A former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja Branch Chairman, Chief Victor Odunaiya, has turned 78. Friends and well-wishers gathered in Lagos to honour him. ADEBISI ONANUGA reports.
Lawyers converged on Lagos to celebrate a distinguished legal practitioner and a former Chairman of the Nigerian BarAssociation (NBA) Ikeja Branch, Chief Victor Odunaiya, who turned 78 on September 11.
Odunaiya, a lecturer and author of many legal books, they said, has carved a niche for himself in land and chieftaincy matters in his legal practice.
To celebrate him, a special birthday lecture was organised by the Alimosho Lawyers’ Forum in conjunction with the NBA, Ikeja Branch, at the Bar Center, GRA Ikeja, Lagos. The occasion attracted a horde of lawyers including one of his former students, Justice Abiodun Akinyemi, of Ogun State High Court, who could not hide his joy as the Chairman of the occasion.
The lecture was titled: “Application of the doctrine of Lis Pendens in Nigeria: Urgent need for judiciary and legislative intervention”.
Justice Akinyemi, in his remark, urged lawyers to emulate Chief Odunaiya, who he described as a role model in legal profession. Odunaiya, in Akinyemi’s estimation, deserved to be conferred with the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) because of his contributions to legal professon.
According to him, Chief Odunaiya is a legal teacher of repute and a father who should be emulated by many lawyers because of his approach to handling matter before judges.
Justice Akinyemi said: “I almost ran away from the bench when I saw my teacher appearing before me in a particular matter, but I respected him so much with the way he conducted himself and handled the litigation on that day not minding that he was appearing before his one time student.
”We have lost a lot of value in the legal profession and people like him ought to be valued, and somebody like him should be called upon and be awarded the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),” he said.
Akinyemi added that it is worthy to celebrate someone while alive and not after his death.
The guest speaker, Dr Gbenga Ojo, itemised the basic elements of a sucessful plea of Lis Pendens, saying the doctrine is anchored on the principle that it is in the interest of the public that there should be an end to litigation.
“The argument is that, if alienation pendelite is permissible, there would not be an end to litigation. The successful party has to commence a new suit to defeat the alienee that purchased pendelite,” he said.
He also enumerated the elements for a sucessful plea of Lis Pendens as laid down by courts, saying that at the time of the sale of the property, the suit regarding the dispute on the said property was already pending. The action or lis was in respect of real property, it never applies to personal property.
He remarked that the object of the action was to recover title to a specific real property, “that is to say, an action in a subject matter adverse to the owner in respect of some substantive right which is proprietary in nature”. He said the limits of Lis Pendens is an area where the application of the doctrine is thrown into confusion by inconsistent decisions by the Supreme Court as well as the Court of Appeal.
He said problem is created when the first element is treated in isolation.
The Ikeja Branch Chairman of the NBA, Yinka Farounbi, said Chief Odunaiya was being celebrated because he had imparted so much on them as lawyers. He prayed that the chief would live to be a centinarian.
“The gist is that anybody that drank from the Bdagry well would live for over 100 years. When we went to Badagry not too long ago, Baba drank from that well, so it is certain he would live for over 100 years,” he said.
The celebrator thanked the association for honouring him. He recalled his exploits as chairman of the Ikeja Branch when he called on lawyers to boycott the courts to demand that judges abide by the rules of the court while under the military regime. He acknowledged activities of the branch particularly, in the areas of advocacy and activism. He expressed happiness that the branch is still the “Tiger Branch” of the NBA.
Odunaiya urged members not to relent in their activities, stressing, “we lead the pack, they follow”.
He showered encomiums on Justice Akinyemi, whom he described as a very forthright judge. He noted that all his recommendations to the panel chaired by the judge of Ogun State on land matters and chieftaincy issues were not disputed. He said unlike reports of other panels, which are usually kept in the “cupboard”, those of Justice Akinyemi were fully implemented by various governments of Ogun State.
“My practice has taken me to different parts of Nigeria, handling land and chieftaincy matters. Today, when I look back, I can say I am fulfilled,” he said.
Odunaiya was called to the Bar in and enrolled as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1974. He is a member of several professional associations, such as, Royal Institute of Public Administration; Royal Economic Society; Institute of International and Comparative Law; Nigeria Institute of Management and the Nigerian Institute of Book-keepers.
Chief Odunaiya was a part-time lecturer at the Nigerian Law School between 1982 and 1992. He was the pioneer Chairman, Ifako/Iju-Ishaga Community Bank ltd, Lagos. He is a former Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja Branch and a member of the N.E.C of the Nigerian Bar Association for several years. He has had various working experiences both in the United Kingdom (UK) and Nigeria. He worked at the General Post Office (GPO) London; Ravensbourne Registration Services, Kent and Lloyds Bank London. He was also an Assistant Comptroller of Administration and later Secretary/ Legal Adviser, Western State Industrial Investment and Credit Corporation, Ibadan. He was the pioneer Company Secretary/ Legal Adviser, Odua’ Investment Company Limited, Ibadan.awyers converged on Lagos to celebrate a distinguished legal practitioner and a former Chairman of the Nigerian BarAssociation (NBA) Ikeja Branch, Chief Victor Odunaiya, who turned 78 on September 11.
Odunaiya, a lecturer and author of many legal books, they said, has carved a niche for himself in land and chieftaincy matters in his legal practice.
To celebrate him, a special birthday lecture was organised by the Alimosho Lawyers’ Forum in conjunction with the NBA, Ikeja Branch, at the Bar Center, GRA Ikeja, Lagos. The occasion attracted a horde of lawyers including one of his former students, Justice Abiodun Akinyemi, of Ogun State High Court, who could not hide his joy as the Chairman of the occasion.
The lecture was titled: “Application of the doctrine of Lis Pendens in Nigeria: Urgent need for judiciary and legislative intervention”.
Justice Akinyemi, in his remark, urged lawyers to emulate Chief Odunaiya, who he described as a role model in legal profession. Odunaiya, in Akinyemi’s estimation, deserved to be conferred with the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) because of his contributions to legal professon.
According to him, Chief Odunaiya is a legal teacher of repute and a father who should be emulated by many lawyers because of his approach to handling matter before judges.
Justice Akinyemi said: “I almost ran away from the bench when I saw my teacher appearing before me in a particular matter, but I respected him so much with the way he conducted himself and handled the litigation on that day not minding that he was appearing before his one time student.
”We have lost a lot of value in the legal profession and people like him ought to be valued, and somebody like him should be called upon and be awarded the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),” he said.
Akinyemi added that it is worthy to celebrate someone while alive and not after his death.
The guest speaker, Dr Gbenga Ojo, itemised the basic elements of a sucessful plea of Lis Pendens, saying the doctrine is anchored on the principle that it is in the interest of the public that there should be an end to litigation.
“The argument is that, if alienation pendelite is permissible, there would not be an end to litigation. The successful party has to commence a new suit to defeat the alienee that purchased pendelite,” he said.
He also enumerated the elements for a sucessful plea of Lis Pendens as laid down by courts, saying that at the time of the sale of the property, the suit regarding the dispute on the said property was already pending. The action or lis was in respect of real property, it never applies to personal property.
He remarked that the object of the action was to recover title to a specific real property, “that is to say, an action in a subject matter adverse to the owner in respect of some substantive right which is proprietary in nature”. He said the limits of Lis Pendens is an area where the application of the doctrine is thrown into confusion by inconsistent decisions by the Supreme Court as well as the Court of Appeal.
He said problem is created when the first element is treated in isolation.
The Ikeja Branch Chairman of the NBA, Yinka Farounbi, said Chief Odunaiya was being celebrated because he had imparted so much on them as lawyers. He prayed that the chief would live to be a centinarian.
“The gist is that anybody that drank from the Bdagry well would live for over 100 years. When we went to Badagry not too long ago, Baba drank from that well, so it is certain he would live for over 100 years,” he said.
The celebrator thanked the association for honouring him. He recalled his exploits as chairman of the Ikeja Branch when he called on lawyers to boycott the courts to demand that judges abide by the rules of the court while under the military regime. He acknowledged activities of the branch particularly, in the areas of advocacy and activism. He expressed happiness that the branch is still the “Tiger Branch” of the NBA.
Odunaiya urged members not to relent in their activities, stressing, “we lead the pack, they follow”.
He showered encomiums on Justice Akinyemi, whom he described as a very forthright judge. He noted that all his recommendations to the panel chaired by the judge of Ogun State on land matters and chieftaincy issues were not disputed. He said unlike reports of other panels, which are usually kept in the “cupboard”, those of Justice Akinyemi were fully implemented by various governments of Ogun State.
“My practice has taken me to different parts of Nigeria, handling land and chieftaincy matters. Today, when I look back, I can say I am fulfilled,” he said.
Odunaiya was called to the Bar in and enrolled as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1974. He is a member of several professional associations, such as, Royal Institute of Public Administration; Royal Economic Society; Institute of International and Comparative Law; Nigeria Institute of Management and the Nigerian Institute of Book-keepers.
Chief Odunaiya was a part-time lecturer at the Nigerian Law School between 1982 and 1992. He was the pioneer Chairman, Ifako/Iju-Ishaga Community Bank ltd, Lagos. He is a former Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja Branch and a member of the N.E.C of the Nigerian Bar Association for several years. He has had various working experiences both in the United Kingdom (UK) and Nigeria. He worked at the General Post Office (GPO) London; Ravensbourne Registration Services, Kent and Lloyds Bank London. He was also an Assistant Comptroller of Administration and later Secretary/ Legal Adviser, Western State Industrial Investment and Credit Corporation, Ibadan. He was the pioneer Company Secretary/ Legal Adviser, Odua’ Investment Company Limited, Ibadan.
