Friday last week has come to stay as one of the memory days in the annals of our legal history, when lawyers, colleagues, relations, friends and well wishers from Edo, Delta States and beyond, converged at the Edo State High Court premises to pay their last respect in a valedictory Court Session to one of the greatest legal minds that have traversed the Nigerian legal terrain, late Justice Josiah Oki, former Chief Judge of the defunct Bendel State.

It was indeed a rain of eulogies and encomiums as speaker after speaker extolled the sterling qualities of the late Jurist and legal icon who passed to the great beyond on March 13, 2015 at the age of 89.

In her speech, the Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice C. Idahosa, said: “ Today, Edo State and Delta State Judiciary mourn the exit of the former Chief Judge of Bendel State, His Lordship, Justice J. Oki, a quintessential jurist who expanded the frontiers of liberty and justice.

“Even as we mourn, we celebrate the fulfilled life which His Lordship lived, being favoured by God to have attained the age of 89 years and the privilege of being the father of six loving children and Grand father of 14 beautiful grand children. A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.

“For the great legal icon in whose honour we are here gathered, he imbibed and exhibited the principles of truth and truthfulness, justness and justice, firmness and fairness. Indeed, His Lordship’s contributions to the development of law and the sustenance of a viable judiciary in the defunct Bendel State in particular is so immense, the finality of death cannot draw a curtain on his contributions. In a chat, Mr. Paul Oki said of his father : “ He lived a life that is worthy of emulation, he set many examples, he set very high standards for his children, fellow Judges , legal practitioners and indeed everybody that had one thing or the other to do with him when he was alive. He had one simple philosophy which was honesty, integrity, focus, hard work diligence those timeless values were hi values.

“He inculcated them in each of his children, in all the lawyers that appeared before him and everybody who came in contact with him in all his 89 years on earth. He was somebody the this country was really proud of, he was indeed a rare gem, not because he was my father, but because of the values he represented.”

On why he and two others embraced the legal profession out of the six children of the late Judge, Oki said:   “Well, we are six children and three of us are lawyers, myself and my two sisters, naturally you cannot grow up in our house and not love the law. Right from my childhood, I loved the profession, it all about simple things the way my father spoke, his eloquence, the way he read, his patience in listening to people, his carriage and his skill at resolving disputes even within the house, everything about him just inspired us to just be like him.”

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