A Benin-based lawyer and public notary, Olayiwola Afolabi has instituted an annual award for the best graduating law student of Benin extraction from the University of Benin in honour of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Henry Ogbodu, who he said was the first lawyer to take him to the Supreme Court.
He said the experience at the apex court spurred him to be very serious about his law practice and today he (Afolabi) is a SAN.
In a letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin seeking permission, he said the award would come with gifts and cash.
Afolabi said, “I am a legal practitioner from Ekiti State but based in Benin and I have benefitted much from a Bini man and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who took me to the Supreme Court many years ago for the first time in my life.
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“The decision of Chief Henry Ogbodu (SAN) made me to be more serious in my legal career thus paving the way for me to be elevated to the position of where I am today.
“As a result of the above, I have decided with my family that I will be giving the best Law Student of Bini extraction a wig and gown every year and the sum of thirty thousand naira to every beneficiary of the award in the law faculty at the University of Benin.
“I believe this is the only way to appreciate my learned senior who has been benevolent to me in my legal career in Edo State.”
