PROFESSOR MATTHEW CHUKS OKPALUBA: A LEGACY OF LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP, INTELLECTUAL EXCELLENCE A Tribute to a Distinguished Nigerian Legal Scholar By C.Umeokafor LL.B, B.L, LLM The passing of Professor Matthew Chuks Okpaluba marks the end of an extraordinary intellectual journey and the loss of a distinguished scholar whose contribution to legal education, jurisprudence and academic thought extended far beyond the shores of Nigeria. There are scholars whose names become attached to institutions, books and academic titles. There are others whose influence is more enduring because their scholarship becomes part of the intellectual foundation upon which succeeding generations build. Professor Matthew Chuks Okpaluba belonged to the latter category. His was a life devoted to the law, not merely as a collection of rules and precedents, but as an intellectual discipline, a social institution and an instrument through which justice, liberty, accountability and human dignity may be pursued. For those of us who knew him as family, however, Professor Okpaluba was more than the distinguished academic whose name appeared on the covers of scholarly publications. He was our uncle, a member of our family whose remarkable intellectual accomplishments were a source of immense pride and whose passing leaves a deeply personal void. THE MAKING OF A SCHOLAR Professor Okpaluba's academic journey was one of remarkable breadth. He studied at the University of London, the University of Toronto and the University of the West Indies, obtaining his LL.B. (Hons) from the University of London in 1968, LL.M. in 1969, and Ph.D. from the University of the West Indies in 1980. His doctoral thesis, Compulsory Labour Adjudication in Trinidad & Tobago: The Jurisprudence of the Industrial Court, was already indicative of the depth and direction of his intellectual interests. His principal areas of teaching and research included constitutional law, administrative law, labour law, human rights and humanitarian law, and…
