ENUGU – Lawyers in Enugu on Monday called on the Federal Government to immortalise the late jurist and former Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. The lawyers who spoke variously with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that as a jurist per excellence, the only way to preserve Oputa’s memory was to immortalise him. The Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, Enugu branch, Mr Osita Nnamani, expressed shock over the death, saying it was a colossal loss to the bench and bar. He said the contribution of the late sage to the nation’s judicial system was legendary as well as ennobling. “Oputa brought integrity and knowledge to the bench. He was called the Socrates of Nigeria Supreme Court due to his philosophical approach to judicial interpretations. “He was a man of honour, a judicial activist who had used the letters of the law for the protection of justice and the common man,” he said. Another legal practitioner, Mr Nicholas Ngwee, described Oputa as an excellent jurist who had recorded landmark judgments in his career. He said the death of Oputa was a great loss to the South East and the legal profession and called for his immortalisation for the sake of posterity. “Oputa, as we all know, is a dedicated and straight forward human being, a man who dedicated his entire life to the fatherland,’’ he said. Also reacting, Mr Rufus Ibe noted that Oputa had stamped his name in the legal profession as a jurist and rose to the apex court of the land. He said there was a need for his immortalisation because lawyers celebrated him on daily basis by reciting his judgments in the courts. Ibe described Oputa as a good legal scholar who had no equals in legal jurisprudence in Nigeria. On his part, Prof. Chris Okoro, another lawyer, who also called for his immortalisation, noted the role played by the eminent jurist during the burial of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, which he said was his last official outing. “To the entire Igbo nation, an Iroko has fallen; we are saddened and at the same time give thanks to the Almighty God because he did not die in vain. “He left a lot of legacies,’’ Okoro said. In Nsukka, Enugu State, the Chairman of the NBA in the area, Mr Gerald Eze, described the late Oputa as `one of the best judges Nigeria had produced since independence’. Eze said he received the news of the death of the legal luminary with shock, adding that the country had lost one of its finest legal icons. (NAN) |