By HENRY UMORU AND Levinus Nwabughiogu

Except that he had excelled and eventually retired from the Bench as former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, having reached the zenith of his legal career, the chairman of the ongoing National Conference, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi would have been mistaken by many people who perhaps are having a close contact with him for the first time by virtue of the conference for a comedian.

Effortlessly, the chairman has continued to show he is a huge entertainer at the confab.

Gifted with a special pronunciation skill that has a cacophony of heavy accents and deep baritone, the learned septuagenarian’s response to most questions usually drew infectious and comic laughter from the delegates and audience.

Perhaps, Kutigi, who has spent considerable years of his life dishing orders was just getting familiar with the democratic knick-knackery that characterised the gathering.

And true to the posture, the laughter always helped many to release tension.

Whispering with microphone

Then enter his tête-à-tête with his deputy and secretary. Kutigi most times does not take the microphone away from his mouth when whispering to either his deputy, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi or his secretary, Dr. Valerie Azinge. And you can trust that most of his whisper is heard by the audience. But then that may just be the nature of retired Justice Kutigi.