Prof. Taiwo Osipitan is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and lecturer at the University of Lagos. He takes a walk down memory lane with ADEMOLA OLONILUA
How would you describe your early days while growing up in Lagos State?
I had my primary school in Lagos State but my secondary school was outside Lagos. However, I was always coming home for holidays. Those were the good old days when Lagos was beautiful and not as congested as we have it today. Lagos was not a city that would stress you and it was possible to go out without the hassle of motorcyclists or unruly commercial drivers, who are not experienced enough to drive. Lagos was less risky to live in and there was nothing like kidnapping or other social problems that we have now. As students, we were able to go about in subsidised buses, which were made available to students. Once we were in school uniform, we paid a very little amount to get to our destinations. Those were the rich values I learnt while growing up. I don’t think we have them again.
Where did you have your secondary school education?
I schooled in Oyo town, in Oyo state and I attended the famous Olivet Baptist High School. It was the first time I left my parents’ house because I was in the boarding house. I was happy leaving the house and when I got to the school, I made new friends. I also came across seniors who were bullies and they took our provisions from us and also punished us. That was the time you would realise that you were no longer at home and within a month, you would begin to feel home sick. As the years went by, we settled down and understood what it required to have a meaningful life in the boarding house. It was an interesting and exciting time of my life. The days were always full of activities.
Were you involved in any sporting activity?
Yes. I was a goalkeeper for the Mosquito Team. The Mosquito Team was the least of the teams the school had. The school had the Mosquito Team, Rabbit Team, and the Main Team. Along the line, when it was time to face my studies, I abandoned the sport. It was quite interesting and challenging.
Did you ever consider making a career out of goalkeeping?
I did not. Probably if it were to be now that they are making money from sports, I could have considered it. Back then, we were told that goalkeepers had what they called, ‘shelf’ life. They said footballers had limited time before they’d expire. Besides, it was not as lucrative as it is today so I did not consider it beyond Form Three.
Did you attend the same school with your twin sister?
No, she attended Queens School, Ibadan.
Was that the first time you were separated from your twin sister?
Yes, it was but we did not miss each other so much because we settled in school and made new friends. However, during any holiday, we were either with our aunty in Ibadan or in Lagos. We always caught up on anything we missed in each other’s lives whenever we were on holidays.
Growing up, were you and your twin sister best of friends or you never saw eye to eye?
We were not as close as we are now but the issue of fighting or rivalry between us never existed. We are best of friends.
Were you and your twin sister given preferential treatment while you were growing up?
I cannot recollect being given preferential treatment at home. Our parents tried to treat each child the same way because if you decide to prefer a child to another, you would be sowing the seed of sibling rivalry. When we deserved to be scolded, we were scolded and when it was time to be praised, we were praised.
However, we discovered that whenever we were outside, people who understood the history of twins and the kind of aura that surrounds twins favoured us because some of them who were still at the childbearing stage wanted to have twins and those who had passed that stage used us as points of contact for their children to have twins. We found out that doors were opened for us. As twins, our steps were divinely ordered, we are not ordinary human beings, we are God’s people and whatever we needed to succeed came to us. It did not take us time to get it.
You and your twin are both lecturers and professors, was it planned?
No, it was not planned. I found myself lecturing at my Alma Mata, University of Lagos, as a youth corps member. Before my service year ended, my lecturers advised me to apply as a lecturer. I told them the day I got tired of lecturing, I would leave. That was about 35 years ago, today I am still here. I never set out to be a lecturer, I wanted to practice but I realised that lecturing is quite interesting; alluring and inviting, so I have been here.
My sister was working at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research because she has a Ph.D. in Chemistry. One day, I went to visit her and when I saw the environment and the people she was working with, I did not like what I saw so I advised her to leave the place and come to the university. She agreed, so I went to seek her husband’s permission and he also agreed. I advised her because I saw the Federal Institute of Industrial Research as a dead end for her. I saw that her potential was way over the place and there was something better for her in the university system. She later applied, eminently qualified. By hard work and God’s favour, she also became a professor.
Why did you decide to study law?
The office where I work is called Bayo Osipitan and Co. I am Taiwo Osipitan and the person called Bayo Osipitan is a 93-year-old man, who happens to be my father. He began his career as a teacher before he later qualified as a lawyer in 1961. During the holidays, I had cause to follow him to the court and when I saw him in action, I was very impressed because he is an extremely brilliant lawyer with the Midas touch. When I saw him in action, I made up my mind that I would become a lawyer and that was when I was in Form Two.
I got admission into the University of Lagos late. I was admitted three days before matriculation. I had been admitted to the University of Ibadan to study History but I declined the offer because I wanted to study Law. My father did not advise me on what to do but after I had been to court and had seen lawyers especially with the way they carried themselves with dignity and honour, it struck a permanent impression on me. That was what made me decide to study law.
Can you remember the first case you ever handled, how did you feel on that day?
As soon as I finished my studies and was called to the bar, the following week, my father was in court, so I followed him for the proceedings. He announced me as appearing with him on the case. We did that for about two weeks and one day, he told me we would go to court together, he would announce me but I would conduct the case. He sat by my side and I handled the case. I could not have been nervous because of the kind of support that I had.
I was born into the profession and I had seen my father in action on several occasions, so it was a soft landing. It was not a serious case; it was more like a motion.
How about your first serious case in life; did you win the case?
I have a record of winning most cases. If a case is bad, I would tell the person from the beginning that the case was a bad one but I could only try. I could also advise that they should find a way of settling it out of court. I won my first few cases. Thinking back, I think my first major case was a criminal trial and I won. So far so good, I have not lost any criminal trial. If I lose it at the High Court, I would win it back at the Court of Appeal. I have not done so many of them but I have not lost any.
Does that mean that you have not lost any case?
No. I have lost so many cases, civil cases, but I have won more cases in comparison to the ones that I have lost.
How did you feel when you lost those cases?
I deserved to lose some of those cases. The truth is that there must be a winner and a loser. You cannot win all the cases. You would be a bad lawyer if you win all your cases. It is not possible because other people are also working hard to win the cases as well. What a lawyer should ensure is that he wins more of his cases than losing them.
Has there been a time you and your father had to go head-to-head in court?
It is not possible. There were times I and my aunt, Mrs. Balogun whom I lived with during my law school days, had cases and we were on opposite sides. We found a way around it. Luckily for us, they were cases that could be settled out of court, so we spoke to our clients that it could be settled out of court. There is no way I could have opposed my father in court.
About 15 years ago, you were conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. How did you feel on that day?
I saw it as an icing on the cake because before I became a SAN, I was already a professor at the University of Lagos as far back as 1998. I felt the next thing was to become a SAN, but I would not use my professorship instead I would get it through practice. So after I became a professor, I did what other lawyers were doing and that was to appear in the courtroom. I used it as a platform to become a SAN. That is the height of recognition in the profession and naturally, I was happy with being recognised in two vital departments of the legal profession; that is, exploits in the classroom that makes you a professor and exploits in the courtroom. I felt complete because as twins, we do everything in double folds.
How has it been merging your role as a lecturer with being a lawyer and even a father?
It has been the grace of God and it has been very involving in the sense that my day starts very early in the morning and after my prayers, I’d hurriedly set out to the courtroom or classroom. I am also a frequent visitor of the library because of research works. It can be very challenging but what I find interesting is that the research experience that I have as a university lecturer assists me in writing my addresses and briefs when I am going to court. Also, the experience I gain in court, I take it back to the classroom. I teach my students what we call, living law, not abstracts or just theories. We teach them straight from the factory, which is the court. They complement each other and it is to the advantage of the students but it is quite challenging and demanding. You might need to downplay your social life and if you are a party person or someone that goes to the club, you might not be able to cope.
Are you saying that it has affected your social life?
Yes, I have lost most of my friends but when we meet at functions, we connect again. But it is difficult for me to visit them or for them for pay me a visit. We also have children at home whom I am responsible for so if all I am looking for is money and fame and the home front is neglected, there would be problems. I try to balance my life in a way that it does not affect my family life. But above all, it requires the grace of God.
Taking a trip down memory lane, how would you describe your days as an undergraduate at UNILAG?
I got to the University of Lagos as a young man and I tried to blend in. We worked very hard during the week and on weekends we socialised or went home to visit our families. If I had to attend parties, my father would release his car for me to attend the party with my friends and we would enjoy ourselves but by Sunday, the car must be returned to the house. UNILAG was exciting and it is still an exciting place to be a student.
It sounds like you were a ‘happening guy’ during your undergraduate days…
I would say that I was someone who was in between; you would not find me at every party but I had my friends who we moved together. We knew where to draw the line and we did everything in moderation.
Would it be correct to say you grew up with a silver spoon?
My father was very strict so the issue of a silver spoon could not arise. My father began his career as a teacher, and then he became a lawyer. I am from a family where we were not deprived of what we deserved to have. My father was not the type of person that would spoil a child even if he had the resources. He would not let you get what you did not deserve simply because he did not believe in spoiling a child. I thank him so much for that kind of training that helps you cut your coat according to your cloth.
How often did you receive beatings from your father?
I was flogged a lot because my father was a teacher. I got into trouble most times when I went out and did not get back home on time. There were times I was also beaten because I did not sleep when I was supposed to. My father was a teacher and a disciplinarian for that matter but today, we are best of friends and I cannot thank him enough for those core values he deposited in me. I tell my children that I don’t want to be anybody’s friend and in future, you would thank me. Initially, they were not happy with my methods but today, they are grateful.
Do you have other siblings apart from your twin sister?
I have two other siblings, an elder brother who used to work in Total but he is retired now and he manages his own filling station somewhere in Ilupeju, Lagos. I also have a younger sister who is based in the UK. We lost our mother at a very early age when I was about 10 years old and that made us to be very close. I come from a very close-knit family. We lost our mother during childbirth but her elder sister, Mrs. Shokoya, took up the role of a mother. We grew up with her four children and if you see all of us together, you would think we have the same biological mother. We have a close-knit family to the envy of people around us. Some people actually ask us how we did it but we tell them that it is by the grace of God.
Did your father re-marry?
My father is a very great man and he re-married eventually after 13 years. He was a very handsome and successful young man and we were aware of ladies chasing him but he did not oblige any of them. My grandparents encouraged him to re-marry but he did not bulge till after 13 years. All he was saying was that he would not want anyone to come into his family and disrupt the unity and peace that we had. By the time he re-married, we were all in the university and no stepmother could succeed in threatening the unity of the family. We bonded with him on very deep levels. I remember we would sit down with him and he would tell us stories. By the time my stepmother came in, she realised how close we were in the family and luckily for us, she was also peaceful. She is still alive and we are still one united family.
What were some of those things you missed from your biological mother?
You know mothers are closer to their male children and there are some things that you would do as a boy that she would notice and correct you immediately by telling you that if you do it to your wife you would get a negative result. The tenderness that a mother deposits in you was not really there even though my aunt tried her best in that regards.
What would you ascribe to be the most challenging moment of your life?
Perhaps it was when my mother died. We saw her in a coffin when we were young and we were tapping her to wake up because we thought she was sleeping, we did not know that she would not wake up but when my grandmother told me that she was dead and she would be buried, we burst into tears and it was as if the whole world was collapsing.
In the profession, I have seen a lot of miscreants coming into the profession and I find that very depressing particularly the fact that some prosecutors have turned themselves to persecutors and they want to jail somebody at all cost. For instance, there was a case involving a widow who was arraigned in court over assessing the will left for her by her late husband. I saw a prosecutor trying to ensure that the woman whom he was unable to perfect her bail condition on a Friday should be sent to prison. Unfortunately, there were also two public holidays on that week which fell on Monday and Tuesday. It meant that if the woman was remanded in prison, she would have stayed there till Wednesday. However, it would have cost the prosecutor nothing to allow her to go and perfect the bail condition later on. He was adamant, so I rose up to the occasion and we found a divine favour from the judge and she was allowed to go and perfect the bail condition, which she did later on. But I saw wickedness in that young man and I clearly told the court that it was a very sad day in my professional career because, for no just cause, the prosecutor was delighted in ensuring that someone who is presumed innocent spent a long weekend in prison custody. I believe that some of these prosecutors have wickedness deposited in them while some do not have a good upbringing, so they transfer the aggression into the work they are doing. When I see misbehaviour in the profession, it saddens me because it is meant to be a noble profession.
Have you appeared before a judge in court only to realise that the person was once your student?
Yes, so many of them. No condition is permanent and that is where God has placed that person and you must respect authority. You have no choice than to say ‘My Lord’. But when you meet outside you can exchange banter. When the former student is sitting as a judge in court, the person becomes a symbol of authority.
The first time it happened, I was prepared for it. If you are humble, it does not take anything from you to say sorry. There are some people that lectured but when they came out to practice they failed because the arrogance they had in the classroom which I called, intellectual arrogance, could not help them in the profession because they needed to be humble to get the client and service them. But above all, you need to be humble before the judges whom you have taught. I have had cause to appear before a judge who I could have taught if he came to the University of Lagos, and during the proceedings, he said he was more brilliant than I am. All I did was to say, ‘Yes sir, it is true, you know everything.’ The other lawyers in the courtroom were just looking at the judge but I remained focused so that I would be able to win the case. If it were some other arrogant people, they would talk back to the judge and possibly lambast him before walking out of the courtroom never to return.
How did you meet your wife?
I did not meet my wife at a party. She has a brother who was living on the same street with us. I met her during one of her visits to her brother. I happened to be the lawyer to the brother’s landlord so I had to interact with the brother and draft an agreement for my client. One day, I was passing by when I saw her. I greeted her, one thing led to the other and the rest is history.
How did her brother react when he discovered you were dating his sister?
He is from my generation and he was very hostile but I was resolute since I had found all the qualities I wanted in a wife in her. After some time, he saw that I was always coming around, we started talking and I also behaved myself. Today, we are best of friends.
Has any of your children followed your path like you followed in your father’s footstep?
I always try to keep them away from the public but if you must hear, they are all toeing this path. My last born just finished writing his exam at the Nigerian Law School. Whether they would lecture and practice, that is up to them. But they are all in the profession and none of them is working with me yet.
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