When Quintessential Bar Man, Pa M. A. Ajomale Quits The Stage -A Tribute By Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN
It is irreplaceable, the death of the patriarch of the Ajomale dynasty, Chief M. A. Ajomale.
The transition of this illustrious gem and complete gentleman of the Bar is an unquantifiable loss to the entire Nigerian Bar and the corporate world.
A Life Bencher, former Chairman, Body of Benchers , former General Counsel of Unions Bank PLC, and the quintessence of what an accomplished lawyer should be, Ajomale will be sadly missed by the entire Bar and corporate world. Amiable, sartorial, personable and gregarious , late Chief Ajomale was a role model.
He wore humility with incandescence, like a second skin. An esteemed Bar man to the core, Chief Ajomale was dignity, integrity and character personified. Even at his advanced age, Chief Ajomale attended virtually all Benchers meetings in Abuja and many Bar dinners in Lagos. Law literally ran through his untiring veins.
At one of such Benchers meetings at the Supreme Court, Abuja , last year, I went to greet this handsome man of glittering credentials. He sat at the front roll. Where else could he have sat, any way? I bowed very low, almost to a position of prostrating flat on my tummy. Having never had the privilege of a one-on -one close relationship or rapport with him before then, inspite of my great admiration for him from afar, I took it for granted he did not know little me as a person. As I wanted to introduce myself , he cut me short and heartily laughed aloud, saying, “Mike, you want to introduce yourself to me? Didn’t your classmate , my daughter , Solape, tell you I am not just your admirer , but , perhaps , your number one fan in the whole wide world ? ” To say I was shocked is an understatement. I stood in front of him, beams of sweat dropping from my face in the air-conditioned hallowed chambers of the Supreme Court. I was literally transfixed with awe like an insect rendered immobile by some powerful pesticides. I was equally amazed at his sheer simplicity and infectious disposition. His daughter, respected Solape, was later to confirm her father’s strong views about how he considered and highly rated my modest contributions from my small window, to re-engineering and re-inventing the nearly completely destroyed weak fabric of our nation.
And this great soul has marched on, from mortality to immortality , to join the league of our faithful departed in the bosom of the Lord, in eternity. Papa, adieu. Nationalist and accomplished Bar man, farewell. Pan-Nigerian, rest in perfect peace sir.
Amen