Bola Ajibola (1934-2023): End of An Era of Foremost Jurist, Legal Icon

It was the end of an era for a legal luminary, a foremost jurist of International repute, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Nigeria, Prince Bola Adesunbo Ajibola, who has answered the last call of nature which every mortal must do.

Ajibola, a foremost Islamic religion personality known worldwide, had planned to host Islamic faithful to a Ramadan lecture, yesterday, April 9, 2023, at the Islamic Movement for Africa (IMA), Abeokuta, which he founded in 1996. But as fate would have it, rather than being able to host the Islamic congregation, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria was buried on the same day, within the premises of the same religious centre.

Born on March 22, 1934 to the Owu Royal Family, Ajibola attended Owu Baptist Day School, Abeokuta for Primary School Education, 1942 – 49 and Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta (BBHS) Abeokuta with the likes of the former Nigeria’s President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for Secondary Education, 1950 – 55.
Reminiscing in an interview with a national newspaper, Ajibola, who disclosed that he was rascally in school, said a challenge thrown by his mother, made him to get more serious while in BBHS.

He said, “One day, my mother confronted me and told me point blank that whatever I wanted to do with myself, I can go ahead, that she had been blessed with a daughter who was doing better than me in school. The words struck me as a big challenge. If she had taken a cane to flog me, it wouldn’t have had such an impact on me. But for her to tell me that a female would take over my position as her fondest child was a big challenge.
“In school, I quickly called my classmates and, without telling them the details, had a meeting with them on how to start beating the girls academically and excelling generally in class. It was as if my classmates were waiting for just the meeting. How they got a quotation for us to memorise as a guide still beats me till today.

“The quote, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, goes thus: “The height by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
“The quote stuck in our brain so much that, even now, I can still quote it. We memorised it and were never sleeping again all through the night. Thereafter, we were always facing our studies and doing our best to get there. And we made it.”
The late Ajibola, obtained his first degree in Law from Holborn College of Law, University of London, 1959-62. He was called to the Bar as Honourable Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln’s Inn also in 1962.

He has to his credit, several Awards/Honours, among which are: Knight of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) – from Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, May 1989.
Honorary Doctor of Law (LL.D.) of the University of Buckingham,1996; World Jurist Award, 1987.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), 1986. Life Member, Body of Benchers, Nigeria, 1991; Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. Ogun State of Nigeria Outstanding Citizen Merit Award, 1986.

Life Member, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.
Honorary Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies, London. Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR).
Out of his visionary initiative, he founded African Concern in 1994, the Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA) in 1996, and Proprietor/ Founder, Crescent University, Abeokuta, Nigeria in 2005.
In his professional career, he has provided outstanding Legal Consultancy Services. These include: Aron Cosmetics Limited, Nigeria, 1994. Masms Solicitors & Co., London 1995.

EXXON Houston Texas, USA, 1997; Arthur Anderson & Co., London and Lagos. 1998.
Justice Ajibola attended numerous International Conferences and participated in regional co-operative efforts. He has several publications in various journals, and is a well recognised International Jurist. Also in his honour was published several books: (i) Contemporary Issues in Nigerian Law, Essays in Honour of Judge Bola Ajibola; (ii) Justinian of a Great Era (The Road to The Hague, by Lai Joseph); (iii) Around the World with Bola Ajibola.
He was President of the Nigerian Bar Association, 1984 – 85; Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, 1985 – 91. He has a lot of Awards/Honours locally and internationally and is a member of various International Bodies.

He has held numerous international positions and led several Nigerian Delegations to sign many treaties, conventions and protocols; and has been charged with many international arbitration assignments. He is best known as: Judge of the International Court of Justice, The Hague, Netherlands, 1991 – 94. Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1994 – 2001.
President and Judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal (Washington D.C and London) 1994-2005. President of World Association of Judges of the World Jurist Association.

Arbitrator/Commissioner, Eritrea/Ethiopia Boundary Commission 1999 to date. Chairman of the Nigeria/Cameroon Mixed Commission from 2002 to date. Only recently, in his continuing “harvest of honours”, he was conferred with the
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature (D. Litt.), Usman Danfodiyo University,
Sokoto, December 13, 2003; and the Honorary Doctor of Agriculture (D. Agric), University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, January 28, 2004.