BY CHARLES KUMOLU

DELTA State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama, SAN, has  said that the commitment and interest in the research and teaching of Property Law, of the late Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Jelili Adebisi Omotola  was unparallelled.

Utuama, made the assertion at the public presentation of the book, A B C of Contemporary Land Law in Nigeria, written by the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Hon. Justice Innocent Umezulike, which held at Justice Umezulike Auditorium, Enugu, last Friday.

Utuama, who was the chairman of the occasion, noted that Justice Umezulike and himself were beneficiaries of Prof. Omotola’s knowledge in the subject, which gave him immense insight into Property Law during his academic sojourn at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Utuama noted that the late Prof. Omotola was unequalled as a doctrinal researcher and teacher.

According to him; “Prof. Omotola’s seminal writing on the Land Use Act were and remain of immense assistance to members of the legal profession, like the judges, lawyers who argue before the courts, and this help law students and bureaucrats in understanding its policy and principles. His works remain most authoritatively outstanding, cited and relied upon by the very best in the legal profession”.

He commended Justice Umezulike for dedicating his work to Prof. Omotola and bringing the memory of the legendary legal scholar back into reckoning. He also praised him for finding enough time to write, considering the onerous twin task of discharging his judicial and administrative duties as the Chief Judge of Enugu State.

Utuama used the occasion, which was  well attended by top members of the legal profession which includes; the Governor of Enugu State, Chief Sullivan Chime, represented by his Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Mr. Anthony Ani, the Chief Judge of Benue, Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi states, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Chief Okey Wali SAN, among others, to note that the A B C of Contemporary Land Law in Nigeria, has introduced two new interesting topics, ‘Land Owner and His Duty to Seen and Unseen Trespassers’ and also ‘Sustainable Mass Housing Development and Slum Upgrading’.

Prof. I.O. Smith, SAN, Prof of Property Law and Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, reviewed the book. He noted that the book has shifted the frontiers of knowledge in the area of land law and practice in Nigeria, adding that it was a reversion of position of the revolutionary changes brought about by the enactment of the Land Use Act 45 years ago.

According to him, “it is a book for researchers and scholars in the field of land law, and an ingredient for interpretation and implementation purpose of Land Use Act to be addressed by both the legislature and executive arm of government.”