As the June 26, 2021 burial date of one of the nation’s finest legal brains, late Chief (Barr) Barinua Moses Wifa draws close, expectations are rising, with his family members, friends, colleagues and well-wishers keenly waiting for the momentous Day of Tributes, to say one or two things about the legal luminary who left this sinful world on Tuesday, November 10, 2020.
No doubt that tributes are things said to show respect and admiration for a beloved, departed one, it is expected that so much would be said about ‘BMW’ as the late distinguished lawyer is fondly called in some quarters, that could fill a thousand pages!
Wifa, Head of the Wifa Family of Kono Community, Khana Local Government Area was during his lifetime, a news maker. He was not just a news maker, but makes the headlines because of his multi-faceted personage. Some of his achievements may suffice: He was the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State from 1984-1985. He was twice on the Judicial Service Commission of Rivers State in the 1990s.
He also served as Solicitor to the then Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST). Other positions held include: Director, Board of the defunct Pan African Bank (PAB); Director, Board of the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation (publishers of The Tide newspaper); Member, Editorial Board of Laws of Rivers State, and Pro Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State.
Wifa, in an interview recalled that while serving as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of FUTO, he was warmly received and treated well by the university community in Minna. In fact, when his wife was called to the Bar, the university community hosted a reception for him.
Wifa was one of the delegates that represented Rivers State at the National Political Reform Conference of 2005. He served on the committee of the Conference that compiled its “Social and Political Reports and Recommendations”.
Wifa was also on the 25-member Constitutional Debate Coordinating Committee (CDCC) chaired by the late Honourable Justice Niki Tobi, JCA (as he then was) in 1999. That committee of 25 Nigerians midwifed the production of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Wifa had also served as a member of the National Judicial Council (NJC) from 2006 to 2010.
In one of his last public appearance, during his birthday and launch of his book titled, “The Challenge of Justice”, ‘Contemporary Legal Essays in Honour of B.M. Wifa, OFR, SAN, DSSRS, KJW’ at the NBA House in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, Thursday, February 1, 2018, NBA President said the book in honour of B.M. Wifa was “well written” and described B.M. Wifa as a man who worked hard to get to where he is. He said B.M. Wifa had contributed immensely to the legal profession and also shaped public discussions by his stand on issues.
He described the legal icon as a nationalist, recalling that his contributions at the Constitutional Conference were enormous and appealed that great Nigerians like him should be celebrated while they are alive, not when they are dead.
The NBA President went on: “Mr. Wifa has made enormous contributions not only in Rivers here but across the country and one of the admiration that I have for him is not just in terms of his legal knowledge and legal excellence but he’s also being somebody who clearly has not only contributed to the development of Nigeria’s jurisprudence but also contributed enormously to defining public policy in this country and clearly stands out as a great voice of wisdom and maturity. I read some of his interviews and discourses and contributions when he was in the constitutional conference and I think he’s truly a nationalist”.
According to Rivers State Governor, Chief (Barr) Nyesom Ezenwo Wike who was special guest at the event, “I came close to the chief celebrant in 2003 in one of this election tribunal matters between Chief Sergeant Awuse and Dr. Peter Odili and I watched him with all admiration and since that time, we became very good friends, friends and father and son.
He’s a very jovial person. Sometime, he told the Attorney-General why is it that I cannot come and visit him at his place. I told the Attorney-General he should tell him one of these days, I will come and visit him. So, one Saturday, I went to see him. As I came that morning, I saw him running around, telling me how they produce the best fish of Kono, and served me pepper soup by himself.
He offered me a drink himself and I was just watching him but at the end of the day, he still told me what he wanted to tell me. I don’t see him as one of those who just because of your position, they will not tell you the simple truth. After taking his pepper soup, having played with me, then he called me and said: this thing you are doing is not good, this thing you are doing is good, and my respect for him that day increased”.
That’s the vintage Barinua Moses Wifa, whose remains would be committed to mother earth on Saturday, June 26, 2021 at the B.M. Wifa’s Country Home, Kono in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
It is also noteworthy that a Public Law Lecture would be held in honour of the departed legal icon on Thursday, 24th June, 2021 at the NBA Branch House, No. 1 Moscow Road, Port Harcourt at 10.00am to 1.00 pm.
