A cursory surfing of the internet harvests and produces comprehensive biographical details about our Celebrant of today, the 17th indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON. One should not be surprised about the avalanche of information available on the web about my noble Lord because our exiting CJN himself is always at home with the internet as he is Information Communication Technology savvy. I attest to the fact that My Lord is an internet prodigy and a guru.
My Lords, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen; my Lord, the Hon. Justice Kayode Ariwoola is an embodiment of humility, hope, steadfastness, and determination, who by divine providence worked through the rungs of the judiciary up to the peak as Chief Justice of Nigeria.

From his humble beginning as a young school teacher in Iseyin, Oyo State, to now retiring as the leader of the Bench in Nigeria, aptly mirrors the essence of hope and unwavering aspiration to ascend to greater heights in life. As an indigene of the Pacesetter State, Oyo, it is noteworthy that my Lord is the first graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University from Oyo State to be appointed to the Court of Appeal.
My Lord Ariwoola started his educational career in his home town, Iseyin at the Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole in Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State between 1959 and 1967. He was in the Muslim Modern School in the same town between 1968 and 1969 before proceeding to Ansar-ud-Deen High School, Saki in Oyo North of Oyo State. His Lordship studied law at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile Ife and bagged his Bachelor of Laws degree with honours in July 1980. In July 1981, Olu Ariwoola was called to the Nigerian Bar and got enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate soon thereafter.
His Lordship was a State Counsel on National Youth Service (NYSC) at the Ministry of Justice, Akure, Ondo State and later as Legal Officer in the Ministry of Justice of his home state Oyo until 1988 when he voluntarily left the official bar of the State Civil Service for private practice. His Lordship briefly worked as Counsel in-Chambers of Chief Ladosu Ladapo, SAN between October, 1988 and July 1989, after which he established Olukayode Ariwoola & Co – a firm of legal practitioners and consultants in Oyo town in August 1989 from where he was appointed in November 1992 as a judge of Oyo State Judiciary. Hon. Justice Ariwoola was born to the Ariwoola family of Iseyin at exactly 70 years ago today. His Lordship must have something to do, in a way, with figure two (2). While His Lordship was born on the 22nd August, he was sworn in as a Judge of the High Court on 2nd November, 1992, as a Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA) on 22nd November, 2005 and again was sworn in as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (JSC) on 22nd November, 2011. Justice Ariwoola served as Chairman, Board of Directors, Phonex Motors Ltd – one of Oodua Investment conglomerates between 1988 and 1992. He also served as the Chairman, Armed Robbery and Fire-arms Tribunal in Oyo State between May 1993 and September 1996 when he was posted out of the headquarters, Ibadan to Saki High Court. His Lordship served on the election tribunals in Zamfara and Enugu states in 1999 and on Election Appeal Courts in Port-Harcourt, Enugu, Benin, Yola and Ilorin at various times.
Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, his Lordship served as Justice of the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, Enugu and Lagos divisions. My Lord is also a fellow of the International Dispute Resolution Institute (FIDRI) having been inducted in Dubai, UAE in 2014. His Lordship has attended many national and international conferences and workshops in France, Atlanta Georgia, United Kingdom and Dubai, UAE. My Lord Ariwoola is happily married with children and he loves reading, listening to good music, photography and shopping.
I am a very proud member of Ibadan bar and also a Patron of that great branch of the Nigerian Bar Association which unarguably is the first organised Bar in Nigeria, hence it is the real Premier Bar in Nigeria. As a rookie lawyer, I cut my very good and sharp teeth in the law firm of that great and renowned Avatar, Colossus and legal icon, now turned Educationist of repute, Chief Emmanuel Afe Babalola, CON, OFR, SAN, FNIALS, D. Litts etc. The prestigious and illustrious law firm is no other than Afe Babalola & Co., Emmanuel Chambers situate at No. 80, Adekunle Fajuyi Road, Adamasingba, Ibadan. The law firm is reputed for producing several great jurists and Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
Lest I be accused of too much deference to the Afe Babalola Chambers, it goes without saying that in those good old days, Ibadan bar boasted of legal giants in the moulds of Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN; Chief Folake Solanke (Alabukun Chambers), Chief Olisa Chukwura, SAN; Chief Bamidele Aiku, SAN; and Chief Oladosu Ladapo, SAN, amongst many others, who all sharpened our legal teeth in these remarkable years. It was during my formative years at Ibadan bar that my path and that of our retiring CJN first crossed each other. Without being immodest, all lawyers and jurists of note must have had professional interactions and engagements with lawyers in Emmanuel Chambers either as “Appearing with me Counsel” or as Opposing Counsel in litigations or as a judex in matters which we have been privileged to offer our cutting edge professional legal services to our diverse clients all over the country, and it was in the course of some of those vast nomadic legal practice that I met My Lord., the CJN who was a diligent State Counsel in the Ministry of Justice, Oyo State.
Our engagements in court became more frequent shortly afterwards when he left the services of the state to join us in the private legal practice when he set up his law firm known as Olukayode Ariwoola & Co., (Mako Allah Chambers) situate at No.1, Iseyin Road, Owode, Oyo town in Oyo State. It is pertinent for me to add that the CJN then took over that chamber which hitherto belonged to his kinsman, Mr. S. L. Popoola, upon the latter’s appointment as a Judge of Oyo State High Court in February 1982. As a private legal practitioner, my Lord was very ubiquitous in all the courts of various jurisdictions, including the Supreme Court.
My noble Lord’s erudity and versatility in courts including his comportment, carriage and integrity did not go unnoticed by the judges of the Oyo State High Court at that material time and also the senior members of the bar who promptly recommended him for preferment as a Judge of the Oyo State High Court on 2nd November, 1992 alongside with five others namely:
•Hon. Justice Kareem Jimoh, appointed from the old Rivers State Ministry of Justice where he was then the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary and who was from Ibadan zone of Oyo State;
•Hon. Justice I. O. Olakanmi, then the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice of Oyo State who later rose to become the Chief Judge of Oyo State, also from Ibadan zone of the State;
•Hon. Justice Afolabi Adeniran of Ogbomoso zone of Oyo State but who was a successful private legal practitioner in Yaba, Lagos State and who later rose to become the Acting Chief Judge of Oyo State;
•Hon. Justice Lambe Olajire Arasi also of Ibadan zone who was also appointed from a very busy and successful private legal practice in Ibadan, Oyo State;
•Hon. Justice John Olagoke Ige, another very successful private legal practitioner in Lagos who hailed from Igbo-Ora in Ibarapa zone of Oyo State. Hon. Justice J. O. Ige also rose to become the Acting Chief Judge of Oyo State; and
•The last but not the least, but the youngest of the six being my Lord, Honourable Justice Olukayode Ariwoola also a private legal practitioner based in Oyo town, Oyo State, but who hails from Iseyin in Oke-Ogun zone of Oyo State.
Their appointment was made when the judiciary of Oyo State was under the leadership of Honourable Justice Timothy Adebayo Adeniran Ayorinde as the Chief Judge of Oyo State.
My Lord’s pronouncements and interventions on the bench are variously contained in several landmark judgments delivered by His Lordship during his very purposeful and highly impactful sojourns on the benches of our High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, most of which are permanently recorded in our various law reports for posterity. No doubt, my Lord’s indelible footprints are very noticeable and manifestly seen in his contributions to the growth and the development of our jurisprudence and constitutionalism. These decisions are too numerous to mention here and, in any event, I prefer to leave that brief to the biography as I am aware that most of the judgments are already chronicled in various books in honour of my Lord, the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria.
My Lord, the CJN is a workaholic and a very outstanding jurist, but not many are aware that My Lord is also a great community person and has great communal value that is second to none. My Lord was once prevailed upon by his people of Iseyin to leave his private legal practice, temporarily, to represent their federal constituency in the Federal House of Representatives at Abuja during the military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida political adventures. My Lord politely declined the offer and remained focused on his legal career.
Permit me to use this occasion to state that the Present Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government is irrevocably committed to massively change the course of narratives within our country’s justice sector. Nigeria’s justice sector shall continue to witness several massive turn-arounds, initiatives and projects that would restore, transform and reposition our justice sector and place it as the best in the global legal community. As a government, we shall eradicate all forms of obstacles militating against the modernisation, effectiveness and efficiency of that critical sector. Recently, the President has assented to the Act which granted upward review of the salaries and allowances of the country’s judicial officers by 300% which we strongly believe would enhance and promote not only the independence of judiciary but will also properly place and position our judiciary as the true and real last hope of the common man and indeed a renewed hope for all and sundry to get from our various courts not only judgements well delivered but justice in action. The Federal Government under the able leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very much aware and conscious of the present hardships in our country and the hard times that all the citizens of the country are presently undergoing. The government appreciates the resilience of all Nigerians and appeals to our people to kindly bear with the government and be assured that the ongoing hardships are very temporary and will soon give ways to era of prosperity and real growth and developments in Nigeria. The government has put several measures and economic policies in place that would soon mature and transform our country into one of the top economies of the globe.
For my Lord, the Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, today marks the end of a most memorable and impactful judicial career, which spanned a period of 32 years, from when he was first appointed a High Court Judge of Oyo State in November, 1992. Indeed, His Lordship came, saw and conquered (veni, vidi, vici). He has made his mark and left indelible imprints in the annals of the Nigerian judiciary and the legal profession in general. I must remark that the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria is a stabilising factor who mounted the saddle at a challenging moment for the apex court and he has creditably sustained the sanctity of this hallowed court both as a court of policy, final arbiter and regulator of the justice sector.
As His Lordship takes a well-deserved bow today, permit me to specially appreciate him for providing leadership, guidance and his firm commitment to improving the wellbeing of the judiciary, which he contributed to immensely.
This has culminated in the harmonisation of retirement age of 70 years for judicial officers, attainment of a full complement of 21 justices for the Supreme Court, and the enactment of the Judicial Office Holders (Salaries, Allowances, Etc) Act, 2024 which was recently assented to by H.E. President Bola Tinubu, GCFR in order to usher in a 300% increase in the remuneration of our noble lordships. The foregoing signposts the commitment of the present administration to promoting the independence and capacity of the judiciary and advancing judicial reforms.
The government is also working on other reforms in terms of policies and constitutional amendments to increase access to justice, transparent appointment process, ensure speedy adjudication of cases, increase public confidence in the judiciary, insulate the judiciary from undue interference, etc. I must note that some of these reform initiatives are part of the resolutions reached at the end of the National Justice Summit held in April 2024, which enjoyed the strong support of Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola. Indeed, the President is committed to a radical transformation of the judiciary in line with rule of law and administration of justice components of the administration’s roadmap for national development.
The government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu shall at all times protect and promote the rights of all Nigerians and shall not tolerate any infraction and or breach of same by any person(s) and agencies under any guise whatsoever except as provided by the country’s constitution.
It is also pertinent to state that constitutional democracy and governance has laid out its peculiar features and attributes. I must restate that elective and legitimate governments entrusted with the mandates of the people can only be changed constitutionally and legally by the electorate at the end of its term of office as prescribed by our laws and the Constitution of the country which is the groundnorm.
Any other mode or means of attempting to change a democratically elected government except as provided by our laws and the constitution is nothing but a clear case of treason and subversion of democratic governance. The laws of our land as well as the constitution have made copious provisions for dealing with same and bringing the full weight of the laws on such treasonable felons.
Our Government commends and remains grateful to our apex court in the land, the Supreme Court of Nigeria for living up to its status as both a court of justice and as a policy court in their landmark judgement that emancipated, liberated and set free our local government system in Nigeria from the claws, tyranny and oppression of those who had held them by the jugulars over the years which has led to almost total stagnation and absence of development and governance in our 774 local governments all over the country.
We are not unaware of the threats and noises of reprisal by some (not all) of the principalities affected by that epic and locus classicus judgement of the Supreme Court who are threatening fire and brimstone in a matter that has been settled and laid to rest finally by our apex court. The point must be made that their action in this regard amounts to hoovering round the precinct of contempt of court. I urge the Attorneys-General of the affected states to educate and offer sound legal advice, even though very trite and too elementary, to their principals that there can be no appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court.
They should therefore abide by the principles and the doctrines of the rule of law which is the bedrock of Constitutional democracy. We have no doubt or illusion that our country shall now witness a new dawn and era of purposeful governance across all our 774 local governments. We urge and appeal to all citizens of this country, professional bodies and associations to be alert and watchful of how the local government are utilizing their allocations for growth and development. Our law enforcement agencies too must also monitor all governments and bring the full weight of the laws to bear on any erring government, ministries, departments and or agencies in confirmed cases of misappropriation and or embezzlement, particularly for those who don’t have immunities under the constitution like our democratically elected local government executives, officers and personnel.
I must attest to the fact that my Lord, the CJN, dispensed justice authoritatively and in his role as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, he discharged his duties passionately in Court and to the Country. He also fostered good relationship among the Bench and strived to protect the integrity and image of the Court. He insulated it from politics and reinvented the image of the courts as the last hope of the common man. The relationship between the Bar and the Bench was very cordial during his tenure. His two-year leadership at the nation’s apex court will be forever remembered.
My Lords, Distinguished guests, it is obvious that my Lord is a highly accomplished jurist and held a distinguished career in the Nigerian judiciary. Inevitably, the time has come for my Lord to draw the curtain on his decades of meritorious service to the country, not because he is weak by any measure, but because of constitutional requirements. My Lord is merely stepping into the background from where he will have the responsibility of mentoring, advising, and shaping the younger ones. Therefore, we should not be sad that he is retiring because we shall now begin to enjoy another phase of his leadership and fatherly role.
My Lord, I know you are eager to retire to your lovely family and away from public life, but I want to plead with you to be available to us. The judiciary, in particular, and the country at large will continue to reach out to you to tap into your deep wisdom and wealth of experience.
At this juncture, I want to extend my gratitude to the family of my Lord. My Lord is not just an accomplished judiciary icon, he is also an accomplished family man and a father-figure to many. He is happily married to his lovely wife, Mrs. Ariwoola, and their marriage is blessed with children. They have endured the burden that comes with the arduous demands of judicial service. They have sacrificed their needs to allow my Lord to effectively discharge his duties as a jurist for over three decades. The intermittent late nights, absences, inconvenience that comes with postings and the requirements of the job; they have endured all, and for that we celebrate your love and sacrifices.
My Lord, this is a day of celebration. We have gathered here not to say goodbye, but to celebrate you and the lofty goals and achievements you have accomplished. We are here to celebrate your dedication to public service and your immense contribution to nation-building. We are proud of you. The country is proud of you and is indebted to you. You have left indelible marks in the sands of time. Your legacy is eternal and remains a model for our jurists and legal practitioners. We are not happy leaving you to retirement, but I must say that I am personally pained that the bench is going to miss the wisdom and erudition of my Lord, Justice Ariwoola, CJN, but we are nonetheless consoled that he is handing over the baton to a worthy successor, the Ag. CJN, her Lordship, Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, CFR who incidentally, was the classmate of My Lord, Justice Ariwoola
•Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Prince Lateef Fagbemi delivered this speech at the Special Valedictory Session of the Supreme Court to mark the retirement of Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Olukayode Ariwoola in Abuja.