WOLE OLANIPEKUN AT 50: WHY ALL THE EUPHORIA?
By Wale Ojo-Lanre, Esq
Really why?.
My brother, imagine the excitement!
Imagine the scramble.
Imagine eminent jurists, learned silks, judges, academics, politicians, traditional rulers, clergymen, journalists, students, widows, young lawyers, community leaders and ordinary citizens falling over one another to celebrate one man.
Even my brother from Aramoko, that brilliant brand journalist, Raheem Akingbolu, has crafted an epistle on Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, CFR, the Asiwaju of Ikere-Ekiti.
But why all this euphoria?
Is Chief Wole Olanipekun the only legal icon who has spent 50 glorious years as a minister in the Temple of Justice?
What is extraordinary about practising law for 50 years?
Is longevity now an achievement?
Apart from being a legal pundit, a courtroom wizard, a forensic advocate and one of the most successful lawyers Nigeria has ever produced, what else has he accomplished?
Nothing?
So why the drums?
Why the songs?
Why the tributes?
Why the excitement?
Why are people disturbing our peace with celebrations because one village boy from Ikere-Ekiti was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1976, became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1991, served as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the old Ondo State, became President of the Nigerian Bar Association, rose to the rank of Life Bencher and later chaired the Body of Benchers?
Is that enough reason to turn one man into a festival?
Perhaps not.
He only participated in landmark constitutional cases that strengthened Nigeria’s democratic jurisprudence. His advocacy in Inakoju v. Adeleke helped affirm that the impeachment of a governor must comply strictly with constitutional requirements and not be reduced to legislative brigandage.
He also played leading roles in major electoral and constitutional cases, including those connected with the restoration of mandates in Edo, Ekiti and Ondo states, as well as the legal battle concerning the attempted exclusion of a sitting Vice-President from a presidential election.
But what is there to celebrate in that?
He merely helped to shape the law.
He merely stood in courtrooms where history was being written.
He merely deployed the law as an instrument for constitutional order, democratic stability and institutional sanity.
Is that enough?
He merely built a law firm that has become a university of legal practice, producing and mentoring lawyers who have risen to become Senior Advocates of Nigeria, judges, academics, public officers, corporate leaders and respected practitioners.
He did not keep his knowledge locked inside his wig and gown.
He transferred it.
He planted it.
He multiplied it.
He raised men and women who are also raising others.
Is mentorship now an achievement?
Outside the courtroom, he only served as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Ibadan. He also served Ajayi Crowther University, pioneered the Chancellorship of Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti, and later became Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos.
His intervention was also credited with helping to restore stability to the crisis-ridden Ladoke Akintola University of Technology.
Still, nothing extraordinary!
At the University of Ibadan, he merely supported scholarships and constructed a 420-seater auditorium for the Faculty of Law.
At Ajayi Crowther University, he funded scholarships for seminarians and donated a modern Vice-Chancellor’s Lodge.
In Ekiti State, he merely donated an ultra-modern courthouse to the Judiciary at Ikere-Ekiti, replacing an embarrassingly dilapidated structure unworthy of the dignity of justice.
He followed this with the donation of a massive Senate Building to BOUESTI, complete with Senate and Council chambers, administrative offices, conference facilities and supporting infrastructure.
What is special about building institutions that will outlive their donor?
He only established the Wole Olanipekun Scholarship Scheme in 1996.
By the time some people were still thinking of how to pronounce philanthropy, this man had already converted compassion into a structure. Thousands of students have benefited.
Many have become lawyers, doctors, academics, engineers, administrators, entrepreneurs and professionals in different fields.
His Foundation has also empowered widows, elderly citizens, indigent people and young entrepreneurs.
But perhaps lifting thousands of people out of helplessness is no big deal.
In Ikere-Ekiti, he merely supported hospital and maternity facilities, built educational and information technology infrastructure, established a radio station and created opportunities for people who might otherwise have been forgotten.
Instead of abandoning his roots, he watered them.
Instead of escaping from his community, he returned to develop it.
Instead of using success as a fence, he turned it into a bridge.
He also built church facilities and vicarages, supported Christian education and demonstrated that faith should not merely be preached from the pulpit but translated into service to humanity.
Nothing, abi?
Nothing—except lives rescued from poverty.
Nothing—except students whose dreams would have died but for his scholarships.
Nothing—except young lawyers whom he groomed into giants.
Nothing—except widows whose tears he wiped away.
Nothing—except elderly people whose dignity he restored.
Nothing—except entrepreneurs whom he empowered to stand on their own.
Nothing—except courts, hospitals, churches, university buildings, information technology centres and other institutions that will continue to serve humanity long after the applause of this anniversary has faded.
That is why this celebration is different.
Chief Wole Olanipekun’s 50 years at the Bar are not being celebrated merely because he survived five decades in legal practice.
Many people spend long years in a profession without leaving a footprint.
Some spend years counting briefs.
Some count titles.
Some count houses.
Some count privileges.
Some count the number of people they have defeated.
But Chief Wole Olanipekun’s story is not merely about what he acquired.
It is about what he gave.
It is not merely about the heights he reached.
It is about the hands he lifted.
It is not merely about the cases he won.
It is about the institutions he built.
It is not merely about the fame he earned.
It is about the lives he touched.
His celebration is not about the number of years he has counted at the Bar; it is about what he has made those years count for.
It is about professional excellence without intellectual selfishness.
It is about success without abandonment of one’s roots.
It is about wealth with compassion.
It is about influence deployed in the service of institutions.
It is about a man who climbed to the summit and refused to pull up the ladder behind him.
The law reports may preserve his arguments and victories, but no law report can adequately capture the widows comforted, the students rescued, the young lawyers mentored, the sick supported, the institutions strengthened and the hopes restored through his uncommon generosity.
So, why the euphoria?
Why celebrate Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, CFR?
The proper question is not why.
The real question is:
Why not?
If 50 years at the Bar produced only cases, it would have been enough for professional applause.
If it produced only titles, it would have been enough for social recognition.
If it produced only wealth, it would have been enough for personal comfort.
But in Chief Wole Olanipekun, 50 years at the Bar produced jurisprudence, mentorship, philanthropy, institutional development, community transformation and human upliftment.
That is why the drums must sound.
That is why the tributes must flow.
That is why Ikere must rejoice.
That is why Ekiti must stand tall.
That is why the legal profession must honour one of its finest ornaments.
Congratulations to the legal colossus, institution builder, mentor, philanthropist, benefactor, bridge-builder and pride of Ekiti State on 50 glorious years of outstanding service in the Temple of Justice.
May the remaining chapters of his life be even more impactful than the golden pages already written.
May God bless Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, CFR, the Asiwaju of Ikere-Ekiti, beyond his imagination.
A wonderful soul.
Wale Ojo-Lanre, Esq.
