Ojo, Osun State Former Chief Judge, Dies At 74
A former Chief Judge of Osun State, His Lordship Honourable Justice George Olaniyi Ojo, is dead, aged 74 years.
The late jurist was born on 8 November, 1947 into the Esorun Compound, Igbajo in Boluwaduro Local Government Area of Osun State.
He started his formal education in 1953 at St. Stephen’s Primary School, Inalende Ibadan, Oyo State and also attended Oranmiyan Memorial College, Ile-Ife between 1961 and 1964, before proceeding to Oke Ibadan High School, Ibadan and later The Polytechnic Ibadan between 1972 and 1974.
In 1974, he was admitted to study Law at the then University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State, where he obtained his LLB degree in 1978.
The late Justice Ojo was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1979 after passing his bar examination at the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Upon the completion of the mandatory national youth service with the Ogun State Criminal Investigation Department of the Nigerian Police Force in Abeokuta, he proceeded to start his Legal career at the Law Chambers of Akintoba Aderemi & Co in Ibadan, Oyo State.
At Akintoba Aderemi and Co, he had the privilege of cutting his legal luminary teeth under the late Mr P.O. Aderemi as he then was (later Justice P.O. Aderemi (JSC.).
Sooner than later, G.O. Ojo & Co, the Law Chambers he established at God First House, Sango in Ibadan, allowed him to have his extensive legal practice across many parts of the country.
As a legal practitioner, the late Justice Ojo was, at various times, deeply involved in the activities of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Between 1987 and 1990, he served as the Assistant General and General Secretary of the NBA, Ibadan Branch and where he received a special award as “BAR MAN” of The Year in 1996.
The steps to greatness, which started under Justice Aderemi, was further quickened on 20 August, 1996 when, at age 49, he was appointed as a Justice of the High Court of Osun State Judiciary.
12 years after, on 20 March, 2008, the late jurist was appointed as the President of the Osun State Customary Court of Appeal, achieving a milestone as the first judge to hold that post in the whole of the South-West geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
Subsequently, on 23 July, 2010, Justice Ojo was sworn in as the substantive Chief Judge of Osun State and thus, becoming the first Judge in the country to have headed both the Customary Court of Appeal and the High Court of a State at different times.
As the Chief Judge, his Lordship Olaniyi Ojo recorded tremendous milestones that remains a great legacy on the body and staff of the judiciary in the state, silently revolutionising it through different initiatives relating to staff welfare, training and administration of justice.
His Lordship’s sense of fairness, high integrity, transparency and honesty, both as a lawyer and a judge, transcended his immediate professional constituency and he was this rewarded with several awards from different bodies outside the legal profession.
These included a special Award of Excellence presented to him by the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, Oyo State Branch in recognition of his fairness, high integrity, transparency and honesty in the dispensation of service to humanity.
The late jurist also got the Diamond Award of Distinguished Erudite Jurist in recognition of his outstanding contributions to legal development, rule of law and democracy consolidation in Nigeria by the Osun State Consultative Forum, among several others.
His Lordship Justice Ojo, in his commitment to human capacity development and growth, founded Geo Schools and remained in active capacity as a proprietor.
He was the Honourary Legal Adviser to Samuel Fadeji Memorial Baptist Church, Aromolaran Area Ibadan, as well the Patron of the Youth society of the church.
Till his passage, the late Justice Ojo led the Association of Retired Judges of Osun State as the chairman and he is survived by his wife and children.
