Date: 2017-09-12

As people gathered to mark Justice Mustapha Akanbi's 85th birthday, the pioneer chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said he had 14 chemotherapy sessions and one major surgery in the last two years.

He stressed that he did not believe he could survive the trials in those two years.

He disclosed this in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, at a public lecture organized by his NGO, Musptapha Akanbi Foundation (MAF), to celebrate him at 85.

Akanbi, who was a former President of the Court of Appeal, said that in the last two years he was a patient in London, Abuja and Ilorin hospitals where he had undergone various treatments before God spared his life.

Akanbi said, "I feel highly humbled as I stand to address you today on this eighty-fifth anniversary of my birth. For little had I expected to survive the trials, the tribulations and the ordeals I went through in the last two years. I thank my Creator, the Almighty Allah (SWT), the Giver and Taker of life... I thank Him for His mercy, kindness and love; and for sparing my life to be part of today's ceremony."

In his lecture titled, 'Nation Building in Africa; The role of African Leaders,' the General-Secretary, National Union of Textile and Garment Workers of Nigeria, (NUCGTWN), Comrade Issa Aremu, challenged public office holders to always account for how they have met the constitutional expectations expected of them.

Aremu described Justice Akanbi as a father, mentor, pan-African leader and a role model worthy of celebration.