(By Joseph Onele Esq, LLB, First Class Honours)
Dear Distinguished Learned Silk, I got to know about your birthday a couple of hours back and I have since then, thought of how best to convey my appreciation to you for all that you have done for the cause of Justice, rule of law, respect for human rights, welfare of young lawyers, and for the promotion of our most cherished Legal Profession in Nigeria.
I got to know about you first during my formative days at the University of Ibadan as a student leader in search of leading Law Firms with offices in Ibadan in 2010/2011 and second at the Nigerian Law School (NLS), Lagos Campus when you invited students from the NLS, sometime in 2014 circa 2015. As I recall, it was the SPA Ajibade & Co Annual Event at Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island. I recall attending the event with some of my colleagues from the NLS and running into esteemed senior colleagues like Mavis Abada, Reginald Aziza, amongst others. I recall how this particular event gave me this direct mentorship opportunity, privilege and platform, through this event, even without knowing, to drink from the ever flowing well or deep fountain of knowledge of some of brightest and budding legal minds ever produced in the legal profession in Nigeria. For this, I remain ever grateful.
Learned Silk, it is no news that you graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University sometime in 1988 and got admitted to the Nigerian Bar a year later, before going on to King’s College London (KCL) to obtain your LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law and later on, your PhD in Private International Law from the KCL in 1996. Your success stories in the profession sure preceeds you and young lawyers like myself look up to leading lights or rather shining stars like your humble self for timely guidance, exemplary mentorship as well as inspiration.
A man of many firsts, you became the first member of the 1989 call set to be conferred with the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria as far back as 2007.
You were equally awarded the International Practice Fellowship of the International Bar Association in Madrid in October 2009 and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK (Nigerian Chapter) in January 2015.
Learned Silk, your career has been characterised by quiet and efficient service to the legal profession.
It is rather not surprising that you were also a founding member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Business Law (SBL) (NbaSbl Ng) and played a significant role in setting the SBL on the course on which it is today.
Distinguished Learned Silk, it would also be recalled that following the dissolution of the leadership of the SBL by the Joseph Daudu, SAN administration of the NBA at the National Executive Committee which held in Gombe in November 2010, you were also a member of the three-man Committee set up to resolve the imbroglio that ensued. The other members of the Committee were Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, MFR and Mr. Yemi Candide-Johnson, SAN. History will sure not forget the work of the Committee which resulted in the resuscitation of the SBL in 2011. It was, therefore, not surprising that you were appointed the Chairman of the Nominations Committee that conducted elections into the revived SBL in August 2011. It is indeed, you, Sir, who chaired the Committee that planned and executed the hugely successful SBL Conference which held in Abuja in 2016. Need it also be said that you were a member of the Governing Council of the SBL between 2014 and 2018?
it sure needs no telling that your service to the NBA extends well beyond the SBL.
You were also a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NBA between 2008 to 2010 and from 2016 to 2018.
As a matter of fact, you are currently a member of the NBA NEC, having been so appointed by the President of the NBA, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN.
Between 12 to 15 October 2009, you were also a member of the NBA Legal Services Trade Mission to the United Kingdom.
On 30 November 2012, you were appointed a member of the Liberalisation of Legal Services Working Group by the then President of the NBA, Mr. Okey Wali, SAN. It would be recalled that this group was tasked with the responsibility of advising the NBA on the merits and demerits of liberalising access to the Nigerian legal services market by allowing foreign qualified legal practitioners practice law in Nigeria.
Dr. Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb, your service to the NBA also extends to the branch level of the NBA.
In 2008, you were the lead presenter at the Law Week of the NBA Akure Branch.
On 27 October 2011, you were the speaker at the NBA Ibadan Law Week Dinner.
You equally chaired the Committee that planned the 2014 Law Week of the NBA LAGOS BRANCH.
In 2015, you also sponsored the 9th Law Week of the NBA Ikorodu Branch which held on 12 May 2015.
Never getting tired of supporting Bar Associations long before now, you also sponsored the meeting of the NBA NEC that took place in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State between 5 – 7 June 2014.
Dr Babatunde Ajibade SAN, FCIArb, your reputation, integrity as well as straightforward nature well precedes you. Little wonder you were appointed Chairman of Panel B of the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee for Lagos on 11 July 2017.
Shall I write about how you epitomize humility and believe that there should be mutual respect among lawyers as professional colleagues regardless of rank or seniority?
Learned Silk, your law practice straddles both corporate/commercial practice and litigation.
Apart from being a well respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria, you have had the opportunity to chair the Capital Markets Solicitors’ Association (CMSA). Indeed, your significant experience in corporate/commercial practice and litigation means that you occupy that peculiar position that enables you to understand the challenges that corporate/commercial lawyers and litigators face in their areas of practice.
Dr Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb, shall I write of how passionate you are about the legal profession and your eagerness to play a major role in finding lasting solutions to the challenges that plague our beloved noble profession in Nigeria in need of your leadership, particularly, at this critical time?
SPA Ajibade & Co which you lead as Managing Partner has for the past 12 years been organising an annual business luncheon and I have been privileged to attend a couple of these in 2013 and 2014 even when I was yet to be called to the Nigerian Bar. These events to which your firm commits significant resources every year, present opportunities for lawyers and other stakeholders in the justice delivery system to come together to discuss issues that affect the legal profession. As I recall, a recent theme of this business luncheon which was the 12th in the series had as its theme: THE FORUM FOR THE RESOLUTION OF CIVIL DISPUTES: THE COURTS VS LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. It sure cannot be forgotten in a rush that the various speakers who spoke at the event examined the numerous problems affecting the administration of civil justice and which impel disputants to patronise law enforcement agencies (rather than the courts) for the settlement of civil disputes.
Your passion for the legal profession led him and other lawyers under the auspices of Commercial Disputes-Law Network (which is an initiative of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC)) to draft an “Administration of Civil Justice Bill” which when passed into law will completely revolutionize administration of civil justice in Nigeria.
Through your efforts and that of some colleagues in Commercial Disputes-Law Network, Ekiti State has enacted the Bill into law and discussions are at an advanced stage with the Lagos and Oyo State Ministries of Justice on the possible enactment of the Bill into law.
Learned Silk, Sir, you have, over the years been a strong advocate of a united Bar and ever committed to being part of the solutions to the many challenges facing the legal profession in Nigeria.
On this day, even as you celebrate your bithday, one cannot forget how you have preached the gospel that the dividing lines we draw between corporate/commercial lawyers and advocates, between law officers and the traditional Bar, between in-house counsel and external counsel, between young lawyers and senior lawyers and even the divisions across nationalities and ethnicities, hamper rather than aid the course of the legal profession in Nigeria.
While different segments of the profession have peculiar challenges, you strongly believe that to successfully fight off threats to the rule of law, encroachment into our profession by foreign lawyers and other professions in Nigeria, and a myriad of other problems the legal profession faces, we must all take steps to unite the Bar by doing our part.
It is, therefore, with the foregoing in mind that I celebrate you on this occasion of your birthday.
It is my sincere prayers that the Most Gracious God will continue to bless you, prosper you and make you abound in all good virtues.
May your light ever shine and may it never go dim.
With all my love, best wishes and respect, now & always,
*Joseph Onele Esq. (LLB, First Class Honours, Ibadan); BL (Lagos); Postgraduate Diploma (With Commendation) (Aberdeen, UK); Member, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators – AIPN
WORLD DR. BABATUNDE AJIBADE, SAN, FCIARB DAY!
Dr. Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb,
Dear Distinguished Learned Silk,
I got to know about your birthday a couple of hours back and I have since then, thought of how best to convey my appreciation to you for all that you have done for the cause of Justice, rule of law, respect for human rights, welfare of young lawyers, and for the promotion of our most cherished Legal Profession in Nigeria.
I got to know about you first during my formative days at the University of Ibadan as a student leader in search of leading Law Firms with offices in Ibadan in 2010/2011 and second at the Nigerian Law School (NLS), Lagos Campus when you invited students from the NLS, sometime in 2014 circa 2015. As I recall, it was the SPA Ajibade & Co Annual Event at Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island. I recall attending the event with some of my colleagues from the NLS and running into esteemed senior colleagues like Mavis Abada, Reginald Aziza, amongst others. I recall how this particular event gave me this direct mentorship opportunity, privilege and platform, through this event, even without knowing, to drink from the ever flowing well or deep fountain of knowledge of some of brightest and budding legal minds ever produced in the legal profession in Nigeria. For this, I remain ever grateful.
Learned Silk, it is no news that you graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University sometime in 1988 and got admitted to the Nigerian Bar a year later, before going on to King’s College London (KCL) to obtain your LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law and later on, your PhD in Private International Law from the KCL in 1996. Your success stories in the profession sure preceeds you and young lawyers like myself look up to leading lights or rather shining stars like your humble self for timely guidance, exemplary mentorship as well as inspiration.
A man of many firsts, you became the first member of the 1989 call set to be conferred with the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria as far back as 2007.
You were equally awarded the International Practice Fellowship of the International Bar Association in Madrid in October 2009 and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK (Nigerian Chapter) in January 2015.
Learned Silk, your career has been characterised by quiet and efficient service to the legal profession.
It is rather not surprising that you were also a founding member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Business Law (SBL) (NbaSbl Ng) and played a significant role in setting the SBL on the course on which it is today.
Distinguished Learned Silk, it would also be recalled that following the dissolution of the leadership of the SBL by the Joseph Daudu, SAN administration of the NBA at the National Executive Committee which held in Gombe in November 2010, you were also a member of the three-man Committee set up to resolve the imbroglio that ensued. The other members of the Committee were Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, MFR and Mr. Yemi Candide-Johnson, SAN. History will sure not forget the work of the Committee which resulted in the resuscitation of the SBL in 2011. It was, therefore, not surprising that you were appointed the Chairman of the Nominations Committee that conducted elections into the revived SBL in August 2011. It is indeed, you, Sir, who chaired the Committee that planned and executed the hugely successful SBL Conference which held in Abuja in 2016. Need it also be said that you were a member of the Governing Council of the SBL between 2014 and 2018?
it sure needs no telling that your service to the NBA extends well beyond the SBL.
You were also a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NBA between 2008 to 2010 and from 2016 to 2018.
As a matter of fact, you are currently a member of the NBA NEC, having been so appointed by the President of the NBA, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN.
Between 12 to 15 October 2009, you were also a member of the NBA Legal Services Trade Mission to the United Kingdom.
On 30 November 2012, you were appointed a member of the Liberalisation of Legal Services Working Group by the then President of the NBA, Mr. Okey Wali, SAN. It would be recalled that this group was tasked with the responsibility of advising the NBA on the merits and demerits of liberalising access to the Nigerian legal services market by allowing foreign qualified legal practitioners practice law in Nigeria.
Dr. Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb, your service to the NBA also extends to the branch level of the NBA.
In 2008, you were the lead presenter at the Law Week of the NBA Akure Branch.
On 27 October 2011, you were the speaker at the NBA Ibadan Law Week Dinner.
You equally chaired the Committee that planned the 2014 Law Week of the NBA LAGOS BRANCH.
In 2015, you also sponsored the 9th Law Week of the NBA Ikorodu Branch which held on 12 May 2015.
Never getting tired of supporting Bar Associations long before now, you also sponsored the meeting of the NBA NEC that took place in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State between 5 – 7 June 2014.
Dr Babatunde Ajibade SAN, FCIArb, your reputation, integrity as well as straightforward nature well precedes you. Little wonder you were appointed Chairman of Panel B of the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee for Lagos on 11 July 2017.
Shall I write about how you epitomize humility and believe that there should be mutual respect among lawyers as professional colleagues regardless of rank or seniority?
Learned Silk, your law practice straddles both corporate/commercial practice and litigation.
Apart from being a well respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria, you have had the opportunity to chair the Capital Markets Solicitors’ Association (CMSA). Indeed, your significant experience in corporate/commercial practice and litigation means that you occupy that peculiar position that enables you to understand the challenges that corporate/commercial lawyers and litigators face in their areas of practice.
Dr Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb, shall I write of how passionate you are about the legal profession and your eagerness to play a major role in finding lasting solutions to the challenges that plague our beloved noble profession in Nigeria in need of your leadership, particularly, at this critical time?
SPA Ajibade & Co which you lead as Managing Partner has for the past 12 years been organising an annual business luncheon and I have been privileged to attend a couple of these in 2013 and 2014 even when I was yet to be called to the Nigerian Bar. These events to which your firm commits significant resources every year, present opportunities for lawyers and other stakeholders in the justice delivery system to come together to discuss issues that affect the legal profession. As I recall, a recent theme of this business luncheon which was the 12th in the series had as its theme: THE FORUM FOR THE RESOLUTION OF CIVIL DISPUTES: THE COURTS VS LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. It sure cannot be forgotten in a rush that the various speakers who spoke at the event examined the numerous problems affecting the administration of civil justice and which impel disputants to patronise law enforcement agencies (rather than the courts) for the settlement of civil disputes.
Your passion for the legal profession led him and other lawyers under the auspices of Commercial Disputes-Law Network (which is an initiative of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC)) to draft an “Administration of Civil Justice Bill” which when passed into law will completely revolutionize administration of civil justice in Nigeria.
Through your efforts and that of some colleagues in Commercial Disputes-Law Network, Ekiti State has enacted the Bill into law and discussions are at an advanced stage with the Lagos and Oyo State Ministries of Justice on the possible enactment of the Bill into law.
Learned Silk, Sir, you have, over the years been a strong advocate of a united Bar and ever committed to being part of the solutions to the many challenges facing the legal profession in Nigeria.
On this day, even as you celebrate your bithday, one cannot forget how you have preached the gospel that the dividing lines we draw between corporate/commercial lawyers and advocates, between law officers and the traditional Bar, between in-house counsel and external counsel, between young lawyers and senior lawyers and even the divisions across nationalities and ethnicities, hamper rather than aid the course of the legal profession in Nigeria.
While different segments of the profession have peculiar challenges, you strongly believe that to successfully fight off threats to the rule of law, encroachment into our profession by foreign lawyers and other professions in Nigeria, and a myriad of other problems the legal profession faces, we must all take steps to unite the Bar by doing our part.
It is, therefore, with the foregoing in mind that I celebrate you on this occasion of your birthday.
It is my sincere prayers that the Most Gracious God will continue to bless you, prosper you and make you abound in all good virtues.
May your light ever shine and may it never go dim.
With all my love, best wishes and respect, now & always,
*Joseph Onele Esq. (LLB, First Class Honours, Ibadan); BL (Lagos); Postgraduate Diploma (With Commendation) (Aberdeen, UK); Member, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators – AIPN
