Hon. Justice Paul Adamu Galumje (Former Justice of the Supreme Court):
Oratory on Barr. Louis Nnamdi Mbanefo SAN
Mr Louis Mbanefo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, practices Law in Lagos and he is the Principal Partner in the law firm of Mbanefo & CO. He is a founding member of the Nigerian Maritime Law Association and was elected secretary, vice president and president of the association between 2010 and 2016. He is presently the Patron of The Association.
Learned Silk is Author of the Nigerian Shipping Law series and Nigerian Shipping Practice And Procedure. He also authored the sixteen volumes of Nigerian Shipping Cases, Nigeria’s pioneer Maritime Law Reports used by Judges, Legal Practitioners and Students. These Reports for many Maritime Lawyers, are the foundation of their training and continue to serve as key reference materials for adjudication of Maritime disputes in Nigeria and beyond. Learned Silk was called to the Inner Bar in 1988 and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nigerian National Shipping Line in 1993.
Learned Senior Advocate was also appointed Chairman of a ministerial committee set up to review and update the Nigerian Shipping Laws by the Minister of Transport and He was responsible for the preparation of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act 1991 and Admiralty Jurisdiction Procedure Rules 1993, as well as the Merchant Shipping Act 2007 for the Nigerian Government.
In 1987, Learned Silk was appointed Consultant to the INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATION of the United Nations. In the year 2000, He was appointed Chairman of a Task Force which successfully achieved the admission of Nigeria into the “white list” the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Not done with, He was appointed by the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation as a Visiting Professor tasked with preparation of the syllabus for the then proposed International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta in 1988. He has been a visiting fellow of the Institute since its inception in 1989. He is currently a member of its governing council.
Learned Silk was elected a member of the Executive Council of the “Comite’ Maritime International”, the global Body for the unification and promotion of International Maritime Law in October, 2008 and served a term of six (6) years. He was the first African so appointed and was Chairman of the standing committee on the implementation of international conventions.
Aside His strides in Law, He has a flair for music, He is a Pianist of no mean repute, He started playing piano at the age of six (6) and the passion grew overtime that it gave birth to the Musical Society of Nigeria and it’s center. He has performed over 100 concerts as a Pianist.
Mr Mbanefo is married to Barr (Mrs) Monica Mbanefo of the International Maritime Organisation, and they are blessed with children. The humble Learned Silk is an epitome of integrity, an advocate of transparency and obedience to the rule of law. This is reflected in the interview which He granted at His 70th birthday where He said:
“My role in the industry has been the law and advocacy. I must say that I am disappointed the way things have turned out. Standards were very much higher 35 years ago than now, Maritime law has become an all comers’ affair. All kinds of characters come in with no integrity, I am very disappointed things hadn’t developed the way I hoped……”
With this profile, it is undeniable that Mr. Louis Mbanefo, SAN is a fit and proper person to be admitted into the Hallmark of Labour Foundation. Accordingly, I hereby present him to the Board which has found him worthy in character and learning, to be honoured with the “HLF AWARD” Congratulations Learned Silk.
Paul Adamu Galumje
Justice of the Supreme Court rtd.