There was this dinner I attended in November 2010, the remembrance of which makes me glad still. It was the dinner hosted by the Office of the Public Defender, Lagos State Ministry of Justice at the Lagos City Hall as part of her celebration of her 10th Anniversary as an institution.
The affair was not merely a dinner, but also an award night and so there were many dignitaries or “big men” as we often call them in these shores, at the end of the rather comfortably average dinner (however there was far lot more to drink, which encouraged the “lady party-packer” syndrome to get activated in some female guests with commodious handbags at the occasion especially when the lights of the hall dimmed) and the award ceremony began.
If I recollect correctly, the OPD awards went to no less than eight individuals including Mr. Bola Tinubu, the Asiwaju of Lagos, the immediate past Governor of the state and establisher of the OPD, Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN, the immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Lagos State, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, the immediate past Solicitor-General of Lagos State, Honourable Justice Bisi Akinlade, the first Director of the OPD, and Honourable Justice Amina Augie JCA.
As each of the awardees were called out to receive their awards, there were polite claps of support, ably supported by the crash of flourish from the police band in attendance.
Then the announcement came that there was an award for the most outstanding OPD staff of the year. The Master of Ceremony then mentioned a name and oh, how do I best put the reaction from the ‘legion’ of OPD staff at the dinner? First, bedlam erupted and collided against ruckus before exploding in ecstacy!
I saw virtually all the legion of the OPD, especially the ladies, jump off their chairs, shriek deliriously and wave their limbs and other apartments of their bodies wildly and in rapturous delight.
At that point in time, the earlier awardees were forgotten in the incredibly loud celebration of this particular awardee. Neither a Governor nor Attorney General, nor Solicitor General nor Judge he was. He was not even a lawyer and certainly the youngest of all the awardees.
From what I gathered from the M.C., the super star merited his award for exemplary and uncommon dedication to work. The deafening approval of the hero’s choice by the OPD staff underscored the appropriateness of the award.
The gentleman in question would not forget that night in a hurry; obviously proud of himself, in his shy, self-effacing manner but bowled over by the thunderous approval of his choice by dozens of those who were his superiors in his work place.
The night would be special for him, because he could never have imagined a situation where he could ever share a glory platform with his former boss, Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN (he was a clerk in the early 90s in the now defunct legal firm of OSINBAJO, KUKOYI AND ADOKPAYE) who also paved his way for his employment with the OPD when he was the Attorney General, not to talk of outshining him.
While the ladies were swooning over his boy, I stole a look at ‘prof’ (Yemi Osinbajo) and the great man was looking quite pleased with himself in that quiet gentle way of his.
Well, who is the subject matter of this piece? I know him simply as Albert; for a fuller knowledge, you may care to ask any OPD staff, especially them ladies. Just ask about Albert, Golden Albert.
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