By Chief A. A. Malik, SAN
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The late Professor Folarin Olawale Shyllon was the foundation Dean of the Faculty of Law when the University of Ibadan started the LL.B programme. Those who were students there at the time and in the “early beginning” of that great Faculty that has [now] produced several Professors of law and other law lecturers of the highest distinction, countless Attorneys-General, retired and serving Justices of our appellate Courts, retired and serving Judges of the High Courts of different States, retired and serving Magistrates, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, accomplished legal practitioners, notable company secretaries, University administrators, etc, have written of and spoken about his good nature, his prodigious intellect, his academic depth, his administrative astuteness, his unmatchable wits and praiseworthy meticulousness.
I am, in a manner of speaking, only but a member of the “new generation students” of that great Faculty. So, I came across Professor Shyllon at a time when he was already approaching the twilight of his academic sojourn at the University of Ibadan. Even at that, I am able to attest to all that have been said or written by my ‘seniors’ [and I truly mean every syllable of the word] about this commodious melting pot of legal education, the indisputable generalissimo of African Law, the precursor of Cultural Heritage Law and the _shogun_ of Intellectual Property Law in Nigeria.
An unmistakable imprint of intellectual elegance and academic sophistication, the late Professor Shyllon epitomised excellence. He carried himself with some uncommon swagger. He was faultlessly fashionable and impeccably dressed. He was a perfect example in sartorial splendour. As a law teacher, he professed knowledge and great erudition. His carriage, candour and mien were highly infectious. Without a doubt, he bestrode the UI Law Faculty like a colossus!
Professor Shyllon was humility personified. He never intimidated anyone with his academic stature or overwhelmingly menacing profile. I had the privilege of serving with him on the Board of the FIRS [2007-2010] – he as the South-West geo political zone nominee of Mr. President and, I, as the Legal Adviser/Representative of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation. Together with other visionary board members, and ably marshalled by the then Executive Chairman, Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, MFR, we initiated and implemented strategic reforms which positively transformed the nation’s tax regimes and catapulted our tax system to the pedestal it is today. Even though he was my teacher and a Professor of Law, I report that Professor Shyllon deferred to me on matters of law. He was Chairman of a few Board Committees in which I had the privilege of serving. I have no recollection of any one occasion that Professor Shyllon disregarded my opinion or advice on any legal issue. Additionally, he ensured that the Board accorded premium regard and unadulterated verve to my views and perspectives on all legal matters. In all Board and Committee deliberations, Professor Shyllon brought to bear his exceptional brilliance, alpine knowledge of human management and cerebral thought process.
He was one of the earliest persons to reach out to me when the Privileges Committee graciously extended to me the privileges of the rank of “Senior Advocate of Nigeria” in 2019. He prayed for and blessed me. He told me how proud of me he was. On my part, I made him a promise, to wit, to carry the rank with honour, probity and character, virtues that Professor Shyllon passed on to us as students of the great Faculty of Law of the premier and the best University in Africa, south of the Sahara, East of the Zambezi and West of the Limpopo.
A proud protégé of Professor Shyllon and the first indigenous/alumnus Professor of Law, University of Ibadan, Professor John O. Akintayo, wrote of and concerning him, inter alia, thus:
“…Professor Shyllon made remarkable contributions to legal education, administration and scholarship over a broad spectrum including Black Studies, Race Relations, African Law, Intellectual Property Law and Cultural Heritage Law. He will be greatly missed by family members, friends and colleagues as well as his former students…”
I cannot agree less with Professor Akintayo, erstwhile Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan branch.
May the soul of Professor Folarin Olawale Shyllon, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest peacefully with the Lord.
Chief A. A. Malik, SAN, Abuja, Nigeria
January 17, 2021
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