Legal luminaries on Friday showered encomiums on late legal icon, Justice Kayode Eso who died on 16th November for his numerous contributions to the development of the legal profession in the country and beyond.
Justice Eso headed several Federal Government judicial reform panels, including the very one that recommended the establishment of the National Judicial Council (NJC) that has power to discipline erred judicial officers.
Speaking at a special Supreme Court session on Friday in honour of late Justice Eso, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar described Eso as a legal icon whose extra-judicial work led to the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the National Judicial Council (NJC).
She recalled that as chairman of the Judicial Panel on Reorganisation/Reform of the Judiciary in Nigeria, Justice Eso made a far-reaching recommendation on speedy and effective dispensation of justice, and the sacked of 47 judges who could not prove to merit their appointments.
Also speaking, Chief Godwin Olusegun Kolawole Ajaji (SAN) said that Justice Kayode Eso was an erudite jurist and a committed Anglican whose contributions to the Nigerian judicial was fantastic.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) said that Eso’s work made him the “leading exponent of judicial activism in our country.”
He also adopted a uniquely practical approach, which emphasised that human rights are not ‘mere rights’ but the primary condition for a civilized existence in the society.
Eso’s pronouncements on the bench also gave practical effect to his strong beliefs in fundamental human rights by popularising ‘Executive Lawness.’
The late legal icon also frequently opposed harsh legislations that sought to divest the courts of jurisdiction in matters relating to the protection of fundamental human rights.
Adoke said that his worthy record of achievements, commitment to excellence and the rule of law should serve as a source of inspiration to all and sundry.
Justice Eso, 18th September 1925 and called to the bar (The Lincon’s bar) in 1954, passed on to the great beyond on 16th November 2012.
