The Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan Branch, has eulogised Chief Richard Osuolale Abimbola Akinjide and expressed heartfelt condolences to his Akinjide’s families and loved ones.
Akinjide, the former minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation and legal icon died at the age of 88 in his Ibadan, Oyo State, home.
In a transition statement signed by Oluwole Akintayo, the NBA chairman (Ibadan) and Akeem Okelola, branch secretary, the bar association expressed saddened over the death of Chief R. O. A. Akinjide SAN and the attendant loss of the opportunity to continue to drink from his deep well of wisdom and experience, the Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan Branch. The branch said it believes this is also a time to “celebrate the life and times of our illustrious and highly revered Patron.”
“Our condolences go to His Excellency, the Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde
FNSE; the Olubadan of Ibadanland, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Saliu Akanmu Olasupo Adetunji,
Aje Ogungunniso I; and the Yoruba Council of Elders on the departure of an illustrious son of
Ibadan. Oyo State and Yorubaland,” the statement reads in part.
Full statement below:
STATEMENT ON THE TRANSITION OF OUR REVERED PATRON, CHIEF RICHARD OSUOLALE ABIMBOLA AKINJIDE, SAN, CON, FCI Arb(UK) (4 November 1931-20 April 2020) (HONOURABLE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE (1979-1983)) FORMER CHAIRMAN, BODY OF BENCHERS (PRESIDENT, NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION (1970-1973) CHAIRMAN, NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION (1969-1970)
1. The Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan Branch, on behalf of its Patrons, members of
the Executive Committee and the entire members of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan
Branch, issues this statement on the transition of our revered Patron, Chief Richard Osuolale
Abimbola Akinjide SAN, CON in the early hours of Tuesday, 21 April, 2020.
2. While we are saddened by the death of Chief R. O. A. Akinjide SAN and the attendant loss of
the opportunity to continue to drink from his deep well of wisdom and experience, the Nigerian
Bar Association, Ibadan Branch, believes it is also a time to celebrate the life and times of our
illustrious and highly revered Patron. Chief Richard Akinjide was called to the Nigerian Bar in
1956, two years after the Western Nigeria Bar Association (now known as Nigerian Bar
Association, Ibadan Branch) was established. He had earlier been called to the Bar in England
after his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) programme at the University of London and vocational
training as a lawyer.. He never severed his link with the legal profession in England. Chief
Richard Akinjide always saw Ibadan Bar as his older brother by two years. It is remarkable to
note that Chief Richard Akinjide assumed office as the fourth Chairman of NBA Ibadan Branch
in 1969 after holding very important state offices including that of a cabinet minister. He did not
consider serving in the local Bar demeaning to him after being a Federal Minister.
3. A short reflection on the various positions in which Chief Richard Akinjide SAN served
indicates he has many successors-in-office in the profession and in public offices. We feel elated
to be Baba’s successors in our capacities as members of the Executive Committee of the Nigerian
Bar Association, Ibadan Branch. Baba Akinjide had openly acknowledged that the office of the
Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan Branch opened up to him many other opportunities
to serve the legal profession in Nigeria. From the office of Chairman, NBA Ibadan Branch, Chief
Richard Akinjide moved to the office of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association where he
served for three years. It was during Chief Akinjide’s presidency that the Constitution of the
NBA was amended to limit the maximum term a person could spend to 2 terms of two years
(each term being for one year then) but he got a third term as the Annual General Meeting
resolved that the restriction on the maximum of two terms would not apply to him since its
decision could not have retrospective effect. Chief Richard Akinjide SAN was in the second set of Senior Advocates of Nigeria sworn in on 12 January 1978. At the time of his transition, Chief
Richard Akinjide SAN was the Chairman, Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) by
virtue of being the “most senior” Senior Advocate in Nigeria.
4. In 1979, Chief Richard Akinjide SAN became the Honourable Attorney-General and Minister
of Justice under President Shehu Shagari. As Attorney-General of the Federation he appeared in
courts frequently to argue cases on behalf of the Federal Government. He did not seek a second
term in office to enable him devote more attention to an assignment he had undertaken to
perform for the International Law Commission of the United Nations. Whilst he was Hon.
Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Richard Akinjide SAN also had the privilege to serve
served as Chairman, Body of Benchers, a body whose establishment was mooted whilst he was
President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
5. We are grateful to God Almighty who blessed Baba Akinjide with highly successful children:
biological, professional, political and social. We must say some of Baba’s professional children
did not meet him in person but were enamoured and inspired by the dignity, grace, candour,
diligence, assiduousness, calm disposition, friendliness and charisma he brought to the
performance of his tasks, be they assumed, assigned or thrust upon him by Providence. Chief
Richard Akinjide was no doubt a most distinguished advocate, a man of great learning and
erudition and an astute administrator. He also influenced the decisions of many young persons,
many of whom have now attained eminent positions in the legal profession, to pursue careers in
law in general and in advocacy in particular. Thanks be to God.
6. Chief Richard Akinjide joined politics before Nigeria attained political independence. Like
many politicians of that generation, their immediate concern was to fight for Nigeria’s
independence. As a nationalist he joined others to achieve this. He was a Member of the House
of Representatives. He was one of the politicians privileged to hold public offices after
independence. He served as Minister of Education in the First Republic in the Cabinet of Prime
Minister, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, before the Military coup of January, 1966. He
embraced fairness and equity in the discharge of the functions of his office. Chief Richard
Akinjide SAN carried his profession into politics. He did not abandon his profession whilst in
politics. He effectively combined practice of law with politics and this made his transition to life
as a private legal practitioner when he left political offices smooth and seamless.
He deployed his legal skills and knowledge to the advantage of his political party. Chief Richard Akinjide SAN was Shehu Shagari’s counsel in the election petition that followed 1979 presidential election both before the Presidential Election Tribunal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The opinion he gave for the first time in an NTA television late evening programme which he participated in as the results of the votes cast in the presidential election in various states were coming in marked the beginning of the debate on the 2/3 of 19 States, an issue that elicited the pronouncements of both the election tribunal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria. All subsequent exercises to create additional states learned from this experience. Chief Richard Akinjide SAN also appeared for FEDECO in the Oyo State Gubernatorial Election Petition between Chief Bola Ige of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
7. Chief Richard Akinjide SAN was an issue-based politician that could not be heard to use
unsavoury language to describe his political opponents. If others chose to play low he would
maintain his dignified posture and culture. He played politics without bitterness. At his family
compound in Ile Aperin, when Chief Akinjide stood election for the office of the Governor of
Oyo State on the platform of NPN in 1979, another family member, Alhaji Busari Obisesan, also
a reputable legal practitioner, was the gubernatorial candidate for the Mallam Aminu Kano-led
People’s Redemption Party (PRP) in the same election. Chief Akinjide’s friends, associates and
admirers cut across political divide.
8. Ten years after leaving office as Education Minister, Chief Richard Akinjide SAN accepted to
serve as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Jos (1976-
1979). In appreciation of his diligent service the university honoured him with an honorary
doctorate degree. At the University of Ibadan, Chief Richard Akinjide SAN was at the inception
of the LLM programme a member of the Faculty. He gratuitously shared knowledge acquired in
his foray into Arbitration, a discipline where he developed himself and which, according to him,
brought him tremendous joy and satisfaction. This afforded the students a unique opportunity to
blend their theoretical knowledge with practice experience. Chief Akinjide SAN did not just
impart knowledge under the auspices of Nigeria’s premier university, he also shared his
resources with the institution by endowing prizes in the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan just
as he had done at the Nigerian Law School and in the University of Jos.
9. There is no doubt that our Patron, Chief Richard Akinjide SAN has left his indelible footprints
in the sands of time. His passage is indeed the end of an era. For many in the legal profession,
Nigeria’s Second Republic has just ended.
10. Chief Richard Akinjide SAN has left many legacies worthy of emulation. As a politician,
Chief Akinjide’s life taught us that politicians can be civil in their speeches; they can speak the
language of royalty. They can also play issue-based politics rather than politics of mud-slinging
that often characterises our political space. He also demonstrated consistency in politics and
fidelity to his political ideology. In effect, the political adventures of an individual need not
swing like a pendulum between the two extreme angles in the crass pursuit of brighter electoral
fortune. As a democrat he took the position that whatever belonged to all should be decided by
all. As a lawyer, he was committed to the Rule of Law and Constitutionalism. As a leader in the
society person, he carefully refrained from the quest for vain glory, public adulation and
publicity for his acts of benevolence.
11. Chief Akinjide SAN displayed a strong sense of community value both to the legal
community Nigeria project and Africa Renaissance being a critical stakeholder in the three. He
engaged in deep and reflective interrogations about the legal profession, the past and future of
Nigeria and the place of Africa in the emerging world economic order. He published numerous
titles on these subjects. Chief was an advocate of continuing legal education and specialisation in
the practice of law. This he did, not merely through words but through his personal example.
However, he counselled that specialisation should come after some years of generalist practice as
there might be need to fall back on one’s generalist knowledge even in the most intractable area
confronting an expert. He advised lawyers to live in the largest room in the world: the room of
improvement and self-development. His eagerness to propel lawyers to embrace technology to change the landscape of legal practice has challenged the mental complacency of many legal
practitioners and enlarged the group of frontline legal practitioners in Nigeria. He championed the argument for the decentralisation of the Nigerian Law School when there was only one campus.
Today, there are six campuses of the Nigerian Law School spread across the nation’s six geopolitical zones. Time will fail us to discuss some of his radical proposals on legal education in
Nigeria. He reiterated that in addition to hard work and other virtues one must pray for luck,
which we may also describe as Divine Favour, as it plays a prominent part in an individual’s
journey in life towards success.
12. As a professional himself, Chief Akinjide SAN placed confidence in the use of first rate
professionals for every simple task. In preparing a counsel for maritime law practice he did not
hesitate to engage a versatile port official, a professional in the field to put counsel through
practical issues in the industry. Excellence was his watchword. With Baba’s departure, the world
of learning, history, and arts, has lost a rare gem and a great enthusiast.
13. The Patrons, Executive Committee and entire members of the Nigerian Bar Association,
Ibadan Bar commiserate with The Akinjide Family, the Law Firm of Akinjide & Co., (Ibadan
and Lagos), the Mogaji and members of Ile Aperin, the Bishop of Ibadan North & Archbishop of
Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province, the Provost and members of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter,
Aremo, Ibadan. We pray for peace and comfort for you all in the mighty Name of Jesus.
14. Our condolences go to His Excellency, the Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde
FNSE; the Olubadan of Ibadanland, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Saliu Akanmu Olasupo Adetunji,
Aje Ogungunniso I; and the Yoruba Council of Elders on the departure of an illustrious son of
Ibadan. Oyo State and Yorubaland.
15. We commiserate with some of Chief Richard Akinjide’s successors in office and the
institutions they represent:
The Chairman, Body of Benchers, Hon. Dr. Justice. Ibrahim Tanko Mohammad, CFR
The Hon. Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami SAN
The Hon Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu
The President, Nigerian Bar Association, Paul Usoro SAN
The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Jos.
Adieu our revered Patron, Chief Richard Osuolale Abimbola Akinjide, SAN, CON, FCIArb
(U.K); LL.D (hc).
