ANIAGOLU'S DEATH, A BIG BLOW - GOV CHIME

By Tony Edike
ENUGU-ENUGU State governor, Sullivan Chime, yesterday, described the demise of retired Supreme Court Justice, Anthony Aniagolu, as a big blow to the nation, saying the country has lost one of  its finest legal brains and highly  patriotic public servants.

Justice Aniagolu, one of Nigeria's most eminent and celebrated jurists, died in  Enugu on Tuesday evening at the age of 89.

In a condolence message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Chukwudi Achife,  the governor said the late Justice Aniagolu had maintained a glittering and  highly successful career as a Barrister, followed by an illustrious and  trail-blazing record on the bench, first as a High Court Judge, then Chief Judge  of old Anambra State and finally as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The governor added that the late Jurist had while serving on the bench, delivered  many landmark judgments and enunciated powerful legal opinions that would  continue to impact positively and progressively on important legal issues in the  country long after his death.

Chime noted that Justice Aniagolu had also served the nation diligently and  gloriously as Chairman of the 1989 constituent Assembly and as Chairman of  several commissions and tribunals, including the Kano Maitatsine Disturbances  Tribunal.

The governor, who saluted the jurist's life-long advocacy for and commitment to the  pursuit of national unity through the enthronement of equity, equality and  justice in the treatment of various ethnic groups in the country, paid glowing  tribute to Justice Aniagolu's role in the creation and development of Enugu State, stressing that the government and people of  the state were duty bound to  ensure that his lofty visions and those of his co-founding fathers for the state  were fully realized.

'Nigeria has long, indeed, lost one of her more illustrious sons in the death of  Justice Anthony Aniagolu. He was a colossus in all that he endeavoured  to do  and he served this nation with exemplary dedication. We in Enugu State are particularly sad because he was one of our very eminent sons who served as  beacons of progress and development for the entire state and the eastern region  in general,' Chime said.

…as Ekweremadu, Atiku mourn late jurist
By Emmanuel Aziken
ABUJA-Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and erstwhile Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, have mourned erstwhile Supreme Court Justice Anthony Aniagolu as a special gift that God gave to the legal profession in Nigeria.

While Ekweremadu mourned Aniagolu for the good conscience he exemplified on the bench, Atiku on his part, eulogized the late jurist for his worthy role in the articulation of the 1989 constitution which he described as the best in the country's history.

Justice Aniagolu, JSC, was chairman of the Constituent Assembly which articulated the 1989 constitution that was, however, never put to use.

Reacting to the death of former Justice of the Supreme Court, the Deputy Senate President said Justice Aniagolu's contribution to the development of the legal profession and constitution would remain indelible in the history of the nation.

'On the bench, Justice Aniagolu's rulings were like the guiding principles for good conscience, equity and justice. Justice Aniagolu's fame and standing in our society emanate essentially from the examples he showed, his hard work and patriotism and above all, the charity with which he looked at his fellow man. He was also a special gift of God to the legal profession in Nigeria,' Ekweremadu said in a statement issued from Abuja yesterday.

Atiku on his part recalled that as Chairman of the 1989 Constituent Assembly, the late Aniagolu contributed tremendously to Nigeria's democratic and political evolution.

'It is on record that the document produced by the Aniagolu-led Constituent Assembly represents the best effort so far at forging an enduring national consensus and for which reason the 1989 constitution continues to be a reference point in the constitutional development of Nigeria,' he said.

He also noted that a good reputation lives beyond the grave and that the late Aniagolu's virtues were worthy of emulation by all Nigerians.