Chief Osuolale Abimbola Richard Akinjide, SAN (4 November 1930 – 21 April 2020) was a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

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 ...

n lawyer and politician. He served as the minister of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

in the First Republic and the minister of

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

in the Second Republic.

Biography

Born in Ibadan in 1930, Chief Akinjide belonged to a family with links to the

Nigerian chieftaincy system The Nigerian Chieftaincy is the chieftaincy system that is native to Nigeria. Consisting of everything from the country's monarchs to its titled family elders, the chieftaincy as a whole is one of the oldest continuously existing institutions i ...

: his maternal grandfather was Chief Oderinlo, a Balogun of the

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

kingdom. He attended Oduduwa College in Ile-Ife as a young boy, and subsequently passed out in Grade One (Distinction, Aggregate 6). Akinjide travelled to the UK in 1951 for his higher education and was called to the English Bar in 1955. He later returned to Nigeria. He established his practice of Akinjide & Co soon thereafter. He was the minister of education in the government of Prime Minister

Tafawa Balewa Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence. Early life Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day B ...

during the First Republic and the Minister for Justice in the administration of President

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018), titled Turakin Sokoto from 1962, was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in ...

in the Second Republic. He was a member of the judicial system's sub-committee of the Constitutional Drafting Committee of 1975-1977 and later joined the

National Party of Nigeria The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was the dominant political party in Nigeria during the Second Republic (1979–1983). History Formation The party's beginning could be traced to private and sometimes secret meetings among key Northern Nigerian ...

in 1978. He became the legal adviser for the party and was later appointed the Minister for Justice. Akinjide was a

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 ...

. In addition to being a member of the Oderinlo chieftaincy family, he also himself served as a chieftain in the

Olubadan Olubadan ( Yoruba: ''Lord of Ibadan'') is the royal title of the king of Ibadanland in Nigeria. Ibadan was founded in the 16th century, but the present Yoruba people only took control around 1820. By 1850 they had established their unusual ...

of Ibadan's court of clan nobles.

Attorney General

* It was under his watch that Nigeria temporarily reversed executions of armed robbers. * The abolition of a decree barring

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

s from returning to the country. * He was lead prosecutor in the

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

of Bukar Zanna Mandara. * The eviction of many illegal foreign nationals from Nigeria which contributed to mild violence against some foreigners in the country. The event also exposed some weaknesses within the West African economic community.

References

*"Retrial for robbers condemned to Death", BBC *SUSAN LINNEE, Nigeria, Associated Press, February 2, 1983, Wednesday, International News

External links

1930 births 2020 deaths People from Ibadan Justice ministers of Nigeria 20th-century Nigerian lawyers Senior Advocates of Nigeria Yoruba politicians Yoruba legal professionals Attorneys General of Nigeria {{Nigeria-politician-stub