ONLY a few Nigerians can boast of being as lucky as Prince Abdul-Jabbar Bolasodun Adesumbo Ajibola (SAN, KBE, LL.D, D.LITT, CFR), a man of many parts, who is always a newsmaker.Through hard work, Justice Ajibola reached the pinnacle of his profession, belonging to the rank of privileged few who excelled at both the Bar and the Bench.In his own case, Prince Ajibola did not only rise from the Bar, he also rose from being a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to the exalted position of a judge in the International Court of Justice, The Hague, Netherlands.The legal giant has become a household name in Nigeria, especially within the legal profession, where he spent over 49 years. He was also a former Head of the Nigeria's High Commission in Britain.While many can also easily tell about him as an erudite lawyer, former Nigeria's Attorney General and Minister of Justice, some may however forget that the Egba -born Ajibola, was a former World Court Judge and now an elder statesman.Before then, the Owu Prince had served as President and Judge of the World Bank Administrative Panel in Washington D .C and London (1994-2005). He was also a one-time Arbitrator/Commissioner for the Boundary Dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea.Among the 12 international posts Ajibola held before his retirement, were a Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was also a member of the Panel of Commissioners of United Nations Compensation Commission, set up to review the claim submitted by the government of Kuwait and other governments and corporations against the government of Iraq as a result of the Gulf War (Geneva) 1994-2000.He won 64 Awards from both within and outside Nigeria throughout his career. Ajibola is the Founder of the Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State.Ordinarily with these achievements, one would see Ajibola as a blessed man. But the elder- statesman disagrees, saying he has only been blessed with common sense.'I am not an extremely or extra-ordinary brilliant person, I only have a unique common sense', he told The Guardian at his Asero, Abeokuta residence, where he is enjoying his retirement.He added: 'I always have a good understanding and good mastery of whatever facts are placed before me, either as a judge or lawyer and such is very uncommon'.He revealed how he acquired such virtues.His words: 'I was privileged to be born into a royal family. My father, Oba Abdulsalam Ajibola Gbadela II ruled the Owu Kingdom and I happened to be very close to him. I was always present at the Customary Court and customary activities that held at the palace frequently. I got my interest in law from that end'.'My father presided over cases during which all his sub-chiefs as well as the plaintiffs and respondents would be present. After listening to the plaintiffs and respondents, my father and his chiefs would collectively consider the whole matter after which my father would review the case and give his ruling', he statedAjibola said even as a teenager, he became interested in the way the sitting was conducted and started understudying his father.At the Baptist Boys' High School where he had his secondary education between 1950 and 1955, he was attracted to 'court matters', adding: 'I became more interested in reading law when I saw how the lawyers dressed and also the way they argued their cases fascinated me a lot'.Though Ajibola received encouragement from his father to read law, doing so became a herculean task. The first obstacle was that, at that period, there was no Nigerian university offering law.The second hurdle he had to cross was how to raise enough funds to travel abroad to achieve his aim. Ajibola, who holds the Chieftaincy title of Olu-Omo (the Paramount child) of Egbaland, is also a life member of Body of Benchers.On the challenges confronted him in the course of his career.He replied: 'As a lawyer, there were many challenges in terms of one's ability to form ideas and push such to the judges in a persuasive manner'.In his view: 'Either as a Judge or lawyer, one must have persuasive strength and good understanding of the law and mastery of the facts of any case he presents before the court or decides on'.Said he: 'As a Judge, I was faced with the problem of looking passionately into facts of all cases placed before me and request for the relevant documents'.Born on March 22, 1934, Ajibola obtained his Bachelors Degree in Law (LL.B) at the Horlborn College of Law, University of London between 1959 and 1962 and was called to the English Bar at the Lincoln's Inn in 1962. He retuned to Nigeria to practise Law, specialising in Commercial Law and International Arbitration.He became president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) between 1984 and 1985; chairman of the Body of Benchers (1989-1990); president of the Association of Arbitrators of Nigeria; chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar; chairman of the General Council of the Bar; chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy; member of the Nigeria Police Council; member of the Advisory Judicial Committee; chairman of the Task Force for the Revision of the Laws of the Federation (1990); member of the Nigerian Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly (1986); temporary President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 17th special session on narcotic drugs (1990); member of the International Law Commission.He was also a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (The Hague); member of the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration; member of the International Maritime Arbitration Commission, Paris; member of the Panel of International Arbitrators of the London Institute of Arbitrators; member of the International Advisory Committee of the World Arbitration Institute, U.S.A.Ajibola was also the Vice-President of the International Contractual Relations Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce; Vice-President of the Institute of International Business Law and Practice, Paris; National Chairman of the World Peace Through Law Centre; represented Africa in the demonstration trial on the law of the sea at the World Peace Through Law Conference (Manila, 1970); fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; friend of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London; member of the African Bar Association; the International Bar Association; the Association of World Lawyers; among others.He has over 20 publications to his credit. His first assignment at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was the Lockerbie trial, a case involving Libya and the United Kingdom and United States of America. He did creditably well.'I produced the most comprehensive among my colleagues of 92 pages, which I presented to them that really convinced some of them to come to my side because we wrote a dissenting opinion. Just imagine, someone just coming in into a court and for the first time in the history of your being there and you are being asked to present your own view about a case and instead of saying I concur or I support, you now led people to disagree and telling them legally and soundly the reason why you disagreed,' Ajibola said.He was also a Judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal; Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Arbitrator for the Boundary Dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea and one of the Commissioners empanelled by the United Nations Compensation Commission to decide on the compensation claims filed by Kuwait against Iraq as a result of the Gulf War.A humanitarian to the core, Ajibola is an epitome of empathy. Little wonder that he established two non-governmental organizations, the African Concern (AC) and the Islamic Movement for Africa (IMA). The AC helps in promoting love, peace, tolerance, and harmony and in eradicating poverty as well as improving the health and education of the peoples of Africa. It was registered in Lusaka, the Gambia, on May 8, 1995 to heal the wounds of Africa, through self-help by Africans to solve problems of refugees arising from displacement, armed conflicts, and natural disasters. The organisation has been alleviating the problems of refugees at Oru-ljebu in Nigeria, and has various camps in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help refugees in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Rwanda.IMA was established by Ajibola in December 1999 to present Islam in Africa as the religion of peace, tolerance and harmony. Its research centre at Abeokuta, has a library and audio-visual centre for improvement of minds; multi-purpose hall for religious dialogue, lectures, film shows and socials; and guest chalet for rest and relaxation for researchers and visitors.As an education enthusiast, Ajibola established Crescent University that received the Federal Government approval in 2005. Since then the institution has become an enviable citadel of learning.The Owu Chief is currently the chairman of the panel set up by the Plateau State Government to probe the recent crisis in Jos, the state capital.A lover of nature, Ajibola's country home in Abeokuta is a mini-zoo as all kinds of birds and animals can be found there.He is married and blessed with five children, all lawyers.
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