Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU law students won Chief Wole Olanipekun National Moot & Mock Competition – 2014 Edition.
The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State, has lifted the 4th edition of the Chief Wole Olanipekun National Moot & Mock Competition.
The two-day competition organised annually in honour of Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), a former President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), featured intense stages of Moot, Debate and the grand finale, Mock Trial.
The OAU edged out the University of Ilorin and four others – University of Abuja, Lagos State University, Babcock University, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, to win the prize.
The six schools were the ones that scaled through preliminaries of the competition nationwide. Of these, four schools progressed from the Moot Stage to the debate stage. Two schools were further eliminated at the debate stage leaving the last two, the host school – OAU and the University of Ilorin – to slug it out at the grand finale which was a mock armed robbery trial in a fashioned court setting.
The representatives of the Obafemi Awolowo University eventually proved too much for their UNILORIN counterparts and the former were unanimously declared winners of the competition by the panel of judges that presided.
The event, organised by Radiant Justice Chambers, a student body in the university’s Faculty of Law, was graced by seasoned legal professionals, including the Executive Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, who was represented by his Senior Special Adviser on Legal Matters, Dr. Anwo J.O; the Acting Chief Justice of Oyo State, Hon. Justice L.M. Abimbola; Dean Faculty of Law, OAU, Prof. M.O Adediran; Justice Adebusoye from the Ondo State Judiciary and a host of others.
The Mock Trial was presided over by sitting judges: Hon Justice D.O. Afolabi, Hon. Justice O.F. Oloyede, Hon. Justice Siyanbola from the Osun State Judiciary and Hon. Justice Ganiyu from the Oyo State judiciary.
Speaking at the event, Chief Olanipekun praised his former classmate and friend, Dean of the Faculty of Law, OAU, Prof. M.O Adediran for his top-notch administration of the faculty as manifested in the quality of its graduates.
He praised the brilliant display of the competing students at the mock trial and urged them not rest on their oars as it would eventually pay off in future.
The Chairman of the Day, Hon. Justice L.M. Abimbola, praised Olanipekun for his immense contributions to the advancement of the legal system and legal education in the country.
Abimbola also praised the Radiant Justice Chambers for the ingenious initiative behind the annual hosting of the programme.
The event rounded off with the presentation of laptops and cash prizes to the representatives of OAU and UNILORIN by Olanipekun.
Three students, Samuel C. Chukwu (UNIABUJA), Zuqulnain Muhammed Dayo (UNILORIN) and Olugbemi Kayode (OAU), who emerged as Outstanding Counsels from the Moot Stages were given with monetary prizes for their performances. Delegates of Babcock University and OAU were tied for the Best Moot Memorial prize. (The Nation)