MRS. Hairat Aderinsola Balogun (nee Alatishe) is one of the very few women lawyers in Nigeria, who have left indelible marks on the sands of time in the Nigerian judiciary.With almost 47 years of post-Bar call, Balogun, believed to be the most senior female lawyer in active legal practice in Nigeria, has made remarkable inroads in the legal profession in Nigeria, becoming a female lawyer of many firsts.She is the first female Life Bencher (in 1989) and the first elected Lady Chairman of the Body of Benchers (in 1998).She was first nominated a member of the Body of Benchers in 1981; ex-officio as General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association. In 1993, the late Chief F.R.A. Williams nominated her as a Life Bencher, she later became the Chairman of the Body of Benchers between 1997 and 1998.On February 14, 2008, she was conferred with the National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).Mrs. Balogun is also the first Nigerian female to become a member of the Council of the International Bar Association.She was to be the first female Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Nigeria before she was beaten to it by Justice Victoria Nnegemeh, who was the first female Attorney-General in Anambra State immediately after the creation of the state in 1979. Though Nnegemeh left the office to become a judge at the Federal High Court, Abuja, she remained the first woman Nigerian Attorney-General, while Mrs. Balogun was appointed on January 14, 1984, as the first Lady Attorney General of Lagos State during the military Regime of Governor Gbolahan Mudasiru.During her tenure, she was reputed to have exhibited, for the first time, obedience by the executive arm of government to court orders as shown in the celebrated case of Ojukwu v. Attorney General of Lagos State and others 1986 ENWLR (Part 26) page 39. The septuagenarian, therefore, for the first time, laid the foundation or the precedence of putting a stop to the disobedience of court orders by the military government, otherwise dubbed as 'executive lawlessness'.Her contribution to the political history of this country was also appreciated by the military government of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, when as Head of State, his government appointed her as a member of 'The Transition to Civil Rule Tribunal' in 1987.Mrs. Balogun's membership of this tribunal demonstrated her belief in truth and justice and the fact that she could never compromise her principles when she suddenly handed in her resignation from the tribunal on the ground that Alhaji Balarabe Musa, a former Governor of Kaduna State, was said to have made a statement that was considered seditious.The chairman of the tribunal had informed members that if Alhaji Balarabe Musa appeared before them, he would convict and sentence him to the full term of five years imprisonment without option of a fine.She panicked and lost confidence in the entire process on the ground that she was not sure whether or not the chairman was taking superior instructions from above or had simply turned his back on the Rule of Law.This incident again demonstrates her strict adherence to truth and justice.In August 1981, she was elected the first female General-Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, a position in which she served with distinction for two terms. The author was also a member of the International Bar Association (IBA) between 1975 and 2000 before she voluntarily retired.In court, Mrs. Balogun's logical reasoning and astute intelligence marked her out as one of those whose contributions to the nation's jurisprudence are immeasurable.Hers has been a life of service, driven by truth and a commitment to Justice. Service, Truth and Justice - three words - adherence to just one of them can define someone as a person of integrity and honour; and when all three are found in one person they set that person apart as an icon, a yardstick for her peers, and a model for the generation following after.Mrs. Balogun, who was a very good fighter of injustice in her law school days as recently attested by the former head of state, Chief Ernest Shonekan and has not changed as she recently engaged the Council of Legal Education in a legal battle over an alleged sale of the Lagos Campus of the Nigerian Law School.The action, she said was to enthrone excellence in legal education, which she believes in since according to her, the training of the students lawyers should not be interrupted by outside influences like commercial buildings rather than moot courts that would assist the students.She also fought for the re-opening and keeping of the Nigerian Law School in Lagos after the General Abacha-led military government ordered that the Nigerian Law School should be moved to Bwari some 80 kilometres outside Abuja.Her personal opinion about the Nigerian Law School is that it has outlived its usefulness.According to her, the Council of Legal Education should operate very much like the Chartered Institute of Accountants. Law graduates, after serving pupilage in law chambers for a period of around 12-24 months, should then take the examinations of the Council of Legal Education. Just like the Accountants, each registered students can then take the examination at his or her own pace. This, she said, would drastically reduce the financial outlay of the Federal Government on the various campuses of the Nigerian Law School.To resolve the crises rocking the judiciary, the Chief Justice of Nigeria Dahiru Musdapher appointed her to the 28-member stakeholders committee led by Justice Mohammed Uwais.Though not a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mrs. Balogun has an intimidating credentials was a Barrister-at-Law of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn and Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.Her life's journey began as a cherished daughter of the Balogun of Ijebu-Ode, in Ogun state.She was brought up initially by her grandmother, Madam Bintu Bolaji (nee Role), a wealthy textile trader and later entered the loving guardianship of Mrs. May French during her preparatory, secondary and tertiary education in the UK, before starting her career in the Law. Schooling as a pupil of the Mount School, Mill Hill, England, from October 1954 to January 1963, she was the only black pupil in the school.According to her: 'It was nice. I was the only black pupil. They took me as their sister. But sometimes, they would come and tease me. Teasing is in their character. There was one time when they were rude like the usual stories about Black people. I slapped them, and they knew they couldn't report because the teacher would ask them what caused it. So I slapped them or pushed them.All kinds of childish behaviour,' she said.Mrs. Balogun, who turned 70 years last year came from a privileged background, having attended a private school in the United Kingdom (UK) during the 1950's before proceeding to study law by enrolling as a member of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn.She was eventually called to the English Bar on February 5, 1963 at the young age of 21 years and four months (a massive achievement for a Nigerian at that time).She opted to return to Nigeria on March 31, 1963 to commence the three- month practical training course for lawyers at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, so as not to lose any seniority among her peers. Her classmates at that time included the likes of Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN), Chief Ernest A.O. Shonekan (a former Head of State) and Chief Akin Delano (SAN) among others.Upon being called to the Nigerian Bar, she immediately entered into legal practice and was privileged to work in the Chamber of Chief Chris Ogunbanjo & Co.At Chris Ogunbanjo & Co., she was busy and thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of legal practice, ranging from litigation to commercial transactions. After four years, she eventually left Chris Ogunbanjo & Co. to set up her own practice Libra Law Office in Lagos, where she is a senior partner.Since then, she has found law practice both varied and interesting, having practised at the High Courts in Ibadan, Ijebu-Ode, Kaduna, Ikeja and Maiduguri and of course, the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court where she handled several leading cases.Of further interest is her NBA activities, which she describes as having taken the greatest part of her professional life. She also attended conferences of the African Bar Association and the Commonwealth Law Conference, which was held in Lagos from August 17-23, 1980. It was hosted by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and she was the Conference Secretary.At the time, it was reputed that there had not been any conference like it with regard to attendance, content or exposure from the Nigerian Bar Association or the legal profession as a whole.She also served as an Assessor to the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAN).Her main task was to set up trial procedures for ICAN.Other appointments the author was involved in include serving her continent as the Organisation for African Unity Observer to the Lockerbie trials for several years and serving the country as one of the pioneer staffers of the anti-corruption commission among other political appointments.She was also involved in the drafting of the Corrupt and other Related Offences Act and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), which made her a pioneer member of the commission, but she soon discovered that she was in quite a limited position not conducive to fighting corruption.As humanitarian, she is a member of Soroptimist International and the Rotary Club of Lagos.As a legal practitioner in private practice, she has inspired many men and women through personal example of successfully using judicial means to take on the establishment to protect her own rights, and the rights of those without a voice.She also justifies the saying that 'you do not need a title to be a leader'.In demonstration for her love for the law profession, she published a national research book entitled Women in the Law in 2009, documenting the motivations, experiences, and challenges of women lawyers in Nigeria.This was followed by a chronicle of her law memoirs, 'To Serve in Truth & Justice, which brought into sharp focus the parts she played and contributions made to the legal profession in Nigeria from Independence till today.The reason for writing the book, which was presented to the public on July 2011 at the Metropolitan Club, Lagos, she said, was to put the records straight from her own perspective.The launch coincided with her 50th anniversary of call to the Lincoln Inn Bar and the 48th anniversary of her call to the Nigerian Bar.She said of the book: 'To Serve in Truth & Justice', is actually my memoirs in the law profession. Some people may want to say it is my autobiography, but it is not because it doesn't really contain much about my personal life. Rather, it's about the law profession, how I fared from day one till present and how I have conducted myself.' I took the title from the Holy Quran, and I think it's very appropriate because when you tell people a story, you should tell them in truth and in justice; give them the full facts as you know them.' I believe that though we don't take an oath like doctors, as soon as you are called to the Bar, you silently take an oath and make up your mind to be firm and principled; no matter the obstacles. Surely, you will have a time in which things will be slow because you probably need time to convince people about your own point of view, maybe in a particular issue.'You try to maintain consistency because it is very important for a human being to be known as a consistent person. If you are a consistent liar, it will take a long time for people to believe whatever truth you may say.'But if you're strict and people know that, they will just try and hold on to their own views. They will, however, become comfortable with you because they know what you are. It's not like you're expected to be an angel; but you should do your best to be consistent. In all, be yourself and try not to copy anybody,' she added.Her mentors include Ambassador Aduke Alakija, the late Omololu Mulele; a lawyer, the founder of Adrao International School.But her major influences, she said, is her family.'My late grandmother laid the foundation and by and large, a few cousins and distant relations. They have been role models, both male and female,' she said.Mrs. Balogun loves listening to music, Arts, watching plays, reading and visiting to the aged.She said her decision to read law was inspired by a family friend who took her to the court.She said: 'I saw how everybody behaved in court and later on, I joined some of them of course, at the Bar. When I came, I was fortunate to meet one or two women lawyer every week who influenced me'.
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