed the celebrated murder case influenced the enactment of the Land Use Decree, now known as Land Use Act, by the military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1978.
The Ejigbadero’s case was that huge. There is the temptation for today’s generation of Lagosians or Nigerians to dismiss the importance of this great Judge as a mere fact of history.
The most illustrative way to appreciate the man, the society, and the time in which he planted the seed for the true judicial precedence that set a mark for unprejudiced justice in Nigeria, is to compare Ejigbadero to one of the powerful politicians in Lagos, today.
Imagine such a person shoots a man dead, today, over a land dispute in today’s Lagos State. First, the man may be a Kingmaker in Lagos, and perhaps, in Nigeria.
He can be said to be, virtually, above the Law in Lagos. So, if today, the man commits murder, is it likely that there would be a Judge in Lagos State that would be bold enough to convict him? Justice Isiaka took on one who was no less mighty, even mightier than the most powerful of the power Actors, got him convicted, and sentenced the highly influential criminal to death.
Many Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) would have been flying about, intimidating Judges in their ‘dirtied’ wigs and gowns, just to secure an acquittal for an obvious murderer.
According to Justice Isiaka, the defense, led in evidence by Chief Sobo Sowemimo, made great effort to cast doubt on the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses.
“They also called witnesses to support their alibi that Ejigbadero never left his naming ceremony on that day. They called witnesses but not one of them was with Ejigbadero throughout the day. From the evidence presented before me, I had no doubt in arriving at my verdict that Ejigbadero was our man and that he committed the cold-blooded murder. He was guilty and sentenced to death,” he said.
Should there be an Isiaka, with guts enough, to convict an untouchable in today’s society, in the event we ever get to such a place where such a crime was committed by such a feared political mafia king, the Judgement would be taken to a higher Court. And if not favorably attended to, to the Politician’s taste, he would take it to the Supreme Court.
By the time we get to the apex Court, so much money would have passed under the wobbly bridge of justice as we have it today, and if care is not taken, no expense, blackmail and threats would be spared to ensure the higher bidder twists the arm of justice in its favor.
This may be fiction using a real character and might appear a likely scenario, but it is no mere fabricated narrative. It is what justice, in Nigeria, has turned into, today as we speak.
Well, Ejigbadero manifested exactly this same scene as he took Justice Isiaka’s judgment to a higher Court as the Late centenarian said in his memoir.
“He appealed my judgment, but the Federal Court of Appeal in 1977 affirmed the judgment. The appeal was heard by Their Lordships Mamman Nasir, Adetunji Ogunkeye, and Ijoma Aseme. Dissatisfied, Ejigbadero moved to the Supreme Court and a panel of Their Lordships Alexander, Fatai-Willimans, Irikefe, Bello, and Idigbe, affirmed my judgment. The death sentence on Ejigbadero was carried out in 1979,” said the erudite Judge.
As much as the credit for the Ejigbadero’s case goes to the Late Centenarian Judge, the Judges also deserve mention in this ode to the great Isiaka-Oluwa, for throwing out the Appeal of the Terror of Alimosho despite his wealth, power and influence.
If they had allowed themselves to be compromised as we allegedly have today, there is nothing an Isiaka would have done about it.
His judgment would have been dismissed on certain TECHNICALITIES and the criminal would have been set free. But then, he was the initiator and the anchor of the historic judgment and that singular achievement never left the minds and memories of his colleagues and contemporaries.
On the occasion of his 102nd birthday, a judicial movement of unprecedented proportion happened, as retired judges of the Lagos State Judiciary, on March 10, 2020, paid him a courtesy visit. The visit was the first of its kind, to date, in the history of the Lagos State Judiciary. Notwithstanding the sunny day, the aged justices took off in a long convoy of cars to Justice Oluwa’s Ilupeju residence.
They were received by his wife, Olaide, who ushered them into the family’s large sitting room, while a fulfilled Justice Oluwa, clad in white buba and sokoto with a black fila to match, reclined on a chaise lounge chair. Deservedly referred to as the ‘quintessential jurist’ during his days on the bench, was appointed a judge of the Lagos judiciary in 1974 and retired 37 years ago, in 1983, having attained the mandatory age of retirement.
An Alumnus of the famous King’s College, Lagos, Justice Oluwa, was a former Pro-Chancellor of the Lagos State University.
The body of retired judges of the Lagos State Judiciary was led by Justice Ishola Olorunnimbe, OON. Others were former Chief Judge of the State, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade, Justice Yishau Yusufu, Justice A.O. Silva, Justice S.O. Ishola, Justice S.O. Hupomu-Wusu, Justice Abike Lufadeju, Justice Titilola Ojikutu-Oshode, Justice Yetunde Idowu, Justice Doris Okuwobi, and Justice Olaide Olayinka.
The retired Judge was presented with gifts including baskets of varieties of fruits.
In his remarks, Justice Olorunnimbe said, “We are making history today as retired judges of the Lagos State Judiciary. This courtesy visit is to let you know that we have not forgotten you”.
He said they deemed it fit to share felicitations with him now that he is still alive, promising to be with him when he clocks 102 years. Olorunnimbe described Justice Oluwa as a “very remarkable judge and a beacon of hope to all of the retired judges of the Lagos Judiciary”.
He recalled that he had a wonderful time on the bench of Lagos Judiciary.
“We pray to attain your age but not to surpass it. We pray Almighty God to give you more life and good health”, Olorunnimbe prayed.
He was buried at Atan Cemetery, Yaba at 4 pm on Saturday, according to Islamic rites. Justice Oluwa will be remembered as the judge that sentenced Lagos socialite, Alhaji Jimoh Isola, a.k.a Ejigbadero, to death for the murder of a farmer, Raji Oba, over land disputes, in 1975.
Born on June 23, 1918, to Lagosian parents in Cross River State, he attended Forcados Government School, Bonny; St Bartholomew’s School, Degema; Government School, Sapele; and King’s College, Lagos.
The Late Jurist also attended School of Agriculture, Samaru-Zaria; the University of London, where he studied Law; and Lincoln’s Inn, London, where he was called to the Bar in 1957. Isiaka worked severally as a lecturer, Farm Management, University of Ibadan (1949-50); Lecturer, School of Agriculture, Samaru-Zaria, and Extension Manager, Zaria Province. He started his law practice after he returned back to Nigeria from London and formed Oluwa, Kotoye, and Co. He was appointed High Court judge on June 1, 1974. He retired on June 17, 1983.
The Late Centenarian, at various times, was Member, Board of Governors, Glover Memorial Hall (1965-1974); Member, Lagos Town Council; Member, Reorganization of Local Government, Lagos State, and Pro-Chancellor of Lagos State University, Ojo. Also, for many years, he was the Chairman of the Association of Lagos indigenous retired judges.
His autobiography, A Life in Motion, was published in 2018 when he attained 100 years old.
Chief Bode George’s words capture the true description of the person of Justice Isola Isiaka-Oluwa, when he, the PDP chieftain, said the late jurist was a brave man who confronted the tools of power with typical Lagosian aura. He said Oluwa was locked with firm logical attestation that the truth must always be told.
Bode knows what he is saying because he had had personal engagements with the Late Judge. From his personal interactions with the deceased, he said the late jurist was calm, purposeful, and was indifferent to primitive acquisition.
“He was indifferent to personal comfort, he lived for all. He was our leader, who did not compromise the truth. He was the representative man, a good Lagosian, who represented us all,’’ he said.
