Atake: Elergy to Judge, Senator

” When beggars die there are no comets seen, the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” EYIMOFE ATAKE, SAN pays tribute to late father

F O M Atake as he was popularly known was by any standard a rara avis. He was a straightforward and simple man with a wonderful and jovial personality. He was irrepressibly good-humoured. He was a superb man with a warm and generous heart. A humanist. He was an extremely modest man. He was a good man. A good Judge, Senator, Statesman, and leader who would be accorded a high place.

He was a real stalwart and tenacious defender for what is right. He was admired by the wider public as a figure of integrity and courage. He was immensely loyal to people at whatever cost to himself. He cared deeply and passionately for fundamental and traditional values such as religion, the rule of law, an ordered society and fair play. If there was any threat to justice or to the justice system or to fair play he immediately will put his foot down. His early retirement from the Bench of the High Court of Mid-Western State was a piece of old-fashioned integrity that seems to have belonged to yester years or old times.

Born on the 6th of May 1926. He educated at Baptist School, Sapele, where he was a good chorister. He also attended St. Luke’s Church Missionary Society School also in Sapele, where M A Ajasin (subsequently Executive Governor of the old Ondo State) was his Head Teacher.

Franklin Atake had his secondary school education in Ibadan Grammar School. His Principal was Canon E A Odusanwo and his Vice-Principal was Archdeacon E O Alayande. In Ibadan Grammar school he was a talented and enthusiastic sportsman. He was proficient in Latin and often used sophisticated Latin words or phrases in school in his daily conversations. As a result, he was nicknamed: “Atakurus Esse”. Whenever he was called “Atakurus Esse”, he answered: “God bless you my brother”. His contemporaries remember him as an exceptional student but also affable and easy company. In those days, one had to take school certificate examinations in class six but Franklin Atake took those exams in class five. Canon Odusanwo forbid his students to take the exams in class five, so Franklin Atake registered for the school certificate exams at the Illesa Centre. He took the exams there. A day before the results were to be released, he left Ibadan Grammar School to avoid being reprimanded by Cannon Odusanwo. When Atake received his results, he passed with exemption from London Matriculation. Thereafter, he worked in the Treasury Department in Lagos until 1951.

In 1951, he left for England to study law. He studied law at the University of London and at the Inns of Court School of Law, London and was called to the Bar in May 1954 by the Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn. By June 1954, he was back home in Nigeria. He was enrolled in Nigeria as a Barrister and Solicitor on Friday 16 June 1954. Thus, making him the four hundred and seventh (417th) person so to do on the all-time list of persons so enrolled in Nigeria.

Having been enrolled to practice law in Nigeria, Franklin Atake established his legal practice in Sapele. He reveled in hard work from the very beginning. The result was that every time he went into court, he had at his command a complete knowledge of the facts and law pertaining to the case he was handling. He was thus able to present his arguments cogently, persuasively, chivalrously and comprehensively. In no time, his legal career began to flourish. He was a powerful and a fearless advocate. Franklin Atake never really had a wide-ranging practice. His known forte was Criminal Law on which he was an expert. He appeared in many criminal trials. He was a notable defence counsel before many judges of that time such as Sir Adetokunboh Ademola, S. P. J. Q. Thomas, J, Sir Clement de Lestang, J, and Manyo Plange, J. to mention a few.

In those days it was the done thing for successful lawyers to go to the Bench. Thus, in 1958, he opted for the Magisterial Bench in Lagos, the Federal Territory.

In 1957 he was appointed a Magistrate in Lagos. He sat in what was well known as the Tapa Court in Lagos. The Tapa Court was a renowned court because before him, Mr. Mason Begho (later Mr. Justice Begho, C J Mid-west) had sat there and had handed down in that court, a decision in which he ordered that an expatriate be canned for allowing his dog to bite a Nigerian (The “Dog-Bite Case”).

  As a magistrate Franklin Atake, handled many cases and became well known for the speed and the sense of justice with which he dealt with cases that came before him. In no time the then Chief Justice of Lagos, Sir Clement Nageon De Lestang, CJ, transferred him temporarily to the Camerons to handle the large backlog of criminal cases. On his return from the Camerons, he was elevated to the position of Senior Magistrate in 1959.

Of all the cases he handled as a Magistrate, he frequently talked about one. It was charge no. 28175/60 – Police v. AK-N-, AK-NS-L; A-L-B and Ors. It was a case of unlawful assembly by students of the University College, Ibadan who had organized a demonstration in Lagos on the 28 November 1960 at the Tafawa Balewa Square. The students were protesting vehemently against a defence pact that Nigeria was to enter with Great Britain. The protests got completely out of hand and the students who held out against anti-riot police jumped over the fences into Parliament buildings destroying most of the furniture and beating anyone in sight. Some prominent Parliamentarians such as Chief Fetus Okotie-Eboh and Chief T O S Benson were in the line of fire. Messrs Adewale Thompson, A K I Makanju, Aliyi Ekineh, Sobo Sowemimo and some others acted for the students. The Defense Counsel in that case advised their clients, the students, to plead guilty in the hope that they would convince the Magistrate, Mr. Franklin Atake not to impose any punishment since most of the students were in their final year and imprisonment would completely ruin their chances of completing their studies. Mr. Adewale Thompson, having addressed the court at length about the harm an imprisonment would cause on the life of the boys and that the students meant no harm, the Magistrate, Mr. Franklin Atake dismissed the charge under section 450 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance. Said Mr. Justice Adewale Thompson writing in 1991 in his book Reminiscences At The Bar at 65:

“We had advised the students to plead guilty so that I could address the court in Allocutus under section 450 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, requesting the magistrate to exercise his discretion to dismiss the charge because of the hardship a conviction will cause to the career of the students who were in their final year at the University College. That discretion included a decision of the magistrate to convict, which was not subject to appeal. It was therefore a gamble that was taken because I had implicit confidence in the competence of the magistrate and his courage to do what was proper in the overall interest of society. He was not the type who would be afraid in such a sensitive case, in which parliamentarians had been assaulted and Parliament itself invaded. I am sure our gamble would have failed if that matter had come before another magistrate with timorous proclivities.”

With the creation of the Mid-Western Region in 1963, Franklin Atake left Lagos to take an appointment as Chief Magistrate in Warri. He served also as a Chief Magistrate in Benin before the civil war broke out.

At the outbreak of the civil war, he was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Justice in the Mid-west in 1967 along with three other judges. They are the Hon. Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey, the late Hon. Justice S O Ighodaro and the Hon. Justice M A Aghoghovbia. He was 41 years old below the usual age in which High Court Judges were appointed in those days. He was assigned to the Sapele Division to join the late Hon. Justice E A Ekeruche and the late Hon. Justice Robert William Rhodes-Vivour. Other brother Judges at the time of his appointment included: Hon. Justices Mason Begho (Chief Justice, Mid-West), J O Izuora, Andrews O Obaseki, Ayo Irikefe, Arthur Priest, J. Omo-Eboh and Uche Omo.

Atake served in various judicial divisions of the High Court in the Mid-West which included the Benin, Warri and Agbor divisions. He handled a wide range of cases. In no time it became manifest that a man with a good ability and outlook had joined the ranks of the High Court Bench. It is on record that he was quick in the uptake, had a razor-sharp mind and had a reputation of producing good Rulings and Judgements almost immediately. He wrote over 70% of his Rulings and Judgements on the Bench or retired to his chambers for an hour or so to write well researched Judgements in important cases that were lucid and fluent. In his court the dispensation of justice was fair and quick. He was highly principled, strong willed and could not be bent. That reputation still precedes him in all the divisions he served either as a Magistrate or as a Judge of the High Court. Said Ephraim Akpata, JSC, in the book Justice For All And By All  (1994) at 148:

“Justice F O M Atake was one of the most efficient Chief Magistrates before whom I practiced. He was……very quick in the uptake. His Judgements were well researched, well written and of high intellectual standard. Proceedings in his court were fast. To the best of my knowledge he harassed no counsel or litigant…….Justice Atake was strong willed and highly principled and held fast to what he believed in. He was blunt, not deceptive…”

By 1967 when he became a Judge his name had become a household word. However, when it came to the law of contempt of court, Franklin Atake found himself, somewhat to his surprise at the centre of controversy. Some of his decisions in contempt of court cases brought him in full collision with the press and brought a renewed bout of national publicity that in the end enhanced his already high reputation among the public as a Judge dedicated to defending at any cost what he fervently believed in. He was a dogged fighter and a stalwart defender of what is right.

He had no hesitation whatsoever in sending his first cousin and very close confidant, Mr. Godwin Mogbeyi Boyo to prison when he thought that Boyo crossed that line that divided a discourtesy from contempt. Atake did not at all care that Boyo was his relation and President of the Nigerian Bar Association. To him, Boyo, notwithstanding his eminence had done wrong and had to be punished. It was a matter of principle.

In 1969, therefore, he handed down what proved to be a very controversial decision in the case reported as Boyo v The Attorney-General, Mid-West [1971] 1 All NLR, 342; [1971] NSCC, 333; See also, Re: GM Boyo v The State [1970] 1 All NLR, 111, [1970] NSCC, 87. Mr. Godwin Mogbeyi Boyo was arrested on a warrant issued by Atake, J. On an objection by Boyo’s counsel that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the contempt proceedings, Atake, J ruled that he was indeed competent to try Boyo for contempt of court.

Naturally, as Boyo was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, the decision received a great deal of publicity. The press generally supported Boyo – there were persistent calls in nearly all the Nigerian newspapers for Atake, J to resign from the Bench. Perhaps the most damaging statement was made in the Nigerian Observer of 4th January 1972 in an editorial captioned: “Mr. Justice Atake Should Resign.” That editorial compared the call for Atake, J’s resignation with that of a magistrate who had resigned from office for corruption. The press continued to push hard for Atake to resign. This went on for a considerable period. Years. Being the gritty fighter that he was, Atake, J, refused to resign and made statements to the press defending himself and criticising some of the derogatory remarks made by the Supreme Court in its Judgement.

The Governor of the Mid-Western State, Brigadier S O Ogbemudia, also involved himself in the matter. Having failed to convince the then Chief Justice of the Mid-Western State, Mr. Justice Mason Begho, to refer the matter to the Federal Advisory Judicial Committee (a body responsible, inter alia, for taking disciplinary action against judges), the Governor wrote to the Head of State and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Yakubu Gowon, asking that some way be found to refer the matter to the Committee. The Governor recommended that Atake, J, be invited to resign or be removed from the Bench. General Gowon accordingly referred the matter to the Federal Advisory Judicial Committee.

The Chairman of the Committee, the newly appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria, the late Dr. Taslim Elias, called on Franklin Atake for his comments. After a very detailed consideration of the matter the Federal Advisory Judicial Committee decided (in a decision endorsed by the Head of State) that:

“although Mr. Justice Atake may have acted indiscreetly, it did not see that a case had been made out for his removal from the Bench or for any disciplinary action to be taken against him. If the then Chief Justice (Sir Adetokunboh Ademola) felt that disciplinary action was necessary he would have so directed and raised the matter before the Committee at one of its subsequent meetings. The Committee deprecates the attitude of the press and Military Governors interfering in matters that are essentially judicial, and in calling for the removal of judges. It would be preferable to let the Chief Justice of a State ask that something be done if a judge of his court behaves in an unbecoming manner.” (Excerpts from the minutes of the Advisory Judicial Committee meeting held in Lagos on 28 July 1972).

Franklin Atake was thus absolved and continued his judicial career in the Mid-Western State Judiciary.

When the newly Federal Court of Appeal (as it was then called) was created as a very senior Judge in the Mid-West, Atake expected to be in the first set of those to be appointed to that court. The then Chief Judge of the State did not recommend him for the appointment. However, the newly appointed President of the Court, the Honourable Justice Dan Ibekwe insisted that Franklin Atake must be one of the new appointees to the court because when he, Dan Ibekwe was a Justice of the Supreme Court, he was impressed with the decisions of Atake, J. In those days appeals lay from the High Court straight to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Be that as it may, Atake’s nomination was still strenuously opposed by the then Chief Judge of the State. Unfortunately for Atake, his strongest supporter, Mr. Justice Dan Ibekwe, who would have ensured that he was listed amongst those to be elevated the Federal Court of Appeal, died. It was a big blow to Franklin Atake as his support for elevation to the appellate court waned since then Chief Judge of the court and some other powerful persons within the judiciary and the Supreme Military Council did all they could to ensure that the recommendation to the Federal Court of Appeal did not materialize to an appointment.

Franklin Atake went to see the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Sir Darnley Alexander who categorically stated that he was disappointed that Atake, J, was not appointed to the appellate court. Sir Darnley promised that he would do all he could to see that Atake got appointed with the next set of appointees. However, Franklin Atake was highly disappointed that the Chief Justice could not defend his recommendation to the court. Immediately he left the Chief Justice’s chambers, he went to see a close friend the late Mr. Justice Chike Idigbe. The first person he told that he would immediately retire from the Bench was Justice Idigbe. Justice Chike Idigbe pleaded with him for hours and personally drove Franklin Atake to his residence in Victoria Island asking him not to retire. Atake’s mind was made up. Accordingly, he put in his letter for an early retirement. For him it was a matter of principle. Thus, in 1977 after serving for 10 years as a Judge of the High Court, he retired voluntarily in protest not being appointed to the newly created Federal Court of Appeal, even though he had been recommended for such an appointment. For Franklin Atake, it was the end of an era. Two learned gentlemen summed up his career both at the Bar and the Bench thus: said Kayode Eso, JSC, in the case of Atake v The Attorney-General of the Federation [1982] SC Rep. 153, 260:

“The Appellant is a man who by his training and the various judicial offices he has held, coupled with his close association with the law of contempt of court of great experience and learning in the law both at the Bar and the Bench….”

In the book Reminiscences At The Bar (1991) at 64, 65, Adewale Thompson had this to say about Franklin Atake:

“He was highly intelligent at the Bar and on the Bench, he was courageous, knowledgeable, quick to reasoning, very strict but harmless. No one can bend him. When his mind is made up it is made up and that is the end of the matter in the defence of a righteous cause.”

After he left the Bench, he was persuaded by the late Pa Alfred Rewane and others, to stand for the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and was elected with a landslide victory Senator for Bendel Delta Senatorial District with 59,632 votes under the banner of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 1979. It was a surprise to many that he went into politics as it was thought that he was not cut out for it. Franklin Atake surprised himself as well by completing his term as a Senator. He was never comfortable in the Senate. He did not really think he belonged there. However, having found himself there, he decided to make the most of his time in the Senate. He combined a brilliant intellect with acute political instinct and fought most strenuously and tirelessly for what is right. In a short time in the Senate, the wider public admired him as a figure of integrity and courage. His parliamentary eloquence also led so many to admire him. He had always been a good public speaker.

When he was nominated by the UPN to be their candidate for the President of the Senate, the NPN (National Party of Nigeria) having nominated Dr. Joseph Wayas, he entered fully into the spirit of the occasion hoping to win. The NPN had a very sizeable majority in the Senate and had an accord or agreement with the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). Senators voted strictly on party lines and Dr. Joseph Wayas became the victorious President of the Senate wining by 52 votes to 42 votes. It was a disappointment to Franklin Atake that votes were cast strictly on party lines and not on a non-partisan basis and on merit. Be that as it may, he was not deterred from commenting on issues of national importance and in no time, he became an outstanding political figure.

On the Senate floor, he gained a reputation for being a doughty fighter. He opposed most vehemently anything that did not conform to the principles and the rule of law. Just two of such examples would suffice. First, when the Senate passed what was called the Allocation Of Revenue (Federation Account) Act 1981 and the then President, Shehu Shagari unconstitutionally signed it into law (as was eventually upheld in the Supreme Court – see Attorney-General, Bendel State v Attorney-General, Federation & Others [1982] 3 NCLR, 1,) he went to court challenging the purported law on the ground that it was unconstitutional, void and of no effect having regard to the provisions in sections 149(2) & (3) of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic. That case came before the then learned Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Mr. Justice Fred Anyaegbunam. Atake appeared in person. Arguments were heard and Anyaegbunam, CJ reserved his ruling for the 13 March 1981. In the interim, on the 7 March 1981 between the time arguments were concluded on the 25 February 1981 and the date reserved for Ruling, Anyaegbunam, CJ, was decorated by the first Defendant (The President) with the national honour of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) in a widely televised occasion. Franklin Atake felt that it cannot be right and asked the learned judge, Anyaegbunam, CJ to disqualify himself from hearing further the proceedings. The learned Chief Judge refused to disqualify himself. In the events that followed, mainly because the Chief Judge gave Atake five minutes to withdraw some remarks and ground 1 of his proposed grounds of appeal, Franklin Atake was committed for Contempt of Court but was not sent to prison. The learned trial Judge told him to go and think about his comments in court over the weekend and come back to Court on the Monday. On the Monday the matter was resolved between the learned Judge and Franklin Atake – see Atake v Attorney-General, Federation [1982] SC Rep. 153 and the book by Eyimofe Atake, Contempt in the Face of the Court (1993) at 82.

Secondly, when his close friend and colleague, the then Chief Judge of the Bendel State, the Hon. Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey was nominated Chairman of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) and his nomination came before the Senate for ratification, the proceedings of the Senate show that, it was Franklin Atake who opposed most strenuously the ratification on the floor of the Senate on the grounds that Ovie-Whiskey, CJ was still a public officer (Chief Judge of Bendel State). Atake argued that Ovie-Whiskey had not first resigned or retired as Chief Judge of Bendel State in accordance with a provision in the 1979 Constitution and so any appointment as FEDECO Chairman would be null and void. Notwithstanding that objection, the Senate went ahead to ratify the nomination. In the end, Mr. Justice Ovie-Whiskey was appointed Chairman of FEDECO. Franklin Atake who was traveling abroad at the time could not take up the constitutional issue in Court. However, another prominent Senator did. When the matter finally came up before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, it was decided that, that Senator had no locus standi  to bring the action. Hence, the now famous and landmark decision of the Supreme Court in the case called Senator Abraham Adesanya v President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; The Hon. Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey [1981] NSCC, 146.

Having served one term in the Senate, Atake did not stand for a second term. He therefore left the Senate in 1982.

In retirement Franklin Atake did not disappear from public life. He was named a Chief with the title Aboludero of Warri Kingdom by His Majesty Olu Erejuwa II the paramount ruler of the Itsekiri and the Olu of Warri Kingdom in 1983. He became a famous litigant on several issues some of which were personal and others pertaining to the rights of the people of the Niger Delta. Two cases of which he was a litigant set judicial precedents. In Justice F O M Atake v Chief Nelson Asigboro Afejuku [1994] 9 NWLR Part 368, 379, the Supreme Court of Nigeria for the first time in Nigerian Legal Jurisprudence decided that a Judicial Officer who has ceased to be one is entitled to conduct his case in person. That when he appears in person, he is not for that purpose, acting as a legal practitioner within the purview of the Constitution.

Similarly, in Justice F O M Atake v Chief Mene-Afejuku [1996] 3 NWLR Part 437, 483. At issue was the Supreme Court decision in which Karibi-Whyte, JSC held that, section 340(2) of the Criminal Procedure Law, Cap. 32, Laws of Lagos State 1973 as amended prohibited they right to private prosecution with respect to all criminal offences. (See Akilu v Fawehinmi (no. 2) (1989) 2 NWLR, part 102, 122). That decision had prevented litigants from prosecuting privately criminal offences in Lagos State. However, Franklin Atake thought that the law had been wrongly construed and caused a private prosecution to be brought. In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal held that the right to a private prosecution in Lagos State was only barred with respect to indictable offences and that the right is not prohibited with respects to non-indictable offences. That it is fair to imply Karibi-Whyte, JSC in his leading Judgement did not mean to exclude all offences but only indictable offences.

Franklin Atake also continued to produce a stream of opinions on national issues particularly on derivation, and matters pertaining to the Itsekiri tribe and the Warri crisis. For example, he submitted an address to the “Judicial Commission of Inquiry into The Ethnic Conflicts Between Ijaws and Itsekiris In The Warri North, South and South West Local Government Areas Of Delta State”. He also appeared before the Commission in person. The Commission had been set up inter alia, to find out the immediate and remote causes of the conflict between Ijaws and Itsekiris in the months of March to May 1997. Atake went before the Commission to say and also published in some National newspapers that, the cause of the conflict was the false announcement by the Military Administrator of Delta State, Colonel J Dungs that Warri South Local Government Area had been created with headquarters at Ogbe Ijaw, an Ijaw settlement in Warri Division. Atake blamed the entire cause of the crisis at the door of Colonel Dungs and Dungs’ “acts of gross illegality”. He gave a very forthright denunciation of Dung’s conduct. He called Colonel Dungs a “stooge” of the Ijaws. That it was Colonel Dungs acts of irresponsibility, meddlesomeness that led to the huge loss of lives in the conflict. Atake styled Colonel Dungs a “Military Destroyer”.

Naturally Colonel Dungs did not like what Franklin Atake said. He tried to get him to withdraw his comments on radio. Atake bluntly refused. So Colonel Dungs had him incarcerated. While he was incarcerated his jailers tormented him, tried to destroy his fighting spirit and to have him withdraw his comments. He refused. It took the intervention and threats from highly placed persons before Dungs finally released Atake from incarceration.

Despite Franklin Atake’s horrible experience in the hands of Military Administrator Dungs, his spirit was not dampened. He continued the fight and struggle on behalf of Itsekiri people and caused several more articles and comments to be published. As a result of his stance, there were several attempts on his life and those of his family. The attempts were so many that he had no choice but to go on self-exile from his home in Warri to Lagos. He intended to go on exile for a few weeks but because of the situation in Warri and the threats to his life continued unabated, he ended up staying in Lagos in exile for almost six years.

In Lagos he continued the resolute and daring fight for what is right especially for his people the Itsekiri. As a result, arsonists who were strongly against his views burnt down a substantial part of his house including his well-equipped library which contained amongst others his law books, important papers and documents. He therefore paid a very huge price for standing by his views and principles over a long period of time particularly when he was in exile from his home for almost six years.

Right to the very end, Franklin Atake remained a sturdy and vociferous defender of the Itsekiri people and the rights of the people of the Niger Delta. He was one of the strongest advocates of the principle of derivation in the country. It was very dear to his heart and as Senator of the Federal Republic he moved several motions on the floor of Parliament for this principle to be adopted. Consequently, when the Supreme Court in what has become known as the On-shore/Off-Shore case (see, A-G, Federation v A-G, Abia State(No.2) [2002] 6 NWLR Part 764 at 542) in which that court decided that the seaward boundaries of Nigeria’s littoral states, viz.: Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom for the purposes of calculating the amount of revenue derived from the natural resources of those states is the low water mark of the land surface of each of those states, Franklin Atake disagreed with the Court and caused his views in a well-articulated article to be published in some national newspapers.

His people held Atake in awe as a great leader for the Itsekiri especially for his dogged, robust, and dedicated stance on all matters pertaining to them. He was a good and effective salesman for the Itsekiri cause for he believed that he had a very good product to sell. Such was his loyalty and devotion. He was a tremendous man who did a tremendous job for his country and his people. He lived a commendable and exemplary life showing good examples to others. His sense of patriotism was profound. He was a true Nigerian in the real sense of the word. He was never a man to give his wicket away hence he had a good innings. He spent his life in the service of his country, countrymen, his people the Itsekiri and humanity.

On the 28 February 2003, I was the last person (save the hospital nurses) to see him alive. He was in good spirits; alert, articulate and he spoke well. Though poorly, it did not seem that he was going to die. I spent over two hours with him. Only left after mid-night because I wanted him to rest. He agreed that he should rest. We entered into a bond to meet the next morning though he was not looking too happy as I left. At about 05 hours on the 1 March 2003, I was awaken from my sleep by a telephone call. I was informed that daddy was in some distress. I immediately rushed to the hospital. It took me less than 15 minutes to get there; but alas, it was too late. He had passed on peacefully. We would no longer hear some of his favourite phrases: “do brother”, “o su mi your Worship”, “God bless you my brother” nor hear his friends call him “Ochofu” for he has gone home to rest. On behalf of my mother, siblings and all those connected with him in any way, I say this: Forever and forever fare thee well daddy. Till we meet again at the resurrection, sleep well and GOODNIGHT.

Dr. Eyimofe Atake is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and writes from Lagos.