Lagos oldest judge dies at 102

… Obanikoro mourns

The oldest retired judge of the High Court of Lagos State, Justice Isiaka Isola Oluwa died on Saturday at the age of 102.

Justice Oluwa died in his home at Ilupeju, Lagos in the early hours of Saturday, it was learnt.

It was gathered that he was buried at the Atan Cemetery, Yaba, according to Islamic rites.

The late Jurist was born on June 23, 1918 to Lagosian parents in Cross River State.

He attended Forcados Government School, Bonny; St Bartholomew’s School, Degema; Government School, Sapele; and King’s College, Lagos.

Justice Oluwa also attended School of Agriculture, Samaru-Zaria, University of London where he studied Law, and Lincoln’s Inn, London, where he was called to the Bar in 1957.

The late jurist worked severally as lecturer, Farm Management, University of Ibadan(1949-50), Lecturer, School of Agriculture, Samaru-Zaria, and Extension Manager, Zaria Province.

He started his law practice after he returned back to Nigeria from London and formed Oluwa, Kotoye and Co.

He was appointed High Court judge on June 1,1974.

He would be remembered as the judge that sentenced Lagos socialite, Alhaji Jimoh Isola, a.k.a Ejigbadero, to death for murder of a farmer, Raji Oba over land disputes, in 1975.

He retired on June 17, 1983.

Justice Oluwa at various times was Member, Board of Governors, Glover Memorial Hall (1965-1974), member, Lagos Town Council, Member, Reorganization of Local Government, Lagos State, and Pro-Chancellor of Lagos State University, Ojo.

Also, for many years, he was the chairman of the Association of Lagos indigenous retired judges.

The Atona Odua of Yorubaland, Chief Bode George said Justice Oluwa was definitive of the essence of the Lagosian identity.

George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a statement by his special adviser, Prince Uthman Shodipe-Dosunmu described the late justice as a bundle of principled persona, strong in wit and humor, dedicated to the liberation of Lagos and the oppressed from the whims and the caprices of the oppressors.

Mr. Gbadebo Dallass who equally knew him well said Lagos has lost a great man who could not be compromised by any inducement and who faced adversity with bold, engaging fierceness.

Shodipe-Dosunmu said: “He was a principled man, unafraid, defiant, stern, bold, indifferent to the tools of animadversion”

…Obanikoro mourns

Former Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, has commiserated with Lagosians and the family of the late Justice Oluwa.

In a statement he personally signed on Saturday in Lagos, Obanikoro stated that the late Justice was one native of Lagos, who was unpretentious about the progress and development of the state, adding that he loved Lagos and did everything within his capacity to advance the cause of the state.

The statement reads in parts: “It is with a heavy heart but total submission to the will of Allah, that I join the people of Lagos to mourn the passing of one of our fathers and advocates of a new Lagos, Justice Isiaka Ishola Oluwa, at the enviable age of 102 years.

“As a judge of note, Justice Oluwa was courageous and never shied away from the truth. He supported every just cause and ensured that justice prevailed in everything that he was involved with.

“His life as a Lagosian was even the more worthy of note. He was one native of Lagos, who was unpretentious about the progress and development of the state. He loved Lagos and did everything within his capacity to advance the cause of the state.

“I, therefore, join all native Lagosians, Nigerians and the learned world in general to mourn one of the most amazing creatures, who passed on, though at a time the world is going through a major challenge, however in the Holy month of Ramadan.

“May Allah forgive his sins and grant him Aljanah Firdaus.”