Lawyers Must Remain Committed To Pursuit Of Justice – K. S. Okeaya-Inneh SAN

He bestrides the terrain of the learned profession like a colossus. He is the leader of the Bar South South. Like the Chief Rotimi Williams legal dynasty and the Chief Dafinone Accounting dynasty, he has successfully established a legal dynasty. Mr. K. S Okeaya Inneh SAN, father to Mr. Adetokunbo Omoregie Okeaya-Inneh SAN and Joy Okeaya-Inneh as well as Osahon Okeaya-Inneh, a practicing lawyer.
Mr. K. S Okeaya-Inneh’s talent as a lawyer was discovered several years ago in the college by his principal, Reverend J. S Adeniyi, a graduate of Furah Bay College in Sierria Leone and other teachers who started calling him “lawyer of tomorrow” as a result of his brilliant performance in a drama piece Julius Caesar penned by Williams Shakespeare where he played the role of a lawyer. He speaks on his journey to becoming a lawyer and on sundry issues.  “At class six in the secondary school, I was employed by the judicial department, attached to Ibadan to become a Court Clerk. I was posted to Warn High Court after one year in Ibadan as a Registrar. At this time, I had completed my secondary school. In Warn, I was privileged to have seen Justice Ogbobine, Justice Irikefe, Chief Authur Press, Justice Chukwuemeka Idigbe, all of blessed memory, practice in my Court as a Registrar. I was inspired by their composure, eloquence and dressing and the way they defended people. In 1960, convinced that I would be outstanding as a lawyer, Justice Idigbe came to Benin to persuade my father to send me to London to study law. Justice Idigbe signed my form with which I was admitted by the Council of Legal Education London to study law. At that time, the duration to study law was three years but I studied law for i8 months and graduated. I also studied oratory at the Council of Legal Education, London. I was called to the Bar in July 1963. I returned to Nigeria and spent 3 months in the law school, Lagos. I came to Benin from Lagos to join the Chambers of S. I. O. Giwa-Amu. I spent 3 years in his Chamber and started my Chamber or law office in 1967”.
It is important to mention that Mr. K. S Okeaya Inneh San was one of the lawyers in 1967 who took out a writ of Hebeas Corpus against the then government of Bendel State requesting for the freedom of his client and his client was consequently granted freedom. This remarkable feat which he achieved was published by the Nigerian newspapers throughout the country at that time. The learned Senior Advocate did other remarkable cases and recorded ground-breaking achievements. One of the land cases which he did and won became a locus classicus and cited in every part of the country.
Some of the landmark cases which he did that extended the frontier of the learned profession are “Kola Okeaya-Inneh Vs Madam Ekiomado”, which he won at the Supreme Court, “Clifford Imafidon Inneh Vs Pfizer Company” which he won for his brother, among other numerous cases. Through these cases, he contributed immensely to the Nigerian legal jurisprudence.
Speaking on the issue of corruption, the learned Senior Advocate expresses his views “I was the first lawyer that exposed corruption in the judiciary. I did a case and won. Three Judges who became corrupt surremptiously changed my judgment to 4,000 pounds. I went straight to the then Head of State, General Ramat Muritala Mohammed to complain and they were disciplined accordingly.
Mr. K. S Okeaya-Inneh SAN had had the privilege of addressing the Supreme Court Justices on the occasion of the retirement of one of the Supreme Court Judge. He has delivered lectures in several forums of lawyers on many issues on law such as the issue of electronically generated evidence. As an authority in land law as to the system of progenitor in Benin Kingdom, he wrote a well researched book on the issue of Igiogbe titled “Benin Native Law and Custom at a Glance”. This book is an important book for students who are conducting research for their post graduate programme on the issue of succession. Another book containing legal essays was written in his honour by some lawyers and Judges. These books were launched on his 70th birthday, specifically on 22nd January, 2007. His eldest son, Ade Okeaya-Inneh SAN edited the compendium of legal essays.
Responding to a question on the issue of standards in the legal profession, the enigmatic Senior Advocate speaks “Students who desire to be lawyers must learn to be studious and hardworking. The legal profession is not for lazy people. It is for those who are prepared to read. By the nature of the profession, as a machinery designed for the dismantling of injustice, would be lawyers or those who intend to study law must be ready to face the rigours associated with studying law. Despite the fact that some lawyers are not doing well in practice in terms of standard, there are lawyers from our Universities and the law school in recent times that are doing well. I am of the view that the emergence of computer technology has contributed immensely to the development of the legal profession. Lawyers now embark on online research and can read legal materials in the internet. The internet has revolutionalized legal research. Presently, we have what is known as Continuing Legal Education that enables lawyers to continue to update their knowledge in law. We also have other events in the legal profession such as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference, an annual event where Lawyers come together to brainstorm on legal issues and leadership. All these are avenues for lawyers to develop themselves in the profession”. Mr. K. S. Okeaya-Inneh who provides good leadership for the South South Bar also comments on the issue of leadership in the country and the world “Leadership is a crucial task that must be handled diligently. Leaders have an onerous mandate to deliver to the people and must do their best to harness and develop the God-given resources in their land for the benefit of their people. Democracy can not be built in one day. Great countries of the world passed through great challenges in the quest for growth and development.
The beauty is that the leaders of these great countries were willing to learn from their mistakes and these leaders made conscious efforts towards building their countries. Here in our nation, we are still grappling with the challenges of leadership. The first step that our leaders must take to enable us make progress is to shun corruption. We must also endeavour to harness our resources to the fullest if we must make progress as a nation. Furthermore, our leaders should strive towards learning from leaders of great nations. If our leaders are able to do these things, among others, Nigeria will rank among the comity of great nations of the world.
Mr K S Okeaya-Inneh SAN who is Counsel to some prominent Nigerians is a notary public and great philanthropist who has done much to give back to the society. It is instructive to note that many lawyers who passed through him are now great Lawyers, Judges, and Captains of Industries. As a peacemaker, he brokered peace between prominent Benin people.