Courage in leadership
Over the years, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has remained consistent in standing as a voice of the masses. From a humble background, he rose to the pinnacle of the legal practice and the academia.
He has been a man of courage, a product of the Law firm of the legendary Chief Gani Fawehinmi, who is never afraid in speaking his mind, in confronting those in power and in fighting for what he believes is right.
Even though Mike Ozekhome’s Chambers, which he established, is a veritable ground for litigation and arbitration, banking, corporate finance and insurance, corporate and commercial law as well as insolvency and debt recovery, he has used it to fight for the oppressed.
He takes up legal cases relating to rule of law, defence of democracy and those that would ensure a better society, no matter the risk involved.
Ozekhome’s exploits as a rights and pro-democracy activist will, in a long time to come, remain fresh in the memory of Nigerians.
At different times, he was arrested and detained, beginning from 1986, during the Ibrahim Babangida military regime, when he challenged the government on plans to remove petroleum subsidy.
He is, indeed, a man of many interesting parts, a leading constitution lawyer, holding the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria; human rights activist, pro-democracy campaigner, Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR), professor of constitutional law, senior advocate of the masses, public affairs analyst and indeed, a prolific writer, among others.
Despite his fights in the court room, Ozekhome is profoundly humane. He is a quintessential philanthropist, silently uplifting numerous individuals through soul-lifting endeavours, including award of scholarships to indigent students at all levels of education in the country. His law firm handles many cases pro-bono.
For fearlessly deploying law as an instrument of socio-economic and political engineering for the reformation of the society, the Board of Editors of The Sun considered him worthy to receive the Courage in Leadership Award for 2024.