A mote it is to trouble the minds eye.
In the most high and palmy state of Rome
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell
The graves stood tenantless and the sheated dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets
As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood
Disaste.rs in the sun and the moist star
Upon whose influence Neptune's Empire stands
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse
And even the like precurse of fierce events
As harbingers preceding still the fates
And prologue to the omen coming on
Have heaven and Earth together demonstrated
Unto our climatures and countrymen.
The mightiest Julius fell on the Ides of March. But the
mightiest Franklin passed away on the kalends of March.
Both to glorious eternity, the former before the Christian
era (44 BC), the latter in the Christian era on the eve
of Quinquagesima 2003 AD. The portents were clear that a
brilliant star was turning into supernova but none of us
ever believed that it was Frank until it happened.
It is a painful duty to have to write this tribute for
someone who is junior in age; at 77, Franklin Oritsemueyiwa
Atake is in the same age bracket as the 80's and so, whatever
may be our personal objection ought to be subordinated to
the will of providence which has decreed that the senior
should pay the last tribute to an illustrious junior - that
perhaps is the meaning of his name Oritse Mueyiwa which
when translated into western Yoruba means Olawa lo mu eyi
wa or Olumuyiwa meaning that this event has been ordained
by God Himself.
The Hon. Justice F.O.M. Atake was born on 6th May 1926,
at Sapele. He had his primary education in Sapele but when
it came to secondary education, his mother took him to Ibadan
and deposited him with the Principal of all Principals,
Archdeacon E.O. Alayande in the same manner that the mother
of Chief Bayo Akinnola cleposited him with the Archdeacon
at Ibadan Grammar School from Ondo. Both had passed through
the crucible of rigorous Christian training and today we
could sing the success story of Bayo Akinnola, the Lisa
of Ondo Kingdom as we are now singing for the Hon. Justice
Atake who has left us behind. Ibadan Grammarians of the
Alayande stable were first class in everything, Bola Ige
was one of them. Fred Egbe is one of them. They were charitable
and kind to their fellow men. They were humble and self-respecting.
They were efficient all round. They personified the doctrine
of charity enunciated by Paul in I5th Corinthians Chapter
13. On one occasion, the Hon. Justice Atake was visiting
a friend and he found a man in a mood of total dejection
pleading for help. Asked he, "what is the matter?"
He was shown the auctioneer's poster to sell out the man's
home where he lived with his family. All legal and other
entreaties with the Bank had failed. "Is that all?"
said Frank. He took his cheque book from his bag and wrote
the amount of the debt plus another ten thousand, all nearing
six figures. The man bounced to life and a whole family
was rescued from damnation. Such an act of charity is uncommon
and is peculiar to the students of Alayande who himself
can give away anything if only to "rescue the perishing".
As a Legal Practitioner, Franklin Atake was a brilliant
advocate, quick to discover the salient issues before the
court and dogged in his pursuit thereof until victory is
won. He has not been known to cave in even where the court
has assumed the role of a bully. If that was what he brought
from Lincoln's Inn, London where he was called to the Bar
in 1954, then all Lincolners must be proud of him.
On the Bench, he was fair and fearless and cannot be intimated
by the establishment. The case of the University of Ibadan
undergraduates known as the Defence Pact case is an example.
Nine students of the University College of Ibadan (now University
of Ibadan) were charged with conduct likely to cause a breaching
the peace before Franklin Oritsemueyiwa Atake, Chief Magistrate
sitting at Court 3 Magistrates Court, Tapa Street, Lagos.
The particulars of offence stated that the rioting students
of the University of Ibadan had travelled to Lagos to protest
against the signing of a Defence Pact with Britain by the
Balewa Government of 1960. The students invaded the House
of Representatives and caused bodily harm to some powerful
Ministers such as Festus Okotie Eboh (Finance), T.O.S. Benson
(Information) and others. The demonstration was broken up
by the Police and nine of them were arrested and brought
to Court. The atmosphere in the court room was tense. The
Police had called for reinforcements. The following members
of the Bar, offered their services free in defence of the
boys. Adewale Thompson leading A.K.I Makanju, Aliyi Ekineh,
Sobo Sowemimo and others. To ask the boys to plead not guilty
was ridiculous. We therefore took the gamble to tell them
to plead guilty relying on the juristic sagacity of the
Magistrate to caution and discharge them under Section 435
of the then Criminal Procedure Act. After arguing for 90
minutes as to how any jail term w ill ruin the career of
the defendants, the Magistrate adjourned to chambers to
write his ruling He was there for over one hour. His ruling
was balanced. He condemned the action of the students and
accepted the plea of counsel to caution and discharge them,
adding that they should be bound over to be of good behaviour
for twelve months. These students are today heavyweights
in the society. The point which struck us most was that
Festus Okotie Eboh was the Magistrates' uncle and T.O.S.
Benson was one of the two who sponsored him for enrolment
in the Supreme Court as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme
Court of Nigeria. These considerations did not deter the
Magistrate from applying the wisdom of the law in favour
of the defendants.
On retirement from the Bench, he lived in his native town
Warri where he erected a modern home befitting a person
of his enlightenment but circumstances forced him to live
and die in Lagos where he had his youthful career as a Magistrate.
These circumstances, omitted in this tribute, speak eloquently
of the character of Frank who has literally laid down his
life for the TRUTH inspite of odds. Evil can only triumph,
it cannot and has never been known to conquer. Our Frank
abandoned his comfortable mansion in Warri for a refugee
life in his own country Nigeria because as at this point
in time, the regimental colours of evil are flying high
in that area of the country but someday the peoples of his
native land Warri, will enjoy freedom from ghoulish tyranny
and that is the time to remember that one of the architects
of that victory had died in active service. No lettered
monument can recount the agony and injury sustained in the
fight. The TRUTH having been recorded already in the book
of life.
As a Christian and a church man, he was Cathedral steward
at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos; that however,
did not affect his loyalty to his church at Warri. When
the pipe organ of the church was in need of drastic overhauling
to remove the unwanted discordant notes, Frank employed
the services of an expert from Lagos who restored it into
harmony; when the fault persisted, Frank placed an order
from abroad for a new one which is now in use.
When the Temple at Jerusalem was under construction, King
Solomon appealed for assistance Dom Hiram King of Tyre.
In like manner, when the Temple of Lodge Warri Highland
No. 1357 (SC) was under construction, the Lodge was faced
with the expenses of "finishing". It was Frank
who mortgaged his only home in Warri with a Bank to raise
the money for the completion of the great and holy work.
His demise as Past District Grand Master of Nigeria has
caused a stir throughout the length and breadth of the country,
and in the mother jurisdictions in Edinburgh, Dublin and
London. It is obvious that we cannot recount in this brief
space at our disposal, all the achievements and virtues
of the Honourable Justice Frank Oritsemueyiwa Atake either
as a family man, as a friend or as a loyal citizen of his
country. What we are unable to scribble down are already
indelibly inscribed in the minds of those closer to him
who would regard this write-up as a poor paraphrase of a
vivacious life replete with the legacies he has bequeathed
to us of courage, of honour, of discipline, of charity,
of TRUTH, of JUSTICE and of fairplay.
It is obvious that this conlocation of superlative virtues
in the person of The Hon. Justice Frank Atake cannot but
generate inverse reactions in the minds of those on the
other side of the moral divide. And so, we discovered that
he had to fight his way through at all times, in order to
do the right, and in so doing, the scars of conflict cannot
but be visible. Our consolation is that these have been
wiped out by the volume of terrestrial goodwill pouring
in from far and near.
To his wife and children and members of the family we say,
"weep no more',, for Frank has merely departed from
this sublunary abode in order to take his rightful place
in the Elysian habitation of the saints.
To his numerous friends in and out of the country, we offer
our commiseration with the full understanding that Frank
is already in good company in the great beyond.
And to the brethren, we say in the language of the book,
that our brother has merely responded to the demand of nature,
which, after conducting him through the intricate windings
of this mortal life, has finally taught him how to die free
from the stain of falsehood and dishonour.
"Pretiosa in oculis domini
Mors sanctorum ejus".
(Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
Death of His Saints - Psalm 1 16:15) J
"And may his noble soul Rest in Peace" So mote
it be.
Hon. Justice Adewale Thompson is the Secretary-General
of the Yoruba Council of Elders and a former Attorney-General
of Old Oyo State.
