It is always my tradition to share certain past stories in my life during landmark birthdays. The stories come from my stocktaking about my experiences over the years, and the journey that has taken me to my present station.
As my 60th birthday approached today, I had been wondering whether I acted properly on an occasion that happened shortly after my 40th birthday. That was in 2006. The recent call-to-bar ceremonies for new lawyers in Abuja earlier this month also made the 20-year-old incident ceaselessly tug at my conscience.
It happened in August 2006 at the Nigerian Law School campus on Victoria Island, Lagos, the place where some old lawyers call ‘the original Law School’. This is because it is the oldest of the law school campuses. I was one of the about three or four thousand Bar aspirants writing that year’s examinations. I remember vividly that it was the night before we were to write the Civil Law Procedure paper. Those familiar with the Law School syllabus will agree with me that the most extensive of the courses then was the Civil Law Procedure.
It was already close to midnight, and I was inside one of the reading rooms on the campus, ensconced in my books and notes, struggling to cover as much as possible before returning to my hotel room in Victoria Island. I did not get accommodation on campus. So, I lodged in a hotel opposite Bar Beach. My friend and brother, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, arranged the accommodation for me as his contribution to my success in the examinations. May Almighty Allah (SWT) bless him.
