NBA President Pays Tribute to Justice Nwokedi
“The common threads which I find run through the judgements of Honourable Justice Nwokedi, are his scholarship, his lucidity, the logic in his espousals, his feel for humanity, his sense of history, and, not least, His Lordship’s abiding interest in the use of law for the advancement of the rule of law and the protection of the fundamental rights of citizens.”
This was how the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, A.B. Mahmoud, SAN, described the late Nwokedi JSC at the valedictory court session held in his honour at the Supreme Court last Wednesday, at which he was represented by Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN.
In the valedictory speech which was read on his behalf by Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN, the NBA President said that the late Nwokedi JSC was an icon and beacon of hope in the Nigerian legal community.
Jutice Nwokedi whose son Mr. Uche Nwokedi, SAN, is a member of the Inner Bar, passed on two months shy of his 91st birthday which would have been marked on November 3, 2017.
He said "It is a tribute to His Lordship’s hard-work, intellect and competence, that in 1985, about 11 years after his appointment as a Judge, he was found worthy of further elevation to the position of Chief Judge of the old Anambra State, which then comprised the current Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States.
“We however, celebrate His Lordship today, as one of the extremely few jurists who successfully made the transition from the High Court Bench to the Apex Court Bench as a Justice of the Supreme Court, without intervening service years as a Justice of the Court of Appeal. The ranks of those Justices who made that leap included Oputa JSC, Kawu JSC, Usman JSC and of course, Honourable Justice Paul Kemdilim Nwokedi. His Lordship was elevated to the Supreme Court in 1990, at the time that the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court Justices remained fixed at 65 years. Thus, did it happen that His Lordship spent a rather brief period at the Supreme Court, retiring therefrom in 1991. But then, those few years were memorable, with His Lordship leaving his mark and pronouncements in the annals and sands of the Supreme Court, and indeed, our jurisprudence.
“Possibly, if His Lordship was asked the underlying philosophy for his judgements, he would have pointed to his Catholic upbringing and his socialist bent, a rather ironic twist, i.e. His Lordship’s socialist streak, considering that not only was His
Lordship born into royalty, but the practice of His Lordship’s chosen law profession, arguably, has aristocratic history and bearings.”
Nwokedi JSC was a leading authority on customary law at the Supreme Court, and his judgements attest to his lucidity and astute adherence to the spirit and principles to the law.