Chief Idowu Sofola, SAN, MON (29 September 1934 – 23 March 2018) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

jurist,

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

and president of the

Nigerian Bar Association The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. T ...

. He was Previously the Chairman of the

Nigerian Body of Benchers The Nigerian Body of Benchers is a professional body concerned with the admission of successful candidates at the Nigerian Law School Bar Final Examination into the Legal Proffession. Members of the body are called ''Benchers''. The body also re ...

Early life

Chief Idowu was born on September 1934 at

Ikenne Ikenne is a Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Ikenne at . It has an area of 144 km and a population of 118,735 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 121. Wards in Ikenne # Iken ...

, a town in

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to th ...

in southwestern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He was enrolled at St. Saviour's School, Ikenne in 1945 for his primary education. In 1952, he was admitted into Eko Boys High School, where he completed his Secondary education. Upon completion of his secondary school education, he joined the Lagos State Judiciary in 1958 as a Court Clerk, having decided this to be a pathway to understanding the practice of Law. He thereafter journeyed to the United Kingdom where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Law from the London School of Commerce and

Holborn College Kaplan Holborn College was a college of higher education in London, England, specialising in accounting, finance, law and business. It was originally established as Holborn Law College in 1969 to prepare young lawyers from overseas for the Univ ...

. He was called to the

English bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

at Lincoln's Inn in July 1962, the same year he returned to

for legal practice.

Law career

Idowu began his career at the

Supreme Court of Nigeria The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...

on July 30, 1962 when he was enrolled as a Solicitor and Advocate by Honourable Justice Sir

Adetokunbo Ademola Omoba Sir Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola GCON KBE PC SAN (1 February 1906 – 29 January 1993) was a Nigerian jurist who was the Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1958 to 1972. He was appointed as Chief Justice on 1 April 1958, replacing Sir Staff ...

KBE, GCON, PC, SAN, having been sponsored by Chief Remilekun Fani-Kayode QC, SAN and

Kehinde Sofola Chief Kehinde Sofola, QC, SAN, MON, CON (10 March 1924 – 25 March 2007) was a prominent Nigerian Jurist and Minister of Justice during the Second Nigerian Republic. Early life and career Chief Sofola was born on March 10, 1924 as one o ...

CON, SAN. Some of his contemporaries were Late Chief M.A Kuku (Ogbeni Oja of Ijebu Ode), Chief Akin Delano, among several successful lawyers. In May 1989, he rose to the zenith of his career as

Senior Advocate of Nigeria Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is a title that may be conferred on legal practitioners in Nigeria of not less than ten years' standing and who have distinguished themselves in the legal profession. It is the equivalent of the rank of Queen's Coun ...

and in 1980, he was elected as president of the Nigerian Bar Association, a position he held until his tenure elapsed in 1982. On March 30, 2012, he was elected Chairman of the Nigerian Body of Benchers to succeed Dahiru Musdapher. Idowu was the first African to be elected as the Secretary General of the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associa ...

Personal life

He was a brother to

SAN, the father of Kayode Sofola, a

and former chairman of

United Bank for Africa United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is a Multinational pan-African financial services group headquartered in Lagos and known as Africa’s Global Bank. It has subsidiaries in 20 African countries and offices in London, Paris and New York. In Dece ...

. He was married to Chief Mrs. Olusola Sofola with whom he has four children; most prominent of which is Sina Sofola SAN. He also has a daughter who is a Judge of the Lagos State High Court, Hon. Justice Yetunde Pinheiro (married to prominent Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN). The other children are Kola Sofola (a former banker turned businessman), Leke Sofola (a former banker turned businessman) and Femi Sofola (an insurance practitioner, working with FBN Insurance Limited). He also has a 12 grandchildren; the first grandchild is Folakunmi Pinheiro, a PhD in Law Candidate at Darwin College, Cambridge.

Membership

References

1934 births 2018 deaths People from Ogun State Nigerian jurists Yoruba legal professionals Idowu Eko Boys' High School alumni {{Nigeria-bio-stub