Justice Ogebe – a birthday tribute to an eminent jurist

For Mr Justice James Ogebe, retired justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, it was a triple celebration; what the Americans would call triple whammy. On March 21, he celebrated three important events in his life: his 80th birthday; the 50th anniversary of his wedding to  Dr (Mrs) Mary Ogebe and the public presentation of […]

For Mr Justice James Ogebe, retired justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, it was a triple celebration; what the Americans would call triple whammy. On March 21, he celebrated three important events in his life: his 80th birthday; the 50th anniversary of his wedding to  Dr (Mrs) Mary Ogebe and the public presentation of his, for me, long awaited autobiography, Justice Under the Shadow of the Almighty: My Life Sojourn to the Nigerian Supreme Court. It seems so inadequate to simply say to him, congratulations, my lord. But I have to make do with that because we recycle inadequate words and expressions that tend to make genuine feelings sound so bland and merely conventional.

This piece is a tribute to the man who rose from humble beginnings, remains humble and achieved the ultimate in his legal profession. Ogebe shuns the limelight and that is why not many people know that this eminent jurist saved our democracy from the politicians in the current dispensation. At the formal occasion marking the three events in Abuja on March 21, Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State, told reporters: “You may not know that Justice Ogebe was the person who returned me as governor after my impeachment in 2006.”

Obi was right. Not many of us know or remember today that for Ogebe, the story of our democracy under President Obasanjo would have turned out differently. The rape of the constitution was blatant under a strong president who used the EFCC to bend or break state governors he just did not approve of. The story of the three state governors removed from office needs to be told, even briefly, for us to appreciate how Ogebe’s courage and unflinching commitment to the rule of law and the constitution saved our democracy from continued victimisation by those who swore to protect and defend it but turned into its traducers.

Obi was not the only beneficiary of Ogebe’s courageous decisions in strict accordance with the law and the constitution, the supreme law of the land that ought to be inviolable but is frequently tossed about today in the gale of dishonesty at the bar and the bench and, of course, venality, the path to wealth in our dear country. Joshua Dariye, governor of Plateau State, was impeached by six members of the state legislature who were driven from Jos to Abuja in the dead of night by operatives of the EFCC. That night they carried out their unholy assignment and Dariye was suddenly without a job the next day. Compromised members of the Anambra State house of assembly drove across the Niger bridge to a hotel in Asaba, Delta State, at night and under the supervision of EFCC operatives removed Obi from office. In Ibadan, members of the state house of assembly were taken to a hotel owned by Lamidi Adedibu, the so-called amala politician, and removed the governor of Oyo State, Ladoja from office. His removal was funded by Adedibu supported by the federal might.

Ladoja appealed his removal from office. This was where Ogebe reached the ultimate in his quiet judicial activisms over the years in defence of the rule of law, the constitution and justice. Ladoja’s appeal came before the court of appeal in Ibadan sometime in 2006. Ogebe headed the court of appeal panel that heard his appeal. The court quashed Ladoja’s impeachment. Ogebe had no problems doing that because his strict Christian upbringing had instilled in him the abhorrence of injustice and the high-handed breaches of the law that had become the rule, not the exception.

In all the three cases, the legislators acted in defiance of the clear and unambiguous constitutional provisions. It was a rape of justice and the constitution, something offensive to Ogebe. He would not let it stand. In his lead judgment, he said that the constitution did not provide for the legislators to carry out their official functions outside the state house of assembly. A hotel would be the most inappropriate venue for legislative functions approved by the constitution. For me the most important statement he made in that judgement was this: “The court is the primary custodian of the constitution.” It is the sacred duty of the court to protect, defend and save the constitution from those consumed with power. If the supreme law of the land is blatantly raped and made impotent, the entire edifice of the law crumbles with unpleasant consequences for the country and its people.

Shocked by the fact that we had judges who were not afraid of speaking judicial truth to power, the then federal attorney-general and minister of justice, Bayo Ojo, tried to rubbish the judgement by declaring that it was a declarative judgement and unenforceable. He succeeded only in putting dark spots on his professional reputation. The judgement was unassailable.

Ladoja, Obi and Dariye got their jobs back. The threat of impeachment against other state governors melted away. We recovered our democracy after a fashion from the hands of the politicians. More importantly with Ogebe’s judgement, the lower courts, if you would excuse the expression, found their balls. Before that, one judge after another threw up his hands and took refuge under the untenable excuse that he had no jurisdiction to hear cases challenging the unconstitutional actions of the legislatures.

The great Lord Denning once said that he was not concerned with the law but with justice. Ogebe was concerned with both the law and justice because the law is the pillar of justice. Without it, there would be no justice. I suspect that Ogebe bore in mind John Locke’s saying that “wherever law ends tyranny begins.”

The title of Ogebe’s autobiography reflects, I think, his acknowledgement of the unseen hand in his affairs that directed and protected him at every stage of his life and in his trying moments on the lower bench, particularly in his home state, Benue. He gives the almighty the credit for his successes and achievements because his path to the top was anything but smooth. At critical moments in his career, politics and intolerance erected hurdles and obstacles in his path. He could not be the chief judge of Benue State when it was his turn by seniority to do so because, wait for it, he is an Idoma man, a tribe condemned to hew the wood and play the second fiddle for ever in their home state. At such moments, Ogebe without a godfather or anyone else to turn to, turned to the almighty. He sustained Ogebe and gave him the courage and the faith to hang in there and watch evil lose ultimately to good deeds and honest intentions.

We have good reasons to celebrate Ogebe. His courage on the bench inspired many fellow judges and justices. His incorruptibility remains a source of pride to those of us who have been privileged to sit at his feet and drink deep from the well of his humaneness, humanity, humility and integrity. The measure of man lies not in his wealth but in his courage, faith, integrity and service to mankind. I now know that, thanks to Mr Justice James Ogenyi Ogebe. Happy birthday, my lord.