Oyebanji Commissions New Ikere High Court Complex Donated By Wole Olanipekun, SAN

………. Calls on government, well meaning Nigerians to pay attention to  the deteriorating conditions of Nigeria Courts.

By Emmanuel Adeoye

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The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji has formally commissioned the newly built and constructed Ikere Ekiti High Court Complex which was built and donated by Chief Wole Olanipekun, an Ikere Ekiti born Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and prominent Nigerian lawyer just as who is who in the legal profession from different places in the Country graced the occasion. 

Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, the Governor of Ekiti State, while addressing the gathering before commissioning the ultra modern High Court Complex in Ikere Ekiti, commended the donor of the building in person of Chief Wole Olanipekun who deemed it fit to give the edifice to the people of his immediate community of Ikere Ekiti amidst  pagentry and glamour. 

According to the governor, he said, “Nigeria would be a better place if individually we can give helping hands to the needs of our family, communities, worship places.

He tasked other well-meaning citizens of the state to emulate the legal icon by contributing their quota adding that his administration is committed to creating an enabling environment in the judiciary.

“The significance of this occasion can be found in the fact this is definitely unprecedented in the history of our State and nothing bears an eloquent testimony to this than the cream of the witnesses at today’s event.

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“I therefore want to congratulate Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN and his wife on this occasion. Let me, on behalf of Ekiti State Judiciary and Ekiti State Government in general, express my profound appreciation to him for the generous donation of this magnificent edifice which is another remarkable contribution to his long list of such public-spirited donations to the society”

Chief Wole Olanipekun in his address during the inauguration of the court complex on Thursday at Ikere Ekiti, said he was not comfortable with the poor state of High Court in his home town, Ikere Ekiti which had almost hampered judges and lawyers to carry out their primary work seamlessly, saying that was why he built the court complex.

According to the donor, Chief Wole Olanipekun,” the court complex comprises State of the art facilities to includes: 2 standard courtrooms that can occupy 50 counsel and 30 litigants, 4 cloak rooms, 13 toilets, 120KVA Generator, borehole, conference room, meeting room, 2 pre- trial rooms, 2 exhibit rooms, 2 holding cells, cashier office, registry , general office, reception hall with full air conditioned, computers, television sets , refrigerators, conventional library and E- library were provided for the comfort of the judges and the people”

Chief Olanipekun opined that with the permission of the Ekiti State Chief Judge, he had named  COURT 1 after Hon. Justice Michael Ekundayo Ogundare, the first Lawyer in Ikere Ekiti. He added that COURT 2 was named after Hon. Justice Olajide Olatawura from Ikole Ekiti while the Library was named after Aare Afe Babalola, Founder Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

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The legal Icon however appealed to government and spirited individuals to help salvage the comatose conditions of courts in Nigeria. According to Chief Olanipekun” The walls and roofs of a good number of our courtrooms are collapsing and caving in. Basic facilities such as electricity, water, toilets ,libraries are lacking. A sad Spectre or Scenery of lawyers scrambling to secure seats with litigants or sharing meagre available accommodation within the ‘ Sardine  packed’ courtrooms menacingly intimidate judges, counsel and litigants”

There were good will messages from Aare Afe Babalola, Chairman,. NBA Ikere Branch, good numbers of Ikere Indigenes.

Dignitaries at the commissioning includes: large numbers of Ekiti Obas, Chiefs, Senators Olujimi, Adetunbi, Opeyemi Bamidele, former Senator Ojudu, politicians, clergymen, lawyers from the 36 states of the federation among others.

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