IT was the late African oral historian and philosopher, Hampate Ba, who once said: “When an old man dies in Africa, a whole library is lost”. This age-long saying can well be used to describe the repository computation of Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa’s knowledge base. A human library of some sort. This iconic jurist, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, is well known for his intellectual robustness and unusual display of knowledge of the law.
While he was at the apex court, he was regarded and addressed as the Socrates and Lord Denning by his colleagues, as well as those who admire him and his judgments he delivered while he was on the Bench. Most of his pronouncements at the Supreme Court were indeed branded as legal and judicial activism by many distinguished legal minds.
With his first degree in Economics, his second in History before delving into law, and with a thorough grounding in Literature and traditional lore, Oputa unarguably is a rare repository of sort and indeed a living human heritage. His passion for law, and by extension, the rule of law and constitutionality, is exemplary and worthy of emulation. It is his belief that justice should be made functional and relevant to the ordinary man, an advocacy he has repeatedly admonished his colleagues still on the Bench to continue to interpret the constitution and other relevant laws liberally for the benefit of all. In many of his seminal articles and books, he preached that the country should sustain the democracy it has earned, adding that democracy, which is anchored on peace and peace in turn, is the by-product of justice and fair-play.
To prove this point, he authored several articles and books to concretise his ideas. Some of the titles of his works include: “Towards Justiciability of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy in Nigeria”, Legal and Judicial Activism in an Emergent Democracy: The last hope for the common man”, and Democracy: The Judiciary and the New Challenges”; Modern Bar Advocacy (1973); The Law and the Twin Pillars of Justice (1981); and Human Rights in the political and legal culture of Nigeria (1988); just to mention but a few.
The story of the life and times of Justice Oputa can be described as the reward of determination, perseverance and focus. His story is an elixir for those who came into this world to discover that they were born orphans.
This rare breed of a judge was born on September 22, 1924, to the family of Chief Uzukwu Oputa and Mrs. Nwametu Oputa. He will be 87 years old next month. His father was an elegant tall man towering beyond six feet and was known for being too kind that he cared deeply for humanity. Chief Oputa had 10 wives and Chukwudifu is the last of his children. Pa Uzukwu passed on when Chukwudifu was only three months old, while his mother died when he was barely six months old. They were highly successful traders and farmers.
However, Justice Oputa’s grandmother, Madam Ogonim Enesha, took over the responsibility of raising the young Oputa. Madam Enesha was a prominent merchant between 1890 and 1900. She was a notable trader with the Royal Niger Company where she made her wealth, which enabled her to provide for the young orphan.
Since his grandmother was prepared for him, Oputa started his education in earnest. He began his early education at Sacred Heart School, Oguta, from 1930-1936 and Christ the King College (CKC), Onitsha between 1937 and 1940.
After his secondary school, he got admission to study at the then Higher College, Yaba, Lagos. However, as a result of the World War 11, he was moved to the famous Achimota College in the then Gold Coast (now Ghana) where he obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics in 1945. It was also at this same period through hard work that he did home studies to obtain the Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of London.
On his return to Nigeria from the Gold Coast, he took up a post as a teacher at the African College, which also had on its staff prominent Nigerians like Chike Obi, the famous mathematician, and the late Dr. Pius Okigbo. Later on, he transferred to the Kalabari National College (KNC), Buguma, where he was made the principal. Some of his pupils then included Professor Tam David-West, a former Petroleum Minister.
Spurred by his burning desire for more knowledge, Oputa abandoned his lucrative job in Nigeria and went to England to study law. In June 1953, his ambition of becoming a gentleman of the Bar paid off. He received his LL.B (Hons.) degree and was called to the English Bar-Grays Inn. His background in the humanities set the stage for a successful and outstanding legal practice. He returned to Nigeria in 1954 and enjoyed a highly successful private practice for 12 years.
He was the leading counsel in so many matters then such as the Harding Commission of Inquiry into the Onitsha Obi-ship dispute of 1960/61.
The year 1966 marked the beginning of Justice Oputa’s career on the Bench with his appointment as a judge of the High Court of Eastern Nigeria. During the next 10 years, he discharged his duties honourably and creditably, serving on several divisions of the High Court of the region, which later became East-Central States.
As a result of his outstanding performance, he was appointed the first Chief Judge of old Imo State in 1976. He held this position for about eight years, during which he helped to set up a solid judicial structure for the fledging state. His career as a jurist soared when he had to exit the state judiciary as a result of his elevation to the Supreme Court in furtherance of his dedicated service to his fatherland.
At the Supreme Court, Justice Oputa continued to manifest his profound intellectual sagacity for equity and justice in his balanced judgments. He was indeed a principal participant during the golden years of the court, when the highest court in the land established a reputation as a veritable citadel of adjudicatory excellence and integrity.
Oputa while at the Supreme Court, delivered several renowned judgments that are still being celebrated in most law reports today. One of the judgments was a lead judgment in the case between the Attorney General of Lagos State (Appellant) and the Honourable Justice L. J. Dosumu (Respondent) over property ownership in suit No. SC/257/1988.
Oputa’s judgments at the court were indeed a compendium of well-researched and deep philosophical thinking. He is a judge who is not at ease with legal technicality and very much on guard against lawyers whose only reason for going to court is to induce litigation fatigue on the other side, instead of seeking remedies.
Oputa illustrates this in his decision in Okpara v Obi (Vol. 4, 78 at p. 81) as follows: “Rather than helping to narrow the issues to be contested at the trial, counsel nowadays use pleadings to becloud the issues. The defendant’s pleadings put the plaintiff to the “strictest proof of every allegation of fact made in his statement of claim. That may be permissible but the party who wants proof of the obvious or proof of what should have been admitted, must be prepared to pay for such proof.”
Also, in the case between the Federal Civil Service Commission V. Laoye (1989) 2 NWLR (Part 106) 652 at 702, His Lordship posited that:“...when the court is described as the last hope of the common man, that implies that it is the duty of the judiciary to ensure that any encroachment on the rights of the individual, any coercive action is justified by law. In the unequal combat between those who possess power and those on whom such power bears, the court’s primary duty is protection from the abuse of power...”
Like Lord Denning in England, he used his judgments to make a case for judicial activism in the interpretation of the Constitution and to act as a compass for legislative action and judicial reform.
His locus classicus is in Ojukwu vs the Military Government of Lagos State SC/241/1985 Citation: (1986) ANLR 233, (1986) 3 N.W.L.R. (Pt.26) 39.
Since he stepped down from the Bench in 1989, he has been found worthy to serve the nation in various capacities because of his wealth of experience, evergreen knowledge of the law and his impeccable character and ingenuity.
In pursuance of this track record, President Olusegun Obasanjo on June 4, 1999, appointed him to chair the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC) known as Oputa panel, to ascertain the causes of gross abuses of human rights from 1960 to 1999. This was one last national assignment Oputa delivered good dividend for national reconciliation but his report was badly managed by the government at that time.
Justice Oputa is a recipient of several awards including the third highest national honour, Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR), Doctor of Letters of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (D. Litt.), as well as the revered Knight Commander of St. Gregory, the Great (KCGG) and Knight of St. Molumba (KSM), among others.
This great man was a good family man. He was married to Ntianu Oputa and they both had four children including the famous Charles Oputa (Charly Boy) and George Oputa, a lawyer.
In the locus classicus of Garba v University of Maiduguri which deals with the issue of Right to fair hearing, Oputa said: “God has given you two ears. Hear both sides”
Of the many things that define a judge, five are arguably most important: Courage and conviction; listening; analysis and synthesis; the instinct for the right call; and communication in accessible reasoning and language. Many would have at least one of these; some have many if these but once in a while, there comes along a judge who combines all these characteristics and more in one package, enabling that judge to leave indelible impression on the landscape of jurisprudence.
In my humble view, Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa was one such judge. Even as he was proceeding on retirement in 1989, it was quite clear that Justice Oputa still much more needed and still has much to offer. Justice Oputa has published over 40 papers in lectures, conferences, and seminars. He continues to be given Federal Assignments ever after retirements. Most notably was The National Human Rights Violation Commission (Oputa Panel) which he chaired to ascertain or establish the causes, nature and extent of all gross violations of human rights in Nigeria between January 15, 1966 and May 28, 1999. As a young and inspiring member of this noble legal profession, Justice Oputa is one of my great inspirations. His life and voyage in this Profession is for all to study and emulate. To your lordship; I celebrate you and your sparkling achievements.
ADIEU JUSTICE CHUKWUDIFU OPUTA
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