Franklin Oritse-Mueyiwa Atake (6 May 1926 – 1 March 2003) known by his initials FOM Atake was a Nigerian Jurist and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1979 to 1983 during the Nigerian Second Republic.
Early life
Franklin Atake was born on 6 May 1926 in Sapele, a town in the British Colony of Southern Nigeria. He received education at Baptist School, Sapele, where he excelled as a chorister. Additionally, he attended St. Luke's Church Missionary Society School, also located in Sapele. Franklin Atake had his secondary school education in Ibadan Grammar School. In Ibadan Grammar school, Franklin Atake was quite proficient in Latin and often used sophisticated Latin words or phrases in school in his daily conversations. As a result, he was nicknamed: "Atakurus Esse". Whenever he was called "Atakurus Esse", he answered: "God bless you my brother". Atake passed from Ibadan Grammar School with exemption from London Matriculation. Thereafter, he worked in the Treasury Department in Lagos until 1951. In 1951, he left for England to study law. He studied law at the University of London and at the Inns of Court School of Law, London. He was called to the English Bar on 18 May 1954 by the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. By June 1954, he was back in Nigeria. He was enrolled in Nigeria as a Barrister and Solicitor on Friday 16 June 1954. Thus, making him the four hundred and seventh (417th) person to do so on the all-time list of persons so enrolled to practice law in Nigeria.
Career
Having been enrolled to practice law in Nigeria, Atake established his legal practice in Sapele and Warri. After a few years in practice in the 1950s, he opted for the Magisterial Bench in the British Colony of Lagos.
As a magistrate
In 1957, he was appointed a magistrate in the British Colony of Lagos. He sat in what was well known as the Tapa Court in Lagos. As a magistrate, Franklin Atake handled many cases and became well known for the speed and sense of justice with which he dealt with cases that came before him. In no time the then Chief Justice of the British Colony of Lagos and the Southern Cameroons, The Honourable Sir Clement Nageon De Lestang, CJ, transferred him temporarily to the Cameroons to handle a large backlog of cases. On his return from the Cameroons, he was elevated to the position of Senior Magistrate in 1959.
Rise to prominence
Atake handled many cases as a Magistrate, but charge no. 28175/60 – Police v. AK-N-, AK-NS-L; A-L-B and Ors. is often referred to. It was a case of unlawful assembly by students at the University College, Ibadan who had organized a demonstration in Lagos on the 28 November 1960 at the Tafawa Balewa Square. The students were protesting vehemently against a defence pact that Nigeria was to enter with Great Britain. The protests got completely out of hand and the students who held out against anti-riot police jumped over the fences into Parliament buildings destroying most of the furniture and beating up anyone in sight. Some prominent Parliamentarians such as Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh (Federal Minister for Finance) and Chief T. O. S. Benson (Federal Minister for Information) were caused bodily harm. Messrs Adewale Thompson, A K I Makanju, Aliyi Ekineh, Sobo Sowemimo and some others acted for the students. The Defense Counsel, in that case, advised their clients, the students, to plead guilty in the hope that they would convince the Magistrate, His Worship, Franklin Atake not to impose a prison sentence since most of the students were in their final year and imprisonment would completely ruin their chances of completing their studies. Mr. Adewale Thompson, having addressed the court at length about the harm imprisonment would cause to the lives of the students and that the students meant no harm, Franklin Atake condemned the action of the students and accepted the plea of counsel to caution and discharge them, adding that they should be bound over to be of good behaviour for twelve months. Said Mr. Justice Adewale Thompson writing in 1991 in his book Reminiscences At The Bar at 65: "We had advised the students to plead guilty so that I could address the court in Allocutus under section 450 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, requesting the magistrate to exercise his discretion to dismiss the charge because of the hardship a conviction will cause to the career of the students who were in their final year at the University College. That discretion included a decision of the magistrate to convict, which was not subject to appeal. It was therefore a gamble that was taken because I had implicit confidence in the competence of the magistrate and his courage to do what was proper in the overall interest of society. He was not the type who would be afraid in such a sensitive case, in which parliamentarians had been assaulted and Parliament itself invaded. I am sure our gamble would have failed if that matter had come before another magistrate with timorous proclivities."With the creation of the Mid-Western Region, Nigeria in 1963, Franklin Atake left Lagos to take an appointment as Chief Magistrate in Warri. He served also as a Chief Magistrate in Benin before the civil war in Nigeria broke out. At the outbreak of the civil war, he was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Justice in the Mid-Western, Nigeria in 1967.
A judge of the High Court of Justice Mid-Western Nigeria
Atake was appointed a judge of the High Court of the Midwestern Nigeria in 1967 along with three other judges. They are the Hon. Justice Victor Ovie Whisky, Hon. Justice S O Ighodaro and the Hon. Justice M A Aghoghovbia. He was 41 years old. He was assigned to the Sapele Division to join the Hon. Justice E A Ekeruche and the Hon. Justice Akinwunmi Rhodes-Vivour. Other brother Judges at the time of his appointment included: Hon. Justices Mason Begho (Chief Justice, Mid-West), J O Izuora, Andrews Otutu Obaseki, Ayo Gabriel Irikefe, Arthur Edward Prest, J. Omo-Eboh and Uche Omo. Atake served in various judicial divisions of the High Court in the Mid-West that included the Benin, Warri and Agbor divisions. He handled a wide range of cases. It is on record that he was quick in the uptake. In his court, the dispensation of justice was fast and quick. He was highly principled, strong-willed. That reputation still precedes him in all the divisions he served either as a Magistrate or as a Judge of the High Court. Said Ephraim Akpata, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in his autobiography Justice For All And By All (1994) at 148: "Justice F O M Atake was one of the most efficient Chief Magistrates before whom I practised. He was......very quick in the uptake. His Judgements were well researched, well written and of high intellectual standard. Proceedings in his court were fast. To the best of my knowledge, he harassed no counsel or litigant....... Justice Atake was strong-willed and highly principled and held fast to what he believed in. He was blunt, not deceptive..."However, when it came to the law of contempt of court, Franklin Atake found himself, somewhat to his surprise, at the centre of controversy. Some of his decisions in contempt of court cases brought him in full collision with the press and brought a renewed bout of national publicity. He sent the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, his cousin, Mr. Godwin Mogbeyi Boyo to prison for contempt of court when he thought he crossed the line. In 1969, he handed down what proved to be a controversial decision in the case reported as Boyo v The Attorney-General, Mid-West 1 All NLR, 342; NSCC, 333; See also, Re: GM Boyo v The State 1 All NLR, 111, NSCC, 87. Mr. Godwin Mogbeyi Boyo was arrested on a warrant issued by Franklin Atake. On an objection by Boyo's counsel that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the contempt proceedings, Atake ruled that he was indeed competent to try Boyo for contempt of court. Naturally, as Godwin Boyo was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, the decision received a great deal of publicity. The press generally supported Boyo – there were persistent calls in nearly all the Nigerian newspapers for Franklin Atake to resign from the Bench. This went on for a considerable period. Years. The Governor of Mid-Western Nigeria, Brigadier Samuel Ogbemudia, also involved himself in the matter. Having failed to convince the then Chief Justice of the Mid-Western Nigeria, The Honourable Mr. Justice Mason Begho, to refer the matter to the Federal Advisory Judicial Committee (a body responsible, inter alia, for taking disciplinary action against judges), the Governor wrote to the Head of State and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Yakubu Gowon, asking that some way be found to refer the matter to the committee. The Governor recommended that Franklin Atake be invited to resign or be removed from the Bench. General Gowon accordingly referred the matter to the Federal Advisory Judicial Committee. The chairman of the committee, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dr. Taslim Olawale Elias, called on Franklin Atake for his comments. After a very detailed consideration of the matter, the Federal Advisory Judicial Committee decided (in a decision endorsed by the Head of State) that: "Although Mr. Justice Atake may have acted indiscreetly, it did not see that a case had been made out for his removal from the Bench or for any disciplinary action to be taken against him. If the then Chief Justice Sir Adetokunbo Ademola felt that disciplinary action was necessary, he would have so directed and raised the matter before the Committee at one of its subsequent meetings. The Committee deprecates the attitude of the press and Military Governors interfering in matters that are essentially judicial, and in calling for the removal of judges. It would be preferable to let the Chief Justice of a State ask that something be done if a judge of his court behaves in an unbecoming manner." (Excerpts from the minutes of the Advisory Judicial Committee meeting held in Lagos on 28 July 1972).Franklin Atake was thus absolved and continued his judicial career in the Mid-Western Nigeria Judiciary.
A Senator of The Federal Republic of Nigeria
Atake voluntarily retired from the Bench in 1977. He was persuaded to stand for the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and was elected with a landslide victory as Senator for Bendel Delta Senatorial District with 59,632 votes under the banner of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 1979. It was a surprise to many that he went into politics as it was thought that he was not cut out for it. However, having found himself there, he decided to make the most of his time in the Senate. He combined a brilliant intellect with acute political instinct and fought most strenuously and tirelessly for what is right. In a short time in the Senate, the wider public admired him as a figure of integrity and courage. His parliamentary eloquence also led so many to admire him. He was nominated by the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) to be their candidate for the President of the Senate, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) nominated Dr. Joseph Wayas. Atake entered fully into the spirit of the occasion hoping to win. The NPN had a very good majority in the Senate and had an accord with the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). Senators voted strictly on party lines and Dr. Joseph Wayas became the victorious President of the Senate winning by 52 votes to 42 votes. It was a disappointment to Franklin Atake that votes were cast strictly on party lines and not on a non-partisan basis and on merit. Be that as it may, he was not deterred from commenting on issues of national importance and in no time, he became an outstanding political figure.