The memoirs of Olujide Somolu (Chief Justice of the West 1967-1971)I AM aware that you all recognise the incongruity of a chartered accountant attempting to review a book written by a brilliant lawyer and outstanding judge of impeccable character. If I fail to do justice to the memory of this eminent jurist or fail to acknowledge his diligence in painstakingly recording for the benefit of posterity how he strove to uphold not just the rule of law but much more importantly, the rule of justice I plead that I should be treated as a first time offender and be discharged with a gentle reprimand or modest fine.Also, in deference to what lawyers call he precision of language I ought to clarify that the reference to Mr. Olujide Somolu as 'Chief Justice of the West' has no bearing on the Western World. The west over which he presided was the Western Region of Nigeria, which has since fragmented into Oyo; Ogun; Osun; Ondo and arguably Edo; Delta and Lagos states. What is incontroverble is that Mr. Somolu's domain was a vast empire both historically and geographically.I am very much tempted to adopt the current style of social communication as evidenced by our usage of SMS, Twitter, Blackberry etc. and abbreviate my review into just one sentence:Mr. Justice Olujidide Somolu has no case to answer!! The evidence is all before you. What the late Mr. Somolu has documented so meticulously is what I believe lawyers call: A No Case Submission with a caveat that should anyone cast aspersion on the uprightness, character and/or mastery of language of the defendant (or plaintiff if you prefer), he or she must be promptly arrested to face the full wrath of the law ' or what is left of it in present day Nigeria.I make no reference to the state of the judiciary out of being charged for contempt of court. I believe that our highly respected former Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Kayode Esho who at the age of 80 plus, still radiates robust good health and a feisty relish for intellectual/scholarly intervention in matters that touch on the law and the judiciary is here. Not only does he retain his 'judicial immunity,' he is accompanied by an orderly who is adequately armed and awesome to restrain whoever may be tempted to challenge the authenticity of the weighty verdict which Justice Esho will n doubt deliver without any fear or favour.For those of us who fall into the category of the 'unlearned and untutored' we can only lament over what we have been reading or hearing about the goings-on at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. I venture to add that he likes of Justice Somolu must be restless and quaking with anger in their graves.Our prayerful thoughts are with them and all we can do is supplicate before the Almighty for His divine intervention so that their souls may continue to rest in perfect peace. Justice Somolu deserves no less having served both his God and his country as a school teacher; newspaper editor; Senator (when it was strictly a service to the nation!!); High Court Judge; and finally Chief Justice with his seat in the turbulent city of Ibadan which was famously described as a garrison town by one of our erstwhile political leaders.I suspect that the 'Garri' in garrison should be replaced by 'amala' the staple food of Ibadan, which has traditionally defined its politics.Almost four decades since the demise of Justice Somolu, we must respect his abiding wish to be remembered and cherished as a faithful servant in upholding the enduring tenets and sacred ethos as well as ethics of the legal profession. This is not anchored on sentiments alone. He has earned it and thereby inspired us. Otherwise, we would not be here in such large numbers to honour his memory or participate so enthusiastically in launching his memoirs, which bear ample testimony to the unchallengeable hand of God in the destiny of man. The book I am here to review was written in 1976. In that same year The Man Died!!He was too unassuming and far too modest to insist on a valedictory speech or a last and final judgment. Instead, he preferred the path of humility and committed it all to paper. We are all the better for it as we have been given the privilege of sharing his unique insights. For him the law and the legal profession provided the road map and binoculars but it was Olumo Rock, the sacred physical emblem of the Egba race to which he was proud to belong, that was his inspiration, solace and mystical refuge.I dare not repeat Mr. Justice Kayode Esho's pungent verdict in the forward to the book:'Our auto biographer was a very bold and stubborn man, possessing both attributes to a fault. I know of only one other person of such unusual boldness and stubbornness. That is Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the sage who described himself as being irrevocable and uncompromising.'I can only add as a footnote that both Justice Somolu and Chief Awolowo were friends of my father Chief J.K. Randle. All three were born in 1909 and you must forgive my bias or outright partiality in declaring 1909 a vintage year!!Not even under duress will I dare whisper the violence provided by My Lord, Justice Esho:'The only man whom I ever saw, threatening to give Awolowo a knock on the head, or probably the only man who ever dared it or still more, the only one who actually carried out the threat was our biographer Olujide Somolu.' If you insist on looking for trouble, it is there in the forward.The foreword is only an appetizer. The real feast is there in the book itself both for what is bluntly revealed but much more for what is wrapped in reticence and reluctance to stoke the embers of long forgotten controversies. It is a case book of circumspection.Nevertheless, his guiding principles and profound pronouncements still resonate:'If we desire to have a clean public office, we must be prepared to expose evil no matter who the perpetrators are. As long as we like to think that the sins of people should not be exposed or that proven sinners should not be punished, the sooner we give up any attempt at combating corruption and the like, the better.'That is the challenge our nation has been grappling with since our Independence on the stroke of midnight on Saturday, October 1, 1960.Our author waxes lyrical when he solemnly declares in his elegy to Olumo rock and the Unknown God:''the margin of the faith which I share in common with my people (great Yoruba race) that an unseen hand guides the destiny of man from the cradle to the grave (in accountancy we call it the audit trail!!) and that we all owe what we are to that unseen omnipotent power which rules the affairs of men. It is this faith that I wish to pass on to my fellow country men and women who may care to read these memoirs.'Of course we care (or should care). Message received as they are wont to say in the military ' albeit sometimes with disastrous consequences. That is a story for another day!!For now, let us concentrate on salivating on the almost majestic confidence with which the author cuts a swathe through the vicissitudes of the regardless of his humble birth in a rustic environment, although the uncertainty of the actual date/year of birth was to implode into a major controversy in the twilight of his days on the hallowed bench as Chief Justice.In writing his autobiography, Justice Somolu deliberately chose to abandon the flowery and pugnative hyperbole which we had mastered as editor of the 'Nigerian Spokesman' where he published a militant weekly column: 'That Man Shall Not Be Wolf To Man.' Instead he chose to adopt a more discipline and strictly legalistic style which only confirms his total absorption with the law.Here is a sample of the vignettes:'I had found myself in the (legal) profession and I was not going to allow anything to stand in my way of reaching the top of it, as I believed that it was God himself who led me into it.''The difficulty of securing transport home (from Britain during The Second World War) meant that they (lawyers had to travel by all sorts of ships, mostly converted troop-ships and others ' one of them being the 'Almanzora.' That was how these new lawyers came to be contemptuously referred to by their unhappy colleagues as 'Almanzora lawyers.' They are not to be confused with 'Charge and Bail' lawyers!!!'That experience taught me to do better than asking Clerks in the court to teach me what I should have known, or what my seniors in the profession should have been able to impart if I had the good sense to ask them.''One of the senior clerks in the Supreme Court developed a simple but lucrative idea. I still have my copies of the various 'digests' which our gentleman prepared and sold to me in those days and one cannot but marvel at how an ordinary court clerk could have had the wisdom to prepare them for the use of lawyers, even as the lawyers themselves did not think it a worthwhile venture to embark upon.'I believe that the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi has since rectified that lapse by publishing his Law Reports.With typical modesty, Justice Somolu downplays his role in the founding of the Nigerian Law School.'I cannot presume to know whether or not our report contributed to the thoughts that went into the Law School idea but many of its facilities were present in our thoughts in those days and we suggested them in the report which Justice Teesdale submitted on our behalf.''A lone wolf may be able to make good in a way, but when other talents are available, they make success more easily attainable.''What we saw taught us that it was one thing to live in a place like Lagos ('Eko oni baje!!) and even the big cities of the West and other parts, but it was another to live in a place like Ilorin and surrounding districts. It looked as if we had gone out of Nigeria into another country except that the Yoruba language was the mother tongue of the people around.''The next day, we booked our way back to Lagos even without seeing any of our clients who had been securely locked up in The Native Authority (N.A.) prison which went by the name of 'Agbadamn.' We had had a taste of the old North and it was enlightening in a way!'From the grave, our distinguished author has commanded me to pass on the following message to his successors in the legal profession:'One of the earliest lessons I learnt in my practice was that of working hard and not being daunted by set-backs once I was sure that my points were well taken. I realized that winning does not come easily. However, with perseverance and faith in oneself it would not be long before one's efforts are given the recognition they deserve and there will be the ultimate satisfaction that one's industry is being rewarded. Things may not be easy at the beginning but the solution to the problem is not to give up and become completely overwhelmed and dispirited even for the future. As in everything with a human element, the practice of law teaches one also to be realistic enough to appreciate the fact that Judges and Magistrates are also human and can be swayed by considerations other than partiality. This too I learnt very early in my practice. The well-known or well- established lawyers are bound to be treated with more courtesy and listened to with better attention than the young entrant who still has to make his mark. Even when the former makes submissions that are not quite good law, it is almost certain that they will be accorded attention and respect. They will neither be interrupted as frequently as others nor have their submissions so peremptorily dismissed. This special position imposes an obligation on the respected leaders in the profession however, not to do anything that will betray this trust which members of the Bench place in them. Even the young ones too have a duty to learn to create confidence in themselves by their own efforts and not be unduly cowed by the presence of senior men or the seeming deference of either the Judge or the Magistrate to them. As far as I can see, the rule should be 'if you are sure of your ground, press your points home with all the force that you can muster, even if the reception is not exactly favourable.' You are more likely to win the respect and the confidence of the Bench in this way than by throwing in the towel at the first sign of opposition.
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