ITSEJUWA Esanjumi Sagay is an outstanding Nigerian professor of law. He can best be described as a legal polymath, who is determined to leave an indelible mark in his society through the instrumentality of law.His aspiration is to render selfless service to humanity with a view to adding value to the society. His wealth of experience as a legal egg-head transverses all aspects of law: Public International Law, Constitutional Law, Law of Contract, Family Law, Law of Succession, Corporate Law, Business Law, Nigerian Customary Law, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.Sagay has an intimidating profile. Apart from the almost endless monographs to his credit, he has embarked on numerous legal endeavours that have helped to shape law practice in Nigeria and beyond. In 1984, he was appointed a United Nations consultant on Namibia, Colonialism and Racial Discrimination. He also served as a consultant to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the OAU Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Rights of Residence and Establishment, under the 1990 African Economic Community Treaty between 1991 and 1992.Having acquitted himself very well, he was subsequently appointed a consultant for the Revision of Nigerian Minerals Law by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, a year later in 1993.He was one of the counsel to Nigeria in the Cameroun/Nigeria Boundary Case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1994. Appointed member, Board of Trustees and Governing Board, Negotiation and Conflict Management Group (NCMG), Nigeria, between 1996 and 2009, Sagay for two years served as a consultant to USAID and the Office of Transition Initiative from 1998to 2000.Between 2002 and 2003, he was a mediator in the dispute between Nigerian Security Minting and Printing Company and its former workers. Apart from serving as a member, Delta State Think-Tank on Development from 1999 to 2007, he also served as the chairman, Delta State Forum for the Review of the 1999 Constitution, as well as a member, National Political Reform Conference of 2005.As a scholar, legal libraries are full of his literary works. Some of his monographs include: The Legal Aspects of the Namibia Dispute, 1975, University of Ife Press, Racial Discrimination in International Law, 1981, University of Ife Press, International Law and the Southern African Situation, 1978, Lecture Series No. 24, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), The Southern African Situation and the Eventual Triumph of International Law: (1991) Annual Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.Others are: A case book on the Nigerian Law of Contract, 1983; Professional Books, Abingdon, Oxon; Nigerian Law of Contract, 1985; Sweet & Maxwell Limited, London; 587 plus xxv pages, New Edition, Spectrum Books, 2000; Case Law under the Matrimonial Causes Decree, 1973, Nigerian Family Laws: Principles, Cases, Statutes, and Commentaries, Malthouse Press (2000); a Legacy for Posterity: The work of the Supreme Court 1980 - 1988, (1990), Nigerian Law Publications, the review of the Minerals Act, 1946 and Related Laws: Report (1993), as well as Nigerian Law of Succession: Principles, Cases, Statutes and Commentaries, Malthouse Press, (2007), among others.Sagay started his foray into the academic aspect of law in his Alma Mata, University of Ife, in 1970 immediately he returned to Nigeria, having obtained a doctorate degree in international law from Cambridge University, England. In 1979, he was conferred with a professorship. He later served as the Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Ife, between 1981 and 1982. The same year, he joined the services of the University of Benin and eventually became the dean from 1982 to 1986. Two years later, a new vista was opened in his legal career as he opened personal chambers in Lagos - Itse Sagay & Company, where he served as the managing partner till date.Sagay still recalls his first day in court. This is how he captured the experience: 'My first appearance in court as a lawyer was in February 1988. This was in the case of Faget (Nig) Ltd vs Winterport Tankers & four others. I felt quite calm and in control of my case. I had been called to the Bar over 20 years earlier. So appearing in court as litigation lawyer was merely a case of transferring from one aspect of the profession (academic) to another (legal practice).'One of the most important cases he has handled in terms of special interest is a case involving one Moses Tene & Others vs (1) The Attorney-General of the Federation (2) National Boundary Commission and (3) Government Of Ondo State. It was a case involving the transfer of a large area of Delta State occupied by an Itsekiri community to Ondo State and the reciprocal transfer of part of the Ilaje area of Ondo State to Delta State. 'The motivation for this transfer was to increase the mineral oil capacity of a Yoruba State i.e., Ondo State at the expense of Delta State by transferring land and maritime territory of Delta State containing 260 oil wells to Ondo State. The land transferred by Ondo State to Delta State in return, had no oil well. The agreement was concluded and executed by the governors of the two states under pressure from President Olusegun Obasanjo, who wanted to increase the oil-bearing area of Yoruba territory at the expense of Delta State, a non-Yoruba state. Unfortunately, this involved the transfer of large numbers of the Itsekiri ethnic group and their territory from Delta to Ondo states. I appeared for the Itsekiri community known as 'Ugbege' community to challenge this unjust, oppressive and unconstitutional swap of territory', he declared.He has mentors and role models who have helped to shape his aspiration in law. According to him, the only surviving mentor he has is the Honorable Justice Kayode Eso, retired Justice of the Supreme Court. He said: 'My role models are many including Eso himself, Prof. B. O. Nwabueze, (SAN), Frank Ogbemi, an engineer, and Mr. Allison Ayida.'He believes that there has been a major decline in judicial standard and justice delivery in the past 15 years. 'The greatest era of glory for our judiciary was between the late 70s and early 90s of the 20th Century. This is known among the legal community in Nigeria as the 'golden age' of the Supreme Court. 'That is when we had great jurists and indeed stars as Honourable Justice Udo Udoma, Honourable Justice Mohammed Bello, Honourable Justice Chukwunweike Idigbe, Honourable Justice Andrews Otutu Obaseki, Honourable Justice Kayode Eso, Honourable Justice Anthony Nnaemezie Aniagolu, Honourable Justice Augustine Nnamani, Honourable Justice Adolphus Godwin Karibi-Whyte, Honourable Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, Honourable Justice Philip Nnaemeka-Agu, sitting on the Supreme Court Bench.'The philosophy on which they operated during this period was that regardless of the circumstances, justice must be done. Indeed, these great jurists were of the firm view that if a matter came before them in which the law did not provide a relief, they had the power to create that relief for the injured and innocent litigant. They also believed firmly in the supremacy of the rule of law and no institution, power or principality, be it military or civilian government, was immune from the impact of their judicial hammer.'Cases like Bello v. Attorney-General Of Oyo State, Government Of Lagos State v. Ojukwu, Fawehinmi v. Col. Halilu Akilu and Olaniyan v. The University of Lagos, testify to the judicial potency and the Catholic expanse of the mandate of these legal giants and the originality and courage deployed in promoting justice and the rule of law. These legal icons, who by the Grace of God once graced the Bench of the Supreme Court almost at the same time, have left a glowing record of achievement; a real legacy for posterity', he stated.Born December 20, 1940, in Ibadan, Nigeria, Sagay gained admission into the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University in 1962, to study law and graduated in 1965 with an LL.B., second-class upper division. On graduation, he enrolled into the Nigerian Law School and bagged his B.L Certificate of the Council of Legal Education in 1966 and was subsequently enrolled barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. While in school, his academic brilliance was highly conspicuous. Consequently, it earned him a national scholarship for the best performance in university (LL.B.) Law Examinations from 1963to 1966.He also got Sweet and Maxwell Publisher's Prize for the best performance in Revenue Law in the Nigerian Bar Examinations, 1966, as well as the Willoughby Prize for Best Overall Performance in the Nigerian Bar Examinations in 1966.Hungry for more academic garlands, Sagay immediately traveled to England to get his dreams realised. And he indeed realised them. He got admission into the King's College, Cambridge University and obtained a masters degree in international law in 1968. Two years later, he earned his Ph.D in international law from the same university in 1970.In 1976, he obtained the Certificate of the Hague Academy of International Law. Because of his diligence, industry and immense contribution to the growth of legal profession, members of the Legal Practitioners' Privileges Committee (LPPC) in 1998 conferred on him the revered title of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), a position scantly obtained by those in the academia.In 2002, Sagay became a fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.A member of various professional bodies such as the International Law Association (IBA), the Nigerian Society of International Law, American Society of International Law and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Sagay enjoys very little social life.Read him: 'I have very little social life except attendance of old boys, civil society and club meetings. My favourite mode of relaxing is watching political and social programmes on television and reading books concerning history, people, politics and biographies.'For his foods, he also does not have favourites. He enjoys Banga soup, fried rice, grilled chicken and fish, prawn and others, such as pounded yam. As a matter of principle, Sagay doesn't like to discuss about his family and other domestic situations.
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