By Toheeb Mustapha Babalola
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Recently, I wrote an article on the Legal practitioners who were conferred with the senior advocate title at a young age. The list contained several illustrious legal practitioners who attained the rank of Senior Advocate title at a young age.
Fortunately, I received several hints and additional information from legal practitioners across the country which prompted me to come up with another list of several illustrious legal practitioners who attained the rank of Senior Advocate title at a young age.
The list goes thus:
CHIEF WOLE OLAONIPEKUN, SAN, OFR.
Chief Wole Olaonipekun, SAN, OFR is a Nigerian Lawyer and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association He was called to the Nigerian Bar on July 1976 after he graduated from the Nigerian Law School and he was appointed as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State and served in that capacity for two years. In 2002, he was elected as President of the Nigerian Bar Association. In 2003 he was appointed the vice President of the Pan African Lawyers Union. On January 2007, he became a Life bencher, appointed by the Nigerian Body of Benchers.
He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1991 at the age of 39 years old, the youngest in his confirmation year.
OLABODE OLANIPEKUN
Bode Olanipekun SAN is a managing partner in the law firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co. He holds a Masters degree in Commercial and Maritime Law from the University of Wales, Swansea. He has vast experience in litigation spanning diverse areas of law in trial courts, specialised tribunals and across all appellate courts in Nigeria. Over the years, he has been consistently involved in various high-profile litigation on constitutional, electoral, energy, commercial and criminal matters as well as non-litigation transactional legal practice involving various specialised and complex multiparty commercial transactions. Because of the spread and depth of his experience, he is constantly engaged to offer statutory and regulatory advice to companies and individuals operating in regulated sectors of the economy. He has also been engaged in dispute resolution proceedings by Arbitration as counsel under various rules.
He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria at the age of 35 years old, the youngest in his confirmation year.
- DAPO OLAONIPEKUN SAN.
Dapo Olaonipekun SAN studied his LLB at the University of Lagos and proceeded to Queen Mary University where he bagged his LLM and PhD respectively.
He is the Lead Partner at Esher & Makarios, and also the editor- in- chief of the Banking and Financial Law Reports (BFLR) and the chairman of the Advisory Board of the Constitutional Rights Awareness and Liberty Initiative (CRALI). His core areas of practice and academic research include banking and finance, shareholder disputes, consumer protection, domestic and international trade, financial crime, constitutional law, general civil litigation and dispute resolution.
In the course of his practice, he has been invited twice by the Court of Appeal, as amicus curiae, to give expert opinion on complex issues of commercial law in EDO STATE BOARD OF INTERNAL REVENUE V INDEPENDENT TELEVISION/RADIO (2014) LPELR 23215; and NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC V. DUMUJE (2015) LPELR25583. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nigeria and he chairs the Banking and Finance Committee of the Institute.
Dr. Olanipekun SAN was 34 years and 6 months old at the time he was sworn in as Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He had broken a record previously set by Mr. Damien Dodo SAN. It is to be noted that Dr. Olanipekun SAN’s record was subsequently broken in 2019 by Mr Oyetola Atoyebi SAN, who was 34 years and 4 months old at the time he was sworn in as Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
BANKOLE OLUMIDE ALUKO SAN.
Bankole Olumide Aluko SAN is a lawyer, specializing in the field of Litigation, Corporate and Commercial Law, Appellate Practice, Arbitration, General Practice. He was one of the founding partner of Templars alongside current NBA Presidential Aspirant,Olumide Akpata.
He was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) at the age of 41 years old.
DELE MUHAMMED BELGORE SAN.
He was born in London, England on 25th June 1961. He had his LL.B degree in Hull University England and had his LL.M in Bristol University, England. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985. He was a founding member and Partner in Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe & Belgore (Legal Practitioners) 1989 till date. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) since March 1997 and an approved tutor of that Institute who lectures widely on arbitration in Nigeria and abroad.
He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2001 at the age of 40, one of a few to have been conferred with that coveted rank at that age.
EBUN SOFUNDE SAN.
Ebun Sofunde is one of the four founding members of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe & Belgore (Legal Practitioners) 1989 till date.. He is a versatile litigator with extensive experience in both commercial and public law litigation, and was described in the 2016 Chambers Global Directory as “widely respected litigator”. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1972 and was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1988 at the age of 39 years old.
He is presently one of the most senior Senior Advocates of Nigeria in active practice.
ASIWAJU A. S. AWOMOLO SAN.
Asiwaju A. S. Awomolo is a legal practitioner who has over thirty (38) years of practice experience in different areas of law spanning all the states in Nigeria.
He was a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Osun State and was so appointed in 1991 upon the creation of the State. A Life Bencher and being a man of impeccable character, he was appointed a member of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), a position in which he served meritoriously.
Asiwaju Awomolo, SAN has led in several cases of both national and international repute; such as the constitutional matters of national repute all the way to the supreme court , Presidential and Governorship election petitions , civil and criminal cases, both as Federal Government Appointed prosecutor and also as a defence Lawyer.
He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria at the age of 45 years, having been conferred with the honour in July 1992.
OLISA AGBAKOBA SAN.
Dr Olisa Agbakoba is the Principal Partner of Olisa Agbakoba Legal, a prominent law firm which has great expertise in maritime law, constitutional law, public interest litigation, developmental law amongst others.
He is one of Nigeria’s leading experts in Maritime Law and has litigated several complex maritime cases. He has championed legal reforms in maritime law including the Cabotage Act, the National Oceanic Policy and other strategic legislations. He played a major role in the reform of both State and Federal High Court Rules for speedy dispensation of justice. He is the founding President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, a member of the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER) and Vice Chairman Presidential Committee on the review of the maritime sector.
He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria at the age of 45 years old.
GOV. ROTIMI AKEREDOLU, SAN
Rotimi Akeredolu was appointed Attorney General of Ondo State from 1997–1999. He was Chairman of the Legal Aid Council (2005–2006),He was an erstwhile chairman of the Nigeria Bar before joining politics. He is currently the governor of Ondo state,serving his first term.
He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria at the age of 42 years old.
Prince Lateef O. Fagbemi SAN
Prince Lateef O. Fagbemi SAN, is a versatile litigator who is one of the best in the country having participated and represented litigants in numerous landmark cases. His impressive performances over the years in the court room has secured a place for him and erected a reputation for him in the Nigerian legal profession and even outside the shores of Nigeria. He trained under Chief Afe babalola in Emmanuel chambers,where he hone his advocacy skills.
He is the the only counsel to have adorned the silk at the youngest year of practice. He was called to the bar in 1986 and adorned the silk in 1996.
What an impressive record!!!
DAMIAN DODO SAN.
Damian Dodo SAN graduated in 1985 with a law degree from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. He was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1986. In 2001, he became the youngest lawyer in Nigeria to be awarded Nigeria’s highest legal practice rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) as at the time of his confirmation.
CHIEF JOE K. GADZAMA SAN.
He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986 and enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria the same year. His professional experience spans a vast area of adjectival/procedural and substantive law. A worthy professional par excellence, he has been external Solicitor to several Merchant, Commercial, Development and Industrial Banks; adviser to major multinational corporations and indigenous companies and organizations and network of individuals in Nigeria. He was the lead Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and also was the Chief Legal Counsel to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Chief J-K Gadzama has been recognized in the international scene, as his expert opinion on the nature of damages recoverable under Nigerian Law, was recently in 2015 sought in Toulouse, France before The Tribunal De Grande Instance De Toulouse. He has been recognized by Intercontinental Finance Magazine (ICFM) in 2015 as one of the 500 best lawyers in the world. He is also featured on Who’s Who Legal as an Arbitration Expert. He was recently appointed Liquidator to wind up the Power Holding Company of Nigeria ( PHCN) PLC and also provide Legal Advisory Services for the winding up proceedings.
Due to his Anti-corruption posture, he was appointed the Chairman, Legal Team of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and he was also Chairman, National Working Group on the Rome Statute constituted by the office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation.
He is an outstanding Legal Practitioner. He was one of the leading counsels in the service of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and has featured in several prominent cases. Chief J-K Gadzama was appointed Notary Public in June 1996 and elevated to the worthy rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 1998 at the age of 37 years old.
APPRECIATION:
My appreciation goes to Alh.Ibrahim Garba Esq., the HOD Litigation,Court of Appeal,Jos Division, Mrs. Unini Chioma of NigeriaLawyers.com.
Also to Mr Mubarak Raji Esq. of Paul Usoro & co. and Mr. Ugo Eze Esq. of Olisa Agbakoba Legal for their inputs and assistance during the compilation of this article.
REFERENCES
- Wole Olaonipekun& co website
- DNL Legal & Style
- Global legal insights
- Legal blawg naija
- SooblawLP Website
Compiled by Toheeb Mustapha Babalola.
Toheeb Mustapha Babalola is a Pupil of Law, a Student of Faculty of Law, Bayero University Kano , Founder of Lex Updates Publications, Zonal Director, North West, Directorate of Programs and Policies, Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN).
He is interested in Advocacy, Academic writing, Legal writing, Activism, and plethora of positivism.To reach him, email:toheebmustapha15@gmail.com
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