Babalakin, upright Nigerian worthy of emulation -Osinbajo

Blessing Akorowosi, Osogbo

The Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has stated that the death of former Supreme Court’s judge, Bolarinwa Babalakin who passed on at age 95 is a loss to the legal profession, Yoruba race and Nigeria at large.

Extolling the great virtues of late Babalakin, Prof. Osinbajo said one of the depressing things about his passing is that “we have lost one of the very few that we can truly say that if you bring him to a situation, whatever it may be, you would expect integrity, honesty and forthrightness.”

Speaking during a condolence visit to the family on Saturday in Gbongan, Osun State, Professor Osinbajo described the late jusrist as an upright and sincere Nigerian whose character should be emulated by many.

He said, “When I heard about the passing of our father, Babalakin, I called Adewale when he was abroad, I told him that this is not just a loss for him and the family but a great loss for all of us, his friend, the legal professional and even the Yoruba race, Baba was someone who was credible.

“I remember in 2003 when we had a problem with Obasanjo in Lagos, he held unto our local government funds and it was after the Supreme Court has given us judgement and he refused to hand over the money, we were going back and forth on it, so we were looking for somebody who will be respected by both Obasanjo and ourselves who we knew will be considered credible by both side, and everybody agreed that Justice Babalakin will be the right person. He advised that ultimately that we will resolve the issue with a kind of negotiation.

“He spoke very frankly to Obasanjo because later on, we got feedback on how he spoke to him. In the end, we all left having the feeling that we have someone fair, just, frank with all of us.

“Every time that I have come across Justice Babalakin, one of the things I have always worried about is that people of his set are vast disappearing from our profession, people who are respected by the bar and bench trusted and straightforward, so one of the depressing things about his passing is that we have lost one of the very few that we can truly say that if you bring him to a situation, whatever it may be, you would expect integrity, honesty and forthrightness. It is said that we can’t even guarantee that very much.

“This is a big loss for our nation especially at a time when we need credible people who can negotiate a lot of the problems and issues that are confronting us as a nation”.

Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola who also visited the family, prayed to God to give the family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Also, his counterpart from Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu said ” we were groomed in the same brach of the Nigeria bar Association in Ibadan.

“He had a remarkable achievement as a judge in Ibadan before he was elevated to the supreme court. He was a man of integrity who knew his onions and added values to the law profession and the new generation set of people in the profession.

“Many of us have respect for him because of his discipline and good conducts in the profession.”

Appreciating the Vice President and his entourage for the condolences visit, the deceased eldest son, Wale Babalakin described their visit as a never to be forgotten one and prayed to God to guide them while going back to their different destinations.