My family celebrates our own Prof Paul Idornigie, SAN, PhD, C.Arb, on his attainment of 70 years of age.

Prof Idornigie is a highly remarkable man and we are pleased to see you celebrate 3 scores and 10.

Your accomplishments are legion but your humility remains legendary. I am happy to have seen you climb the ladder of success without loosing your touch for the common man. Your grass to grace story keeps you on your toes and have helped you in your relationship with humanity.

At 70, you now belong to the pantheon of legends and indeed this is not the end of your story but the beginning of another chapter.

May God bless and keep you. May you always have cause to celebrate in your well – decorated life. My special appreciation to your lovely wife who is the pillar of your life.

Once more happy birthday from my family. Age gracefully in the fear of the Lord. Many happy returns

l write to congratulate you on the occasion of a colloquium organized on Arbitration of International Trade and Investment Dispute tagged ‘Rethink v Reform’ to commemorate your birthday. You have reached a very significant milestone in life. The Corps is pleased to celebrate this magnificent chapter of the life of a great personality.

DG BPE: On behalf of the Management and the entire Staff of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), I wish to extend our
heartfelt congratulations as you attain the age of 70 years.

My dear Prof, you have contributed immensely amongst others in knowledge and economic sustenance of the Reform/
privatization programme of the Federal Government and the rapid economic growth of our great country Nigeria.

Our dear Prof, we thank God on this your 70th birthday celebration for all He has caused you to achieve in both your family and professional life.

Your humility, handwork, intellect and ‘digitalized’ engagement are all worthy of emulation and we take inspiration from you.

Thank you for being you and for being our brother and friend! We celebrate you today and look forward to many more celebrations with you!

God bless you abundantly!

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and management of Janada International Center for Arbitration and Mediation (JICAM), we heartily congratulate you on the attainment of this significant age, the Biblical three score and ten
age limit. We sincerely join your family, friends and associates to celebrate your grand entrance into the septuagenarian club.

Life’s journey is never a straight line. Like the great river, it often meanders and takes many twists and turns, but its ultimate destination — though unknowable at the start — is certain, as ordained by God. But the individual still must have the hunger and do his part by using the fragments of opportunities that God puts in all our paths.

Prof, your life was definitely defined by God and you unfolded like a flower with times and seasons each recording great accomplishments in your career path and culminating into your destiny which we celebrate today .

You really had a rendezvous with history growing up as a young boy from Ayogwiri, in Uzairue, Etsako West Local Government Area in an agricultural background to a giant in the Law profession where you earned the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Professor of Law and Acting Director- General Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

You have also distinguished yourself in the field of Arbitration, academically, practically, Nationally and in the global space where you have grown to become a chartered arbitrator and an approved member of the faculty list (APL). (Tutor & Assessor) of the chartered institute of arbitrator’s  United Kingdom.

You have endeared your name from your God given talent and skills in numerous publications in intellectual journals and books .

May God continue to bless your fertile imagination as your pen and brain flow to offer more to your profession and humanity. Happy birthday to the distinguished Senior Advocate of Nigeria and erudite Professor of Law. May your days be long.

Congratulations Professor Idornigie on your 70th Birthday.

Your life is an inspiration to several persons as it is a complete sermon: with determination, all things are possible.

I thank you immensely for your contributions to the development of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria over the years.

I wish you good health and long life so that you will continue to be a blessing to this generation.

Happy Birthday Sir.

Bode Ayeku, FCIS

You taught me at the Law school 21 years ago, that means I’ve known you since you were 59 and I must say sir, that at 70, you do not look different from when I knew you at 59!

This is surely the grace of God. As you turn 70 sir, I pray that your strength  increases with your age, you will not live your life in sickness, your dance steps will not reduce, you will continue to be humorous and make all around you laugh, your intellect will also continue to be intact and grow. Here’s wishing you a minimum of another 30 years sir!

Cheers to 70 Sir
Cheers.

We give glory to God for preserving the life of our friend and his family. We have every cause to say that God preserved his life for the good of humanity and the legal profession.

Professor Idornigie is a strong believer in the powers of the Almighty God He can do all things. He never forgets his children and whatever they go through is not beyond him.

We believe humility, perseverance, discipline and selflessness are attributes God gave to the celebrant in abundance. We all have a lot to learn from him.

We pray that God gives him long life in joy, peace and perfect health.
What He, God has begun in the celebrant’s body, soul and spirit, He will complete perfectly in the name of Jesus.

Goodwill message to the teacher of teachers. Prof. Paul Idornigie, SAN FCIS, C.Arb

In adulthood I have learnt something that wasn’t so self‐evident in my younger years; that is that half the battle in coming to grips with sometimes arcane subjects lies in who is there to unpick the subject for you.

I first met Prof. in the year 2000 when I attended the Nigerian Law School, Bwari, Abuja. He was and remains the very quintessence of a teacher, and it was clear to me that this person would have an impact on my life. From the outset, his class was one I looked forward to attending.

Years later, I was fortunate to meet Prof again at several functions, meetings, conferences and, once again, I took the opportunity to drink from
his well. His willingness to be open in sharing of his knowledge and wisdom is exemplary.

Prof and I now serve on the exco of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, (UK) Nigeria branch. In that capacity, I am privileged to remain the
Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I count myself extremely lucky to be rubbing shoulders with a kind and humble intellectual. With him learning is never done and his open‐source attitude has encouraged me to warmly embrace the teaching of others.

As Prof clocks 70, I wish him many more years of good health, success, promotion and elevation. By the way Prof, I’m still looking forward to
dancing Zanku with you.

God speed!
Happy birthday sir

For many, the celebration of an anniversary imposes a burdensome weight of accumulated years, however a select few are privileged enough to celebrate each passing year by undergoing an incredible process of evolution, distinguishable by sheer brilliance.

My mentor, friend and learned colleague is one of such.

When I first met him, his humility shorn through.

My first meeting with him showed someone who understood the need to give to others, and share knowledge unreservedly.

Our first encounter did not exhibit the significance of his humble beginnings. I thought he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, a fact that almost insulated me from the reality of the man called Professor Paul Obo Idornigie.

I will not be imprudent to attempt to delineate Prof. Idornigie’s tremendous accomplishments, but I cannot but mention that the learned silk, with tenacity and grit, transited from being a typist to a formidable giant, bestriding the legal profession through a journey that could be characterized as purely nomadic.

Prof’s activities in the arbitration and ADR space must not be relegated to a footnote. I recall with pride, the promptness with which he accepted to be the chairman of the technical sub‐committee of the National Commission on the Reform and Repeal of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act LFN 19 2004. It was a task he took on with great gusto, sifting through the surrounding foliage, and utilizing his colossal talent, berthed his sub‐committee’s deliverables long before the deadline, with little or no complaint, even in the midst of unmeritorious comments, and unctuous stream of drivel. Prof drained the swamp for me when I learned from him that sacrifice can indeed bring great strength. It is a lesson I remind myself of as often as possible. Thank you, Prof!

There is a whole menu to choose from when describing Prof. He is a fantastic dancer, a confluence of brilliance, panache and eloquence, qualities he brought to bear in his work chairing the technical sub‐committee, and I shall forever be thankful that his spirit of volunteerism led to his acceptance to anchor that task.

Prof, the honor to write this brief piece is quite acute, and I hope that as you celebrate this milestone, humanity, and especially those of us who have had the good fortune to be called your friends, and mentee, will continue to be the beneficiaries of your goodwill and greatness.

Happy Birthday, Prof.

For many, the celebration of an anniversary imposes a burdensome weight of accumulated years, however a select few are privileged enough to celebrate each passing year by undergoing an incredible process of evolution, distinguishable by sheer brilliance.

My mentor, friend and learned colleague is one of such.

When I first met him, his humility shorn through.

My first meeting with him showed someone who understood the need to give to others, and share knowledge unreservedly.

Our first encounter did not exhibit the significance of his humble beginnings. I thought he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, a fact that almost insulated me from the reality of the man called Professor Paul Obo Idornigie.

I will not be imprudent to attempt to delineate Prof. Idornigie’s tremendous accomplishments, but I cannot but mention that the learned silk, with tenacity and grit, transited from being a typist to a formidable giant, bestriding the legal profession through a journey that could be characterized as purely nomadic.

Prof’s activities in the arbitration and ADR space must not be relegated to a footnote. I recall with pride, the promptness with which he accepted to be the chairman of the technical sub‐committee of the National Commission on the Reform and Repeal of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act LFN 19 2004. It was a task he took on with great gusto, sifting through the surrounding foliage, and utilizing his colossal talent, berthed his sub‐committee’s deliverables long before the deadline, with little or no complaint, even in the midst of unmeritorious comments, and unctuous stream of drivel. Prof drained the swamp for me when I learned from him that sacrifice can indeed bring great strength. It is a lesson I remind myself of as often as possible. Thank you, Prof!

There is a whole menu to choose from when describing Prof. He is a fantastic dancer, a confluence of brilliance, panache and eloquence, qualities he brought to bear in his work chairing the technical sub‐committee, and I shall forever be thankful that his spirit of volunteerism led to his acceptance to anchor that task.

Prof, the honor to write this brief piece is quite acute, and I hope that as you celebrate this milestone, humanity, and especially those of us who have had the good fortune to be called your friends, and mentee, will continue to be the beneficiaries of your goodwill and greatness.

Happy Birthday, Prof.

There are nights when the upper air is windless and the stars in heaven stand out in their full splendor round the bright moon, when every mountain‐top and headland and ravine starts into site, as the infinite depths of the sky
are torn open to the very firmament; when every star is seen and the shepherd rejoices, waiting for Dawn to take her golden throne.

The Iliad

An Homeric lyrical prose that soothes a heat‐oppressed brain in perilous but exciting times.

Happy birthday with many happy returns.
God bless.