Egbewole mourns Justice Belgore, attends burial

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, has described the demise of a retired Presiding Judge of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Ahmad Olarewaju Belgore, as a great and irreparable loss not only to his family but also to the nation’s legal community. Justice Belgore died last Tuesday (April 9, 2024) and was buried the next day in accordance to Muslim rites.

Prof. Egbewole, in a statement issued on his behalf by the Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Kunle Akogun, said that he received the news of the death of Justice Belgore with a rude shock.

The Vice Chancellor, who described the late Jurist as a friend of the nation’s most sought-after University, said that the deceased was an outstanding jurist and a respected statesman who discharged his duties to the best of his ability throughout his time in the bar and tenure on the bench and thereafter.

He added that the late Justice Belgore represented an ideal official in the temple of justice, saying that as a jurist he was able to keep the enviable flag of the illustrious Belgore family in the legal profession very high in all the offices he held at state, national and international levels.

Prof. Egbewole also recalled that most of the judgments delivered by the late eminent jurist were deep, detailed  thorough and often cited.

The Vice Chancellor added that when the late jurist was alive, “he exhibited a lot of positive values as a human being”.

The Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law, who is also the Secretary-General of the Association of West African Universities (AWAU), sympathised with the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR; and a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Saliu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, GCON, as well as the generality of the nation’s legal community on the loss of an outstanding son and a reputable legal personality.

Prof. Egbewole prayed that Almighty Allah look at the positive values the departed jurist added to humanity and in His mercies grant him Aljanat fridaouz.