Richard Akinjide, a lawyer who thought outside the box ( 2)

that while Yomi was in the University, Akinjide was on voluntary exile in England. Yomi had to write a paper every week and send the paper to Akinjide in London to assess for him. Akinjide would assess the papers and send them back to Yomi. That was a great commitment by a father to his child. Yomi graduated with flying colours from Cambridge. Today, Yomi is a Partner in one of the leading law firms in England.

Akinjide had a very active life in exile

While on voluntary exile in England, Akinjide’s brilliant mind could not tolerate indolence. He was too intellectually active to be stagnant. In 1983, Akinjide was 53 years old. Akinjude had left the English Bar since 1956, twenty seven years earlier. It would have been convenient for him to play an idle rich man

in England, as he was a very wealthy man. However, Akinjide was too intellectually vibrant to take this route. He went back to the English Bar and started practicing law in England. Practicing in England is a totally different system from practicing in Nigeria. Even though we inherited the English legal system, we have not been able to maintain the courts as a theatre for the display of intellectual capacity and brilliance, as they had done.

From England, Akinjide was invited to practice law in The Gambia where he shone like a star. Akinjide gave me copies of judgments in cases he handled in England. In one of the cases, the Judge stated that Akinjide had made the life of the opponent so miserable that he ( i. e. the Judge) was appealing to Akinjide, having killed the man in Court, not to bury him in Court. This was the level of skill and intelligence of a man who was returning to an environment 27 years after he had left.

Visit to Mr Justice Yinka Ayoola

I once went to visit the Honourable Justice Yinka Ayoola, retired Justice of the Supreme Court and former Chief Justice of the Gambia. During the visit, Justice Ayoola and myself discussed many issues. When Akinjide’s name came up, Justice Ayoola went into superlatives about the brilliance of Akinjide. Akinjide had appeared before Justice Ayoola on several occasions in Court in The Gambia. Justice Ayoola commended the quality of Akinjide’s submissions in Court and expressed the opinion that Nigeria did not exploit Akinjide’s intellect significantly for Nigeria’s benefit. Justice Yinka Ayoola “Yinkus” as my father fondly refers to him, is a genius. His older brother, Olufemi Ayoola, in my view was probably the most successful legal practitioner in Ibadan before he was elevated to the Bench of the High Court of Western State in 1967. His academic credentials were comparable to none in Nigeria then. He was born in 1928. In 1952, he held the following degrees; BA, BCL, LLB, BSC Econs and a Diploma in Education. This was at the age of 24. He studied for most of the degrees concurrently. I read his plaque everyday as we were neighbors in Ibadan. I continue to thank him for the inspiration he provided for me. The trio of Olufemi Ayoola, Yinka Ayoola and Bola Babalakin were my inspiration to read law. They were a beautiful sight to behold in Court.

I am detained by Abacha

In 1995, I was detained by the Military Government of General Sani Abacha. It was alleged that I, as the owner of a bank, was owing the bank money. I only owned a bank for 18 months. I did not understand the allegation of indebtedness. The bank examiners could not define it accurately to me. My father called on his schoolmate Akinjide to sort me out. Akinjide visited me in detention to take my instructions. I think on one of the occasions, he came with his daughter, Jumoke. Later a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Stephen Kola Balogun. He suggested that before we make any statement in Court, we should have a highly rated accountant who was also a banker to examine my accounts in the bank. We zeroed in on Otunba Olutola Senbore and Co. Otunba Senbore’s records were unbelievable. His curriculum vitae was a catalogue of distinctions. Otunba Senbore had graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1967 at the top of the class. He had also graduated at the professional level in 1970 at the top of the class.