Babalakin JSC: A Judicial ‘Iroko’ Has Fallen

Steve Aya

Hon. Justice Bolarinwa Oyegoke Babalakin JSC, (Rtd) passed on early Saturday, December 4, 2021 at the ripe old age of 94.
Justice Babalakin was called to the London Bar, in the late 1950s. The late Jurist, who is also the father of Lawyer and businessman, Dr Wale Babalakin, SAN, retired from the Supreme Court in 1992.
According to the announcement issued by the deceased’s family, the nonagenarian was buried at Gbongan in Osun State on Saturday at 4 pm.
“With Total Submission to Almighty Allah, We Announce Return of Our Father, Grandfather, An Eminent Jurist, Justice Bolarinwa Babalakin, JSC,(Rtd) to Allah this morning, Saturday, 4th December, 2021.
Janaazah prayers for him, were held at Gbongan in Osun State, on the same day. “

New Senior Advocates told to be Humble
The new Senior Advocates have been told to be humble, and be leading lights of the legal profession in Nigeria.
This was the general submission at the 4th induction programme organised by the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN), during the week.

With the induction being legal ethics and professionalism in the practice of law, this is one of the many series of events organised for the SANs, before they take the Oath later tomorrow.
Speaking on the topic “Understanding the Culture and Demand of Continuous Excellence at the Inner Bar”, Hon. Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammed of the Supreme Court, told the new SANs not to think of this as being the highest level of the law profession, but rather, the beginning. He also urged them to show respect to both the Inner Bar and the Bench, because they are the custodians. He cautioned them against any act that will bring disregard to the Inner Bar, as the result of such an act may be unpleasant.

Also speaking, Hon. Justice Mojeed Owoade of the Court of Appeal, told the new SANs not to join the bandwagon of Lawyers that are fond of writing petitions to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for unfounded reasons. He also urged them not to make their appeal the ground of their petitions, even where there is a reason to.
Other Facilitators at the induction include Hon. Justices Helen Ogunwumiju and Ejembi Eko of the Supreme Court, and Hon. Justice Obietonbara Daniel-Kalio of the Court of Appeal, amongst others.

Law School Campuses: How Many, How Necessary?
In 1962, the Nigerian Law School, the nation’s only qualifying training institution for Lawyers, took off at a temporary structure at No. 213, Igbosere Street, Lagos, before moving to its permanent site on Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island. The School’s pioneer set of students, mostly already called to the English Bar, have over the decades, turned out some of the best Lawyers in Africa, some of whom have distinguished themselves at the Bar and on the Bench. As Nigerian Universities continued to churn out Law graduates, and the number of prospective Lawyers seeking admission into the only campus of the Nigerian Law School soared, it became necessary to expand, in order to accommodate more entrants. Thus, in 1997, the Bwari, Abuja Campus of the School was opened to admit more students, then that of Enugu; Kano in 1999, and subsequently, Yenagoa iߺn 2009, Yola in 2013, and Port Harcourt which is still under construction, was established in 2021.

But, ever since these additional campuses have been established, there has been demand for the establishment of more Law School campuses, six to be precise, to be sited in the geopolitical zones. How healthy is this call for more campuses? Is it just about playing politics? Are new campuses necessary, when the existing ones are suffering from gross underfunding, while some of them remain under-utilised? Are the existing campuses not already spread across the geopolitical zones? Can the existing campuses not just be expanded, if the need arises? The Council of Legal Education (CLE) recently issued a Report and Guidelines on the subject-matter. Hon. Igo Aguma, Abubakar Sani, Bayo Owojori, Rasheed Ibrahim and Tolu Aderemi, examine the contentious issues surrounding the call for more campuses of the Nigerian Law School; and they all (including CLE) seem to agree that while the Law School has issues that need to be resolved to improve its standard generally, the building of new campuses in the six geopolitical zones is unnecessary