By Tunde Awobiyi

I have watched, read and listened to so many commentaries about the renowned jurist and arbitrator, Kayode Eso, who passed on, Friday, November 16, 2011, in a London hospital. It is no surprise that this extraordinary man of uncommon pedigree would present so many positive sides to so many people and institutions.

That he bestrode the Nigerian Judiciary like a colossus and as a rare voice for the voiceless and the under -privileged, cannot be over-stated. His erudition, tenacity, rectitude and courage in  ensuring that the Judiciary live up to the appellation as the last hope of the common man are all evident in the landmark issues he dealt with fearlessly, in and out of the Bench, for over half a century.

On and off the Bench, he was always living up to what he believed was a ‘privileged’ background. Always emphasising that ‘no one can give what he does not have, he was quoted to have said in the book, ‘Kayode Eso, The making of a Judge’, that ‘three things influenced  my life significantly, the  Ijesha traits in me, as well as my well-grounded education in Ilesa Grammar School, Osun State and Trinity College, Dublin.’

Justice Eso…The indefatigable legal icon

I am not too familiar with his exploits in Dublin, but if his record of almost always staying ahead  of his peers in Ilesa Grammar School is a guide, no one  should be surprised that he achieved no less elsewhere , especially with the  overwhelming  testimonies about  his conduct and performance in his  public and private life.

He was also, always extolling the Yoruba concept of Omoluabi as a guiding principle. Incidentally, the Motto of his secondary school is ‘E huwa omoluabi’, which demands on its students to be forthright and modest in all things.

And  like his courageous Ijesa  compatriots, Enoch Adeboye, Late Bola Ige, W.F. Kumuyi, his friend Dr Festus Ajayi, and  the renowned Kiriji Warlord, Ogedengbe Agbogungboro, Justice Eso was never afraid to walk alone, where others feared to tread. Through his almost faultless adjudications, he severally dared the military’s rule of force and what he often called ‘executive recklessness’.

His minority and landmark judgements in the twelve two third, State Vs Wole Soyinka, Akilu vs. Fawehinmi, Lagos State Vs. Ojukwu cases, spoke eloquently about this very thorough, fearless, courageous and incorruptible man, described by Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) as the’ Lord Denning of Nigeria’.

Just as he managed to come out unscathed in the controversies associated with his judicial activism on the Bench and other official capacities, he was no less distinguished in the deployment of his arbitration skills in calming the many storms that nearly tore apart his people in Ijesaland , over spiritual and temporal matters, especially in the last 25 years.

When taken up on the cause of disunity in his Ijesa homeland, he would say ‘Our forefathers bequeathed to us a kingdom as big as Lagos State, stretching from Owena and Ile Oluji to the door steps of Ile-Ife and Osogbo, the state capital. In other climes the numerous conurbations will easily rank as cities, each justifiably asserting its local independence from the capital, Ilesa, where the paramount ruler presides’. That is why  Eso often asserted that the more he travelled, the more he got proud of the  Ijesa man’s single-minded doggedness and frankness in all they do and say.

Having chaired many peace missions all over Nigeria and beyond and with life-long friends all over the disparate Ijesa communities, Eso was always on the road in the quest to achieve some measure of unity among its people. In doing this, he always insisted on democracy and affirmative action, while preaching against needless egoism and grand standing in resolving contending issues.

Little, however, is recorded for him politically, except his peace missions to resolve conflicts which threaten to harm the polity. Hence, apart from his early active role in the Nationalist pre-independence Zikist Movement, Eso could be said to be largely apolitical.

His impartiality, honesty and outspokenness, no matter whose ox is gored, are the virtues which often recommend him for local and international peace missions and arbitrations in finding solutions to political and communal issues, as in the Ogoni conference, which he presided over.

One difficult and potentially ominous era, a few years back, also challenged him to come to the rescue of his community. One of the oldest monuments in Nigeria, the 1000 year- old palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland went up in flames in controversial circumstances, at a time the community was believed to be assailed from all fronts.

Although ,away in Italy when the unfortunate incident happened, Eso at 82, then, was unanimously elected Chairman of the Palace Reconstruction Board of Trustee, in absentia.  On arrival, briefed by the Prof Wale Omole team in the Central Working Committee, Eso, from zero budget level, deployed his legendary credibility and reputation to knock at the doors of whoever can help in funding the ambitious project.

He was painstaking in the award of the contract for the imposing edifice, fashioned after the Buckingham Palace .He insisted that the winner of the bid, a non-Ijesa, who beat an indigene by just one mark should handle the project. Until his last moment on earth, he was always checking up on the accountability for every kobo contributed and spent. And he contributed substantially and made sure he attended all the meetings concerning the project, now at the roofing level, whether in his Ilesa and Ibadan residences or Lagos.

Another ugly moment for the Ijesa Community in need of his intervention got me closer to this forthright and humble man, who is ever ready to nurture and promote the younger ones. He had assembled what can be described as the ‘who is who’ from all over Ijesaland to discuss the way forward over threats to the very foundation of the institutions and bonds holding the community together.

After a painstaking debate on the contending issues at the expansive palace courtyard of the Owa Obokun, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, Eso insisted on the election of a committee to henceforth aggregate and disseminate the views of Ijesas world-wide. I was one of those elected.

I was, however to get the shocker of my life’ when among the star-studded and older council members, which included Prof Wale Omole,Vice-Chairman, Justice Omotunde Ilori, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi, royal fathers and professionals from all walks of life; the late judge nominated and canvassed for  my election  as the Council’s secretary.

Tunde Awobiyi, Secretary to the Ijesa Consultative and Action Council.