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President of the Nigerian Bar Association, ( NBA ) Paul Usoro, SAN has mourned the passing of Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN – an icon of the legal profession and a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association. Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN passed away in the early hours of Tuesday, the 21st day of April, 2020.
He was 88. Chief Akinjide, SAN was called to the English Bar in 1955 and the Nigerian Bar subsequently. Chief Richard Akinjide was a renowned leader of politics and thoughts. He was a Federal Minister of Education in the First Republic and he was Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice in the Second Republic.
According to Usoro, Akinjide was steeped in the ethics of the Bar, a brilliant advocate – one of the finest of the legal profession, adding that his place in the history of the Nigerian legal profession is well secured. “Chief Akinjide’s contributions to the Bar as President between 1970 to 1973 were immense.
And until his demise, he was always on hand as the oldest member of the exclusive ” Former NBA Presidents Group” that the NBA President, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN often consulted on important issues concerning the legal profession.
Chief Akinjide would be sorely missed,” he noted. Akorede Habeeb Lawal, National Assistant Publicity Secretary, NBA, said that the association was committed to supporting the family of the Chief Richard Akinjide as they plan befitting burial activities for the late Attorney General of the Federation, stressing that Akinjide lived a fulfilled and long life.
How Akinjide died The spokesperson of the Universiry College Hospital, Ibadan, Tonye Akinrinola, confirmed said that Mr. Akinjide was brought into the hospital and confirmed dead upon arrival, saying his remains have been deposited at the hospital’s morgue.
Akinjide was a former minister of education in first republic and the federal minister of Justice in the nation’s Second Republic. The legal luminary was born on Novermber 4, 1931 in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
He attended St. Peter’s Primary School, Aremo in Ibadan, before proceeding to Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife from where he passed out in Grade One (Distinction, Aggregate 6). In 1951, Akinjide travelled to the United Kingdom for his higher education, where he studied for his LL.B degree in Law at the University of London and also obtained a certificate in Journalism. He was called to the English Bar in 1955.
The deceased was subsequently called to the Nigerian and the Gambian Bar and became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 1978. When he returned to Nigeria after his studies, he practiced briefly under S.L.
Durosaro before setting up his law firm, Akinjide & Co. Akinjide was a contributor to several newspapers, especially the West African Pilot and Daily Times.
He also taught at the International Commercial Arbitration at post-graduate level at the University of Ibadan. He was a member of the Judicial Systems Sub-Committee of the Constitutional Drafting Committee of 1975-1977 and later joined the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1978.
He became the Legal Adviser for the party before was later appointed the justice minister when President Shehu Shagari assumed office. He once contested for the governorship election in Oyo state but was defeated by Chief Bola Ige.
The eminent politician and two-time minister was the father of ex-Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Jumoke Akinjide.
