Taslim Olawale Elias
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Taslim Olawale Elias (11 November 1914 – 14 August 1991) 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 jo ...
jurist who served as minister of Justice and attorney-general of Nigeria from 1960 to 1966,
Chief Justice of Nigeria The Chief Justice of Nigeria or CJN is the head of the judicial arm of the government of Nigeria, and presides over the country's Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council. The current Chief Justice is Olukayode Ariwoola who was app ...
from 1972 to 1975 and president of the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...
from 1982 to 1985. He was a scholar who modernised and extensively revised the laws of Nigeria.


Youth and studies

Elias was born into the traditional aristocracy of
Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...
, then the capital of Nigeria, on 11 November 1914. He received his secondary education at the Church Missionary Society Grammar School and
Igbobi College Igbobi College is a college established by the Methodist and Anglican Churches in 1932, in the Yaba suburb of Lagos, Lagos State, South-western Nigeria. It is still on its original site and most of the original buildings are intact. It is one ...
in Lagos. He married Ganiat Yetunde Fowosere, and the couple would have five children together (three sons, two daughters). After passing the Cambridge School Certificate examination, he worked as an assistant in the Government Audit Department. In 1935 he joined the Nigerian Railway and served in the Chief Accountant's Office for nine years. While working at the Nigerian Railway, Elias became an external student of London University, and later he passed the intermediate examinations for the BA and LLB degrees. He left Nigeria for the United Kingdom in 1944 and was admitted to
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
. As this was during World War II, with London the target of frequent bomb attacks, he spent some time at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
's Trinity College. He graduated with a BA the year he entered
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
and two years later received the LLB. In 1947 he was called to the bar at the
Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...
, where he was a Yarborough Anderson Scholar, and in the same year received his LLM degree. He continued his graduate education and became the first African to earn a PhD in law from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
in 1949. In 1951 Elias was awarded a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Fellowship to undertake research into the legal, economic, and social problems of Africa. Later that year he had his first academic appointment, the Simon Senior Research Fellow at
Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
. There he was an instructor in law and social anthropology. It was also in 1951 that he published his first book, ''Nigerian Land Law and Custom''.


Professional life

Elias moved from Manchester to Oxford in 1954 when he became the Oppenheimer Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Nuffield College and Queen Elizabeth House. He continued his research into Nigerian law and published Groundwork of Nigerian Law in the same year. In 1956 he was a visiting professor of political science at the
University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...
. He was instrumental in organizing courses in government, law, and social anthropology and in establishing the African Studies Department. Elias also lectured at the universities of Aligarh, Allahabad, Bombay, and Calcutta. In that year he also published two books, ''Makers of Nigerian Law'' and ''The Nature of African Customary Law''. He returned to London in 1957 and was appointed a Governor of the
School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...
. As the constitutional and legal adviser to the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (which later became the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens), he participated in the 1958 Nigerian Constitutional Conference in London. He was one of the architects of Nigeria's independence constitution In 1960 Elias was invited to become Nigeria's Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. He served in this capacity through the whole of the first republic. Although later dismissed after the coup d'état in January 1966, he was reinstated in November of that year. In addition to contributing to Nigerian and African law, Elias had long been active in the field of international law. He was a member of the
United Nations International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...
from 1961 to 1975, he served as General Rapporteur from 1965 to 1966 and was its chairman in 1970. He was the leader of the Nigerian delegations to the conference held to consider the Draft Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States in 1963 and to the Special Committee on the Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in 1964. He was a member of the United Nations Committee of Experts, which drafted the constitution of the Congo, 1961–1962. He also helped to draft the charter of the
Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
(OAU), and its Protocol of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration. Elias also represented the OAU and Nigeria before the International Court of Justice in the proceedings concerning the status of
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
. He was elected as an associate member of the Institut de droit international in 1969. He was Chairman of the Committee of the Whole at the Vienna Conference on the Law of Treaties (1968–1969). In 1966 Elias was appointed Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the
University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...
. Four years earlier he had received the LLD degree from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
for his work on African law and British colonial law. (He would go on to receive a total of 17 honorary doctorate degrees from various universities around the world). He was one of the inaugural recipients of the Nigerian National Merit Award in 1979. Several of his works on various legal subjects were standard reading in Africa in law schools of the former British colonies. Later in 1966, Elias was re-appointed as Nigeria's Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice (a position he held while remaining Dean and Professor at the University of Lagos), until 1972, when he became
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria The Chief Justice of Nigeria or CJN is the head of the judicial arm of the government of Nigeria, and presides over the country's Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council. The current Chief Justice is Olukayode Ariwoola who was appo ...
. He was ousted from this position by a military regime that took power in Nigeria at the end of July 1975. A few months later (in October 1975), he was elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations to the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...
at
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
. In 1979, he was elected Vice-President by his colleagues on that Court. In 1981, after the death of Sir Humphrey Waldock, the President of the Court, he took over as Acting President. In 1982, the members of the Court elected him President of the Court. He thus became the first African jurist to hold that honour. Five years later, Elias was also appointed to the
Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that aris ...
at
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
.


Death

Elias died on 14 August 1991, in Lagos, Nigeria. The names of his five children are Gbolahan, Olusoji, Olufemi, Yeside and Olufolake Elias.


See also

* United Nations Security Council Resolution 708


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elias, Taslim Olawale 1914 births Lawyers from Lagos Chief justices of Nigeria International Court of Justice judges Igbobi College alumni Academics of SOAS University of London University of Lagos faculty Alumni of University College London Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Supreme Court of Nigeria justices Presidents of the International Court of Justice 1991 deaths CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni Nigerian Muslims 20th-century Nigerian lawyers Attorneys General of Nigeria People of colonial Nigeria Educators from Lagos Recipients of the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award Nigerian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals