IN one of his highly celebrated works, the fourteenth century French writer, Michel de Montaigne said: ' The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose.'This luscious quote from the man termed the father of Modern Skepticism seems to describe the life of Barrister Odiadi Anthony Nyemike. At 49, he has indeed lived to purpose and is still continuing in rendering service to his fatherland in his area of calling ' law. Effervescent, unassuming and industrious, Odiadi has proved that nothing is impossible with focus and determination. Due to his legal dexterity, especially in the area of commercial law, he has caught the attention of the authorities at the federal level who are always eager to appoint him into important national assignments. He was in 2000 appointed into the Privatisation Committee of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the sub-committee on Vehicle Assembly Plants. He was also invited to the National ThinkTank Law/Constitutional Review Committee. The committee has eminent Nigerians such as Professors Bolaji Akinyemi, Azaiki, Mahadi, Odekunle and others as members. Later he was appointed into Nigeria Vision (V20:2020) where he was a member of several committees.'One of our important contributions to the Vision process is the Project Continuity Bill now before the National Assembly and I am glad that I am very much part of its making. Once it is signed into law it will effectively help in driving development and save loss of huge resources in abandoned projects across the country. More importantly it will help all the three tiers of government to achieve optimal project implementation, which will also bind successive governments with the National Planning Commission superintending it all. You will appreciate this if you know that it has been reported that over two thousand projects are abandoned across the country', he stated.In addition, Odiadi is a member, Legal Team for Nigeria's Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), 2011. Prior to all these, Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Y.D. Igbrude in 2000 appointed him to the Re-organisation Committee in Delta State. Later he served as Legal Adviser to the Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly between 2003 and 2006.He was born in Ibusa, Delta State on February 3, 1963 to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Odiadi. He had his primary education in Lagos and went to St. Patrick's College, Asaba between 1974 and 1979. Interestingly, Odiadi did not set out to be a lawyer. He wanted to be a pilot as a young boy. In other to realise this dream, he prepared himself for that and gained admission into the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 1980 to study Geography. In 1984 he graduated and earned a B.Sc degree in that field of study, preparing to actualise his vision of becoming a pilot. He was mobilised for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Kwara State between 1984 and 1985. After his national service, he sang a new song. Providence intervened and he ended up returning to school for a law degree.This is how he captured the experience: 'Growing up, I liked law as a profession from a distance. I have family members and cousins who were mostly lawyers. But as a young boy I told myself I would like to be a pilot. I grew up in Ikeja, Lagos and we always see pilots going around with some swaggereverywhere ' Airways pilots, Air force pilots, Police pilots, etc. I had that in mind and headed to UNN for a degree in Geography, but an uncle-in-law of mine, a brilliant lawyer, Mr. Mike Olunwa, now late sowed the seed in me and won me over to Law. But I came into law prepared because first, I do love arguments and I was always debating in my secondary school. I love to read and write a lot'.Determined to now be a lawyer, Odiadi abandoned his pilot dreams and returned to the university. This time he got it at the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) Ile-Ife in 1988. His dreams of wearing the wig and gown came through when in 1991 he bagged his LL.B (Law) (Hons.) 2nd Class Upper Division.He was subsequently enrolled at the Nigerian Law School for the compulsory one-year law programme in 1991 and in 1992 he earned his B.L (Bar-Certificate) of the Nigeria Law School, Lagos. Highly cerebral, Odiadi's quest for knowledge could not be assuaged at this point. Therefore, in 1992, just immediately after graduation from the law school, he went to the University of Lagos for his Masters degree programme in law. In 1993, he earned his LL.M (Law).As soon as he was called to the Bar, he began his legal pupilage in what turned out an unforgettable experience. This is how he recalled the experience: 'Immediately after my call to Bar in 1992,I got engaged in the law firm of Chief Ladosu Ladapo (SAN). The firm has offices in Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja but I was mostly in the Lagos office and eventually ran the office. Now late,Chief Ladapo, a formidable lawyer who set high standards for us was famous for the Bronik Motors, Adekoyacases and several others involving Wema Bank. It was he who gave judicial stamp to the unlimited jurisdiction of the State High Court, which saved needless preliminary arguments over which court ought to be the proper forum in a civil cause.The Supreme Court ruled in his favour but subsequent years saw the expansion of the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court as a revenue court consolidated in the constitution. We were lawyers to Wema Bank, University of Ibadan, Econet, National Bank, Wemabod, British Council,Trade Bank, Continental Merchant Bank, etc.'According to him, working in the chambers of Ladapo exposed him to very challenging cases, which subsequently helped his growth in the profession. 'We were always contesting with such giants in most of our cases. We had a long running battle that lasted for several years involving Wema Bank and another party; we were representing the bank while Chief Kehinde Sofola, SAN was on the other side. We had other such matters against the law firms of Chief Rotimi Williams, SAN in the Bronik case and I remember Professor Alfred Kasumu was also involved. So you can see that I entered practice into aset of briefs and cases that was full of legal big weights', he said.'I was learning as fast as I could. Somehow I was also interested in research and some of the things I was doing at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies caught the eyes of Professor Omotola, SAN of blessed memory who subsequently invited me and I was given an appointment as Lecturer II in Property Law at UNILAG in 1996. Somehow again I didn't settle down to teaching because I disagreed with the conditions I was faced with'.After all those experiences, he settled for personal practice and has been doing great in commercial law. 'My practice has been mostly maritime/commercial law. I am also quite interested in a case in which we are seeking to enforce Nigeria's Content Development Act, 2010 in the Federal High Court involving some foreign companies and theirlocal backers', he declared.In his views, the courts are doing their best to improve the speedy adjudication of cases, but Nigerian judges just like their American counterparts should embark on what is called case management in order to regulate proceedings accordingly.He said: 'One of the best things that happened with the current rules of court is front-loading. It has helped to strengthen brief writing and research for most lawyers. Once you put down all your submissions and the supporting authorities, you adopt your brief and the rest is what the judge specifically requests from you. Conducting a trial is a different matter, which with good case management can be well controlled. You will see that the judges have a better opportunity to grasp the issues not lost in the cloud of counsels' verbal arguments. It means that judges in Nigeria must like their counterparts in the U.S. for example do a lot of case management and regulate proceedings. A lot of time is saved in adjudication when the judge is in control, but we see instances where this is not just there as a result of privileges practice.'He is a member of various professional bodies such as Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Nigerian Society of International Law and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) since 1992. Besides, he is also a Visiting Scholar/Researcher, Georgetown University Law Centre, Washington DC since 2005, among others.Odiadi also has a lot of scholarly articles and publications to his credit. They include 'Project Finance and National Development' Nigerian Investment Laws and Business Regulations, 2002.He is married to a lawyer, Jacqueline, a Lagosian of the Vera-Cruz-Samuel lineage. Sheis also a chartered secretary, an arbitrator and solicitor.He enjoys basketball and other outdoor games.
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