JUSTICE Muhammad Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, the79-year-old jurist, who rose to become a notable figure in the nation's judiciary, as a forthright and incorruptible judicial officer, had a humble beginning. He started from Accra, Ghana, where he was born to Muslim parents from Ilorin in Nigeria,Noted for his quiet, mien and unshakable belief in the principle of rule of law, Justice Akanbi remains one of the nation's finest men who had been at the helm of affairs at the Court of Appeal.A kind, loving, hardworking, amiable, honest, pious and highly respected statesman in Nigeria, the former anti-corruption Czar also extended his exploits to anti-corruption crusade, where he made a mark as the pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).ICPC has remained Nigeria's first official effort at tackling graft in government, since independence.Another remarkable feature of Justice Akanbi is his ability to combine conservatism with outspokenness.He remains one of the few Nigerian judges, both serving and retired, who would not keep quiet in the face of anomalies.This quality, he demonstrated, when in August 2009, Justice Akanbi called on Nigerian Muslims to shun the ideas of the Boko Haram sect, 'which teaches that non-Islamic education is a sin.'According to him, both Western and Islamic education are germane to the development of the country.It was also on record that Justice Akanbi publicly criticised the government that appointed him in 2000 as the Chairman of the newly established Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).He had questioned why the government had set up the ICPC and appointed competent people to run it 'only to frustrate it from performing by starving it of funds'.His remarks followed the outburst that followed public outcry that ICPC had failed to make any significant conviction in 2004.The renowned jurist, who refused a second-term at the ICPC, was also at his best when he criticized the law that established the Commission, saying that the law forbade the commission from investigating corrupt practices that preceded the creation of the ICPC.In March 2004, Justice Mustapha Akanbi urged parliamentarians to ratify the United Nations (UN) and the African Union Conventions Against Corruption, which would greatly assist the struggle against corruption.While describing corruption as a cankerworm and malaise that had afflicted the nation and wrought havoc to her corporate existence, he attributed the problem to lack of will by past leaders to fight corruption, inconsistency in government policies, and reluctance by law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute 'sacred cows'.Akanbi, retired in 2005 on completion of his term of office as the head of the ICPC and, later joined the Board of the Justice and Law Enforcement Reformation Organization, a non-profit organization that aims to eradicate corruption and poverty from the perspective of the Judiciary and Law Enforcement agencies.Akanbi was born on September 11, 1932 in Accra, Ghana. After completing his secondary school, he worked as an executive officer in the Ghanaian Civil Service. He was also active as a trade unionist.On return to Nigeria, he worked in the School Broadcasting Department of the Ministry of Education.The retired judge obtained a scholarship to study law at the Institute of Administration, now Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.He went for legal studies in the United Kingdom and was called to the English Bar in 1963, and subsequently, to the Nigerian Bar in January 1964.He joined the Ministry of Justice and became a Senior State Counsel in 1968. In 1969 he set up a private practice in Kano.In 1974, he was appointed a judge of the Federal Revenue Court, and in January 1977, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal.In 1992, he was made President of the Nigerian Court of Appeal, a position he held until he retired in 1999.His son, Mohammed who has a P.hd in Law lectures in University of Ilorin, he is also the current Chairman of Ilorin Branch of the NBA.Akanbi, a distinguished legal luminary, a scholar of national and international repute, a philanthropist is also a humanitarian and an erudite orator.During his tenure at the ICPC, Akanbi succeeded in charging 85 people to court but only secured two corruption-related convictions.Commenting on this record, Akanbi said he suspected that some judges had been paid off to toss out cases.Akanbi retired in 2005 on completion of the first term of office, and was succeeded by Emmanuel Ayoola.In 2006, Akanbi established the Mustapha Akanbi Foundation in Ilorin, Kwara State, dedicated to strengthening civil society groups, governmental agencies and private business concerns and helping them imbibe a culture of transparency and accountability.Justice Mustapha Akanbi is the founding Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the prime mover of the foundation.It was in recognition of his distinguished career, as a forthright and incorruptible judicial officer, that he was appointed in the year 2000 by the President of Nigeria to head the newly established Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), a body vested with the statutory responsibility of combating the malaise of corruption within the Nigerian polity.On completion of the first term of office in year 2005, he politely declined the opportunity offered him to serve another term of five-years. He is a well-respected nationalist and jurist and an embodiment of piety. He is bestowed with the National honour ofCommander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR).While discussing his trajectory at the Temple of Justice ' why he retired at the age of 66 years instead of the mandatory 70 and how he 'worked myself to the bones at the Court of Appeal to shame my traducers,' he said: 'In my time, I had Kanu Agabi as the Attorney General. He never interfered with my work. When we had Akin Olujimi, he never interfered. Of course, if they did, I would have resigned. I would have told Obasanjo that I could not do it. The ICPC must be independent. It is true that the Attorney General, according to the constitution, can terminate a case but he should relate positively with the chairman of the ICPC.
Click here to read full news..
