Late Honourable Justice Moses Abu Bello, pioneer president of the Customary Court of Appeal in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja can best be described as a man who lived justice, and did justice to men and women in the course of his career and private life. There is no better testament to the exemplary character of the late Justice Moses Bello than the torrent of tributes that have continued to pour in from far and near upon his demise in the last one month.
Individuals and groups who spoke at several events leading to his burial at his home town in Okene last week have been full of eulogy for the person and character of the global ambassador of peace.
Speaking at the valedictory court session held in his honour at the High Court of Justice in Maitama, Abuja, Acting Chief Judge of the FCT, Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf described the tenure of late Justice Moses Bello as the President of Customary Court of Appeal in the FCT as one that brought justice closer to the people of the FCT.
For the Chairman of the FCT chapter of Magistrates Association of Nigeria, Magistrate Abdulrazaq Musa who spoke on a different platform, the late Justice Moses Bello was a quintessential jurist who contributed to the growth of the dispensation of justice in the FCT in many ways.
In his remarks at the funeral mass held at the Christ the King Church in Okene, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State described Justice Moses Bello as a legal icon who was fair to all manner of people and left his mark in the history of the judiciary in Nigeria.
The late Justice Moses Bello who died in Abuja on the 2nd of September, 2021 was born on the 4th of January 1953 in Ilupeju, Lagos. His cosmopolitan view of life was shaped by his early life as a Lagos boy in the company of his late father Mallam Bello Onoruoiza Eneji Salami, a devout Muslim and a retired soldier; and his mother Hajiya Sabitiyu Bello (Nee Yusuf Olowo-Bank) who was a successful business woman.
He moved to Okene as a young boy to continue his primary education at the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) North, Okene and later went to Government Teachers’ Training College, Okene where he obtained his Grade II Teachers’ certificate.
His quest for higher education took him to Zaria in Kaduna State where he was employed as a Library Assistant at the Kashim Ibrahim Library from November 1973 to June 1974. It was while working in the Library that the young Moses fell in love with books and then studied to obtain both his GCE O levels and A levels by correspondence.
While waiting for admission into the university, he had a stint as a teacher at the prestigious St. Andrew’s School in Okene after which he began to study for his Law degree at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and finished in 1980 with an L.L.B. (HONS.).
Thereafter, he proceeded to the Nigerian Law School in Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1981.
A man destined for high places, Justice Moses Bello’s journey to Abuja began with the successful completion of his mandatory National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) assignment at the Federal Capital Development Authority, Abuja after which he was retained as an employee and was later elevated to the position of an acting head of the department of legal services in the FCDA in 1984.
In 1989, the late Justice Moses Bello was appointed as a Chief Magistrate in the FCT Judiciary. He was later appointed acting Chief Registrar of the Customary Court of Appeal in 1991; and in July, 1992, he was appointed President of the Customary Court of Appeal where he served for a period of 25 years until January, 2018 making him the longest serving head of court in Nigeria’s history. He was a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) from 1992 to 2018 and also served as a member of the National Judicial Council (NJC) till his retirement from the bench in 2018.
Credited with the establishment of customary courts in the FCT, Justice Moses Bello was also responsible for expanding the jurisdiction of customary courts in what judicial watchers believe is largely responsible for reduction in prison congestion and caseloads of magistrate courts in the FCT.
In addition to his achievements as a judicial officer, Justice Moses Bello was a community leader, philanthropist and a truly religious family man who contributed immensely to the wellbeing of people and communities far and beyond his immediate family, tribe, religious and community frontiers.
In 2002, he established the Moses Abu Bello (MAB) Foundation through which he assisted several students in secondary schools and higher institutions of learning including yours sincerely who along with other beneficiaries have also taken on the challenge of supporting educational advancement of indigent students in our communities.
In recognition of his meritorious public service career, the Federal Government of Nigeria under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua conferred the prestigious Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) on Justice Moses Bello in December, 2008. Also, to acknowledge his humanitarian interventions in different spheres of life and commitment to the body of Christ in Nigeria, Justice Moses Bello was in September 2020 conferred with the Papal Order of Saint Gregory the Great (KSG) by Pope Francis among many other recognitions for his illustrious public service career and exemplary family and community life.
The late Justice Moses Bello will be missed by many of his colleagues, friends and family members among whom are his beloved wife, children and grandchildren.
Isah Ismail writes on behalf of beneficiaries of the MAB Foundation scholarship