By Abiola Olawale
Nigerian jurist and legal luminary, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, was formally bowed out as the Chief Justice of Nigeria as he turned 70 today, Thursday, August 22, 2024.
Speaking at a valedictory session held in his honour, the immediate past CJN emphasized the need for the Supreme Court to be unburdened.
Ariwoola declared that the apex court is often burdened with cases that don’t need to have exceeded to the appellate court.
According to him, not all cases need to get to the Supreme Court, canvassing urgent measures to ensure that only necessary court cases get to the apex court.
He also stressed the need for the bench to have more judicial officers to adjudicate on all matters timeously.
The New Diplomat reports that Ariwoola was born on August 22, 1954. He was appointed acting CJN on June 27, 2022, following the resignation of Justice Tanko Muhammad, and was confirmed CJN by the Nigerian Senate on September 21, 2022.
Ariwoola started his educational career in his home town, Iseyin, at the Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwol,e, 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.
He 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 Nigeria bar and enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate soon thereafter.
He was sworn in as a Judge of the High Court on 2nd November 1992, while he was sworn in as a Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA) on 22nd November 2005. Also, he was sworn in as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (JSC) on 22nd November 2011.
