During his secondary school days, he joined a social club called the Green Triangle and became friends with Remi Fani-Kayode, whose father was a lawyer and Ibikunle Akitoye.
In 1955, a decision was made whereby regional governments were allowed to create the position of Chief Justice and to enact statutory laws.
[7] In 1979, he became a member of the Nigerian Body of Benchers, the same year he was appointed as the Chief Justice of Nigeria to succeed Sir Darnley Alexander.
However, the previous three Chief Justices, Adetokunbo Ademola, Taslim Elias and Darnley Alexander, were not the most senior judges of the court prior to there appointments.
[12] In Abraham Adesanya vs the Vice-President of Nigeria, the court delved into the question of Locus standi[13] setting a judgement that is criticised by many public interest lawyers partly because the judgement set a precedent to deny access to courts by litigants unless they could show a personal interest in respect of their case.
[14] In recognition of his contributions to the legal professions, he was conferred with numerous awards and National honours such CFR, CON, GCON.