Justice Under the Shadow of the Almighty

I wrote this autobiography at the prompting of my wife, Dr. Mary Ogebe, and son, Barrister Emmanuel Ogebe. Over the years, I delighted in sharing vignettes from my life which the family has found intriguing or amusing and urged me to share. The life of a judge is an austere and private one. Retirement frees us to share a bit—but sometimes not all of our unique experiences can be shared.Our lives are documented in the public space with all our judgments captured in writing for generations. Fortunately, my private and semi-public life is similarly documented in my work archives and family newsletters which I have maintained for decades.After two major health scares in the past year, including a stroke which I miraculously survived, I felt that I shouldn’t let perfection be the enemy of the good. It was time to serve up my autobiography as a testimonial sacrifice to God’s goodness in the land of the living. This book has no agenda other than to tell my and His story, simply and truthfully. As such it is not purely a “legal” book or a “personal” book. It is a mix of both facets of my life so that the reader is exposed to all of yours truly—just as I am.A judge usually loses his voice, outside of his courtroom, while on the bench. Even his words in the courtroom must be measured and decorous. He must let his judgments speak for themselves to history and posterity, but he may not defend himself when the maelstrom of public debates and mendacious mischief is stirred against him.In retirement, he regains his voice but at that point many are not interested in re-litigating controversies of many past years. In a career in which you write over 4,000 judgments and 100,000 rulings, where do you begin?Therefore, a judge must ultimately serve, in addition to the Nigerian Constitution, an audience of One: God Almighty . . . before Whom our consciences must be clear and before whom we must one day appear in the dock.I hope that not just judges, but all courageous and principled people of character, will be inspired by my experience to do justly in everything (Micah 6:8):“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” King James Version (KJV)