FROM GRASS TO GRACE STORY OF JOSEPH OLAKUNLE OROJO

FROM GRASS TO GRACE STORY OF JOSEPH OLAKUNLE OROJO

September 22, 2009, 10:22 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Akande Yekini Olanipekun, Akokoland, Akokostars, Arigidi Akoko, Commercial Law and Practise in Nigeria, Ekiteji Quarters, Gani Adams, goke oluwole, Justice, Justice Adojutielegan, Lagos, Law School, Nigerian Law Reform Commission, Olakunle Orojo, ondo state, Ondo State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Prophet T.B. Joshua

FROM GRASS TO GRACE STORY OF JOSEPH OLAKUNLE OROJO

From February,16,1923-July3rd,2009 [Age 86yrs]

Little Olakunle was Born on February 16, 1923 in the popular Ekiteji Quarters in Arigidi Akoko, a small town that has bequeathed the nation with personalities like Prophet T.B. Joshua,Justice Adojutielegan,Akande’s Yekini Olanipekun and Gani Adams, in Ondo State, Justice Orojo set his mind firmly on the legal profession and later became a Judge of the High Court of Western State in 1975 and transferred to Ondo State in 1976 following the unbundling of the regions.

Two years later, his skills and commitment led to his elevation as the Chief Judge of the state, a position he held until 1985.

Prior to his elevation as a judge, he was the first indigenous Director of the Nigerian Law School; a position he held between 1968 and 1975. His remarkable improvement of the Law School and innovative style of administration probably explains why he remains one of the longest-serving Directors General to date.

He was the person found good enough to succeed Mr. G. R. Ruud, who was the last expatriate at the foremost Law School in the country, the Nigerian Law School. To say he was dedicated to the advancement and progress of the law profession, lawyers and students would be an understatement; he gave his whole life to the legal profession.

 He was also Chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission from 1988 to 1993 as well as the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education 999 – 2003.

He was not only a top notch administrator, pioneering judge and remarkable legal expert; he was a prolific and versatile writer. He wrote on a wide range of legal courses and areas and was the most respected authority in many areas. There was an unquestionable and unanimous reliance on his books when anything like company law, commercial law, professional ethics, Nigerian Tax law and Arbitration and Conciliation and many others.

 Among books he wrote are “Commercial Law and Practice in Nigeria”, which was first published in 1983, and has gone on to be published in four editions, “Nigerian company Tax Law”, which came out in 1979, “Conduct and Etiquette of Legal Practitioners” in the same year, “Professional Conduct of Legal Practitioners in Nigeria”, which appeared only in 2008 and “Law and Practice of Arbitration and Conciliation in Nigeria”, a book he co-authored which was published in 1999.  

A quintessential legal expert, his image on the Bar, the Bench and even in academic circles loomed very large. And for those of us who passed through him, directly or indirectly, whether as undergraduate students in faculties of law or at the Nigerian Law School, his name can never be erased from our memory as his book “Company Law and Practice in Nigeria” remains a leading authority in both company law and commercial law. Then, and I believe it remain so, his most popular book is generally known as ‘OROJO’.

When an individual is as productive as Justice Orojo in book publication, it would almost amount to a waste of time to begin to trace the number of articles such a person has contributed to journals and other research or academic activities.

His contributions to learned journals in the country as regards the Bar, the Bench and other law-related matters are staggering and well beyond listing or mention.

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