Erin wo…

I’m not really qualified to speak about Chief Richard Osuolale Akinjide, former Attorney General & Minister of Justice and arguably Nigeria’s oldest practising lawyer till he passed on last night. His place is assured among the very best legal luminaries of his time.

But I owe him a debt of gratitude.

I’d seen how chummy he was with my dad in Ibadan during the Second Republic, but I didn’t need to remind him of all this when I needed him later. He was kind and treated people on merit.

I didn’t come into close contact with him until December 2011, while we were preparing the inaugural lecture of of the rebranded National Mirror, where I had the privilege of leading a commitred and brilliant team as the MD/EiC. We had planned an elaborate inaugural lecture but had a last-minute disappointment from the keynoter. Barely a week to the event, we had to get a replacement and, together with the Editors, we resolved that Chief Akinjide would be our best bet. Luckily he was in town, and didn’t just responded to the plea in my sms; he returned my message with a phone call and asked me to come for lunch right away in Ikoyi residence. Not only did he agree to deliver the keynote lecture, but also promised that his paper would be ready in a few days so that it could be printed in a booklet and distributed at the event in Abuja. And to add to our joy, he was available to make the FCT trip so that he could personal deliver the lecture.

He probably thought nothing of it, but what he did was a big deal to my team and I, and especially to our Publisher. He rescued us. He honoured us.
His elaborate interview with our Judiciary team, a year later, was also included in the landmark book we used in celebrating National Mirror’s second anniversary in 2012 entitled For Law, For Country: Conversations with the Bar & the Bench.

Lives of accomplished statesmen like Chief Akinjide will always inspire generations. This is why his passing, at the ripe old age of 88 (He would have been 89 in November) is a celebration of life. A legal luminary, patriot and nationalist has just departed. May he rest in peace.

Omo Oke’badan, sun’re o!