Recently updated on September 6th, 2018 at 10:21 pm
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, has been conferred with the ISRCL 2018 Michael Hill Prize for his reform agenda, which has positively changed the way the Nigerian judiciary works.
The 2018 Michael Hill Prize award was presented to the CJN in Montreal, Canada, by the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law (ISRCL), an international non-governmental association of judges, legislators, lawyers, academics, and police and corrections professionals, at its 31st conference in Canada with the theme: “The Scourge of Trafficking in the 21st Century.”
While presenting the award, ISRCL President, Major General Greg Melick, described Justice Onnoghen as “a judges’ judge on account of his over 30 years devotion to the pursuit of justice,” and a “leading light of the Nigerian Judiciary.”
In a statement by Mr. Awassam Bassey, Senior Special Assistant to the CJN, the ISRCL President was quoted as saying:
“Mr. Justice Onnoghen has been a leading light on the Nigerian Supreme Court, and the Nigerian judiciary as a whole, central to the protection and stabilisation of democracy, checking the near-sighted antics of do-or-die politicians. Cases like Amaechi vs INEC are cited as examples of the outside-the-box jurisprudence that saved Nigeria’s democracy.
[He has] brought a lot of zeal and originality to judicial administration in the country.
One result that is exciting the populace is the apparent end to the stalemate in the prosecution of high-profile corruption cases. Cases are now reaching conclusion, evinced by two recent high-profile convictions of two former state governors.
[He is] an embodiment of the ideals and goals of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law.”
Accepting the award, Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen called on criminal prosecutors in particular, and lawyers in general, to imbibe the virtues of the late Michael Hill, whom he described as “a relentless prosecutor, a dogged defence counsel [who] had a reputation for holding himself to the highest standards of professional conduct, dedication to duty and the pursuit of justice.”
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo congratulated the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, on his conferment with the 2018 Michael Hill Prize by ISRCL stating:
“It is heart-warming to see the Your Lordship’s hardwork and commitment to deepening reforms for a more effective administration of Justice system in the country has received international attention and commendation from such a prestigious association.”
Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, GCON (born 22 December 1950) is the Chief Justice of Nigeria since 2017. He graduated from the University of Ghana at Legon, Ghana in 1977 and from the Nigerian Law School in Lagos in 1978. Before joining the Supreme Court, he was a judge in Cross River State and a justice of the Court of Appeal.
