SOCRATES OF SUPREME COURT PASSES ON

Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, a former justice of Nigeria’s Supreme Court 



Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, a former justice of Nigeria’s Supreme Court and one of the most eminent jurists in the history of his country’s judiciary, has died.
A family source as well as a prominent Nigerian lawyer disclosed news of Justice Oputa’s death to SaharaReporters.
The family source confirmed that the jurist died yesterday at 3.30 p.m. at his Abuja home, shortly after he was discharged from hospital. Justice Oputa had struggled with failing health for several months, culminating in a stroke he suffered in February 2014.
Justice Oputa, whose official birthday was listed as September 22, 1924, once told an interview that he was really born in Oguta, Imo State, in 1920, at a time when births were hardly officially registered.
     He had his early education in Oguta and Christ the King College, Onitsha before briefly attending Yaba Higher College. He transferred to Achimota College in Ghana, earning a BSc in economics in 1945. Returning to Nigeria, he taught at a secondary school and also served as an assistant district officer.
After earning BA in history at home, he relocated to London where he studied law and got called to the Bar in Gray’s Inn. Once back in Nigeria, he set up a thriving legal practice. He accepted a judgeship in 1966, becoming a Judge of the High Court of the then Eastern Nigeria.
He rose steadily, finally earning elevation to a seat as a justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court. As a jurist, his verdicts were remarkable for their intellectual versatility, often sprinkled with references drawn from history, religions, philosophy and classical literature.
Widely respected by other judges and lawyers for his self-discipline, extraordinary work ethic, and the rigor of his judicial opinions, Justice Oputa was endearingly called the Socrates of the Supreme Court.
The dexterity and depth of this judgments inspired former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Bello, to describe him as Cicero, the classical orator. After his retirement from the Supreme Court in 1989, Justice Oputa maintained a public profile.

 Oputa, before his death, had been absent from public functions in recent years due to critical health condition.

A source said the body of the deceased had been deposited at the morgue of the National Hospital in Abuja.

Oputa, was appointed to head a panel constituted to investigate rights abuses during 15 years of military rule between 1976 and 1999 when President Olusegun Obasanjo took office as elected president on 29 May, 1999.

Prominent legal practitioners in the country expressed shock and sadness over the death of the late jurist on Sunday.

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, described the deceased as one of the nation’s finest legal minds.

“It’s very sad that the great jurist has passed on. Having actively appeared before him, I can confirm that he was one of our finest legal minds. My prayers are with my friend Charly Boy (the deceased’s son) and his family,” Agbakoba said.

Mr. Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who described the deceased as “a quintessential oracle of law” described his death was “a monumental loss to the legal profession, the judiciary and the entire nation.”

“He was a legal prodigy, an iconic phenomenon, the quintessential oracle of the law and an unparalleled  jurist of inestimable value.

“He shone on the legal firmament like zillion stars, bestriding the Nigerian judicial space like the colossus that he was. His judgments were lucid and provocative. His thoughts fecund, his writing skillful, literary and philosophical. Oputa came, saw and conquered.”

Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, who expressed shock over Oputa’s death, described the late jurist as “Socrates of the Supreme Court”.

“He did not only understand the law as a Justice of the Supreme Court, he understood and applied the philosophy of law. His reasons for his judgments were often illuminating. He made law look like a mathematics,” Oyetibo said.

Yusuf Alli (SAN) said, “Like the death of every person, the death is painful. But we thank God that he left at a very old age. His death is a loss not only to Nigeria’s jurisprudence but to the jurisprudence of the whole world. He contributed immensely to our jurisprudence from the High Court to the Supreme Court. He was a gifted orator and an engaging writer. He has left an indelible mark.”