Encomiums as ex-World Court judge, Bola Ajibola, is buried

From Peter Moses (Abeokuta), Abiodun Alade (Lagos), Muideen Olaniyi & Abbas Jimoh (Abuja)

The remains of the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, were interred yesterday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, amidst glowing tributes.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former President Olusegun Obasanjo,  a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aremo Segun Osoba, Ogun State Deputy Governor Noimot Salako, were among dignitaries who paid the last respect to Ajibola.

Ajibola, also a former jurist of International Court at Hague, Netherlands, died on Saturday night at 89.

After the Janazah prayer led by the Chief Imam of Egbaland, Sheik Sa’dallah Bamgbola, the remains of Ajibola were interred within the sprawling Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA) premises, the centre he established decades ago on Abiola Way area, Abeokuta.

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Osinbajo, who was Ajibola’s aide as minister, told newsmen in Abeokuta after the burial that his personal interaction with the late legal chief as special adviser would be indelible in his heart.

“Prince Bola Ajibola was someone I worked with as a special adviser when he was federal attorney-general and one thing he demonstrated was his belief in Nigeria, and that one could serve in the public domain with integrity.

“I am sad that he is no more. As Segun, his first born, has said that I am actually his first born. It’s a great honour that I know him and he mentored me.

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has commiserated with President Muhammadu Buhari, the nation’s judiciary and the family of former Justice at the International Court of Justice,  describing the death as a big loss to the judiciary.

Governor Abiodun said his legacies in the judiciary, philanthropy and the educational development of Nigeria would never be forgotten.

Abiodun, who also commiserated with the Owu Royal Family of the late former Attorney-General, his friend, former President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as members of the Baptist Boys’ High School Old Students Association, described the legal icon’s death as saddening, devastating and the end of an era.

Ajibola: The ‘incorruptible’ Prince who reigned at international Palace of Justice

Bolasodun Adesumbo Abdul-Jabaar Ajibola was born on March 22 1934 to the Owu royal family of Oba Abdul-Salam Ajibola Gbadela II, who was the traditional ruler of Owu, between 1949 and 1972.

Although, he had his early education in Owu, Bola Ajibola as he was famously known was a global citizen, who didn’t sit on the stool of his forebears but reigned at the Palace of Justice as the Vice Chairman of the International Court of Justice (World Court) from 1991 to 1994.

Ajibola who drew his last breath at the weekend at age 89, played prominent roles at the International Court of Justice in Hague where during one of the deliberations, he was registered as “The Solomon of the Court,” according to an interview he granted a national newspaper in 2009.

Ajibola also played a leading role at the African Union (AU) as an Arbitrator on land and boundary despite resolution.

He was one of the five commissioners on the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission organised through the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The late Nigerian jurist, who was president of the Nigerian Bar Association from 1984 to 1985 and served as Attorney General and the Minister of Justice of Nigeria from 1985 to 1991, was revered for his integrity and disdain for corruption.

Ajibola declined to take salaries during his reign as a minister in the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida. Instead, a part of the money was returned to the government while the rest was shared to charitable organisations.

“Thirty-five per cent should go back to the government, pay the government back its money in order to give us better governance; my root was from the Nigerian Bar Association, give them twenty-five per cent of this salary every month without fail; then the rest of the forty per cent should be distributed among eight charitable, humanitarian organizations all over Nigeria. They should be paid five per cent each of this money every month.

“It was in addition to that I engaged the services of three lawyers being paid for directly from my purse by myself to work in the Ministry of Justice in order to build something good for Nigerian Monthly Law Reports, which was started before me, which was neglected and which I updated and we put it on in 1990,” he recalled of how he instructed his Personal Assistant to share his salaries when he was appointed in 1991.

The former chairman, Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, was also reputed to have rejected gifts and other items from contractors and those seeking patronage from the government.

However, despite his stance, some gifts were still sent to his office as he recalled in one of his interviews. Ajibola chose to sell the gifts while the money was paid to the government’s account.

“Every quarter, we were always selling and it was always a trade fair. We spread the gifts on tables in the Ministry of Justice. We were selling the supposed gifts given to me. And I was always asking them to take account of it and the whole amount realized was paid to the government,” he recalled in the interview.

Attesting to his strong opposition to corruption, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who first served as Ajibola’s special adviser at the World Court, recalled how a foreign contractor and his country was made to apologise to Nigeria after the contractor who won a very lucrative contract from the FG went to Ajibola’s son who was in the university in England and gave him a brand new Golf car. Apart from returning the car, Ajibola reported the contractor to the government of his country.

“The second incident was the case of a commercial aircraft arrested in Nigeria for carrying drugs. The Office of the Attorney-General was, of course, responsible for ensuring the arrest. A very successful lawyer whose name I must not mention claimed to be acting as an intermediary for an interested party somehow connected to the aircraft and they came to Prince Bola Ajibola to offer him some bribe in foreign exchange. When I recall how Prince Ajibola shouted at the senior lawyer and ordered him out of his office, I still remember the shame and fear on the face of the man,” Osinbajo recalled of another event.

Prince Ajibola, who also served as the High Commissioner of Nigeria to the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2002, was a lover of education and propagation of Islam.

He established an Islamic and co-educational institution, Crescent University, which was the first privately-owned University in Abeokuta. He was the Founder and President of the Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA). He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN).

Ajibola, a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE), was one of the 17 Judges at the World Court that presided over the legal tussle between Nigeria and Cameroon on the disputed, oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula in Cross River State, which was later ceded to Cameroon.

He was chairman of the panel set up by the Plateau State government to probe the 2008 Jos riots

Education

Ajibola attended both Owu Baptist Day School and Baptist Boys’ High School in Abeokuta between 1942 and 1955. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Law (LL.B) at the Holborn 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 returned to Nigeria to practise Law, specialising in Commercial Law and International Arbitration.

Buhari, FEC mourn ex-Attorney General

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday commiserated with the family of Prince Bola Ajibola.

The president, in a statement yesterday by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, also condoled with the legal community in Nigeria and worldwide.

He described him as an outstanding lawyer and eminent jurist who used his God-given knowledge, intellect and talent to advocate for justice, fairness and equity in all his undertakings within and outside Nigeria.

He recalled that the legendary arbitrator was at different times, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (1984-1985), President, the World Association of Judges, Chairman, Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria and President, World Bank Administrative Tribunal, among other notable accomplishments.

He said Ajibola, having risen to the pinnacle of his career, took his brilliance in law practice to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, where he served meritoriously between 1991 and 1994, adding that he was also the Nigeria High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, 1999 to 2002.

“His contributions to the development of our legal system cannot be overstated, serving as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice at a critical period in the nation’s history. His patriotic inclinations, integrity and passion for service and advancement of humanity will continue to resonate after him,” the president said.

He also sympathised with the government and people of Ogun State as they mourned this illustrious citizen for the educational and social development he brought to his community and environs.

Similarly, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, on behalf of the Federal Executive Council, yesterday expressed sadness over Ajibola’s death.