Chief Richard Akinjide, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, shares his life experiences in this interview with Fisayo Falodi
You have been practising law for the past 59 years. How has the journey been?
It has been excellent. I enjoy practising law and in my view, it is the best profession in the world. When I was in the secondary school at Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife, which was part of the Ionian schools, I did Cambridge examinations and I came out with Grade One. Before then, I had made up my mind to become a lawyer and because of my excellent Cambridge result, Reverend Adeyefa, who was the principal of Oduduwa College, gave me a letter and scholarship to go to England for a degree in Art and come back to Oduduwa College after graduation to work for five years. I accepted the letter, but I did not accept the offer because I had made up my mind to be a lawyer and not a teacher. Although teaching is an excellent profession, my parents could afford to send me to England. That was exactly what we did.
At your age, one would expect that you would be in your expansive sitting room watching your favourite programme on the television or reading newspapers, but you are in your chamber doing one work or the other. Where do you derive the energy from?
First of all, there is no retirement in legal profession. Anybody who tells you that there is retirement in legal profession is making a very big mistake. In England, if you are a lawyer, you can make provision for earning either when you are working or not. But I am not sure whether we have such provision in Nigeria. I am a member of the English Bar and I practised in England for many years. I am also a member of The Gambian Bar and I still practise in The Gambia up till now. Sometimes, when I want to go to The Gambia to attend court, I go through Dakar, Senegal, by road and the journey takes four hours. So, law is my life and I could not have done anything else in life apart from the legal profession. Law is excellent; it is as good as journalism. When I read law in England, I also read journalism because I like writing though I specifically went to England to read Law. It is about a question of interest. When I came back to Nigeria, I practised both professions. There was a time I was writing a column for West African Pilot owned by the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. I also wrote a column for the Sunday title of the defunct Daily Times. If you ask me what I have really enjoyed in life, I will say law and journalism.
Some people are of the opinion that lawyers are always proud and you seem to have buttressed the belief by claiming that law is the best profession …
I will say law is one of the best professions. It is not a question of pride, but a question of honour. If you are a medical doctor, you should be very proud of your profession, likewise an accountant, surveyor and banker. All professions are excellent.
How was your growing up like?
It was excellent. I went to St. Peter’s Primary School at Aremo in Ibadan, which at that time was one of the best schools in Yoruba land. There were even English boys and girls in the school at that time. It was during the colonial era and the standard of education in the school was as good as it was in England. When I went to England to read law, I did not see any difference between the quality of teaching I had in Nigeria and in England. The quality was extremely high.
How did you relate with your white colleagues in primary school?
I dealt with them as human beings and they also dealt with me as human being.
As a person born into a family of warriors, one would have thought that you would become a soldier, but you chose to study law. Why?
There was no war at the time I was born. But if you see Mapo Town Hall in Ibadan, the land on which it was built was given for the building of the hall by my mother’s grand-father. Our family land extends behind Mapo Hall up till now. Sometimes, when we have family meetings, I go there to attend. Your family has produced over 10 lawyers. What is the attraction in the profession or did they read law because you made success of it?
Well, I am the first lawyer in my family. We have produced about 11 lawyers, including my grand-children. We chose to read law because we love it, but that is not the end of the matter. I have about four grand-children in banking; I have some others in teaching and business. So, we spread ourselves across all the sectors, but we spread ourselves most in the legal profession.
What was the response of your father when you rejected the scholarship offer by the Oduduwa College?
I will not use the word rejection because I did not apply for it and for them to have given the scholarship to me was a very great honour. My parents were also happy that I did not accept it because I had told them that I wanted to read law in England and they could afford to sponsor me.
It took you two years after you finished secondary school to get the British passport to enable you to travel to England to study law. What were you doing in those two years?
There was no Nigerian passport in those days. Nigeria was a British protectorate then, and the only place you could get passport was Lagos, whether you lived in Calabar or Sokoto or Ibadan. I had to apply for the passport through the police in Ibadan and they had to examine the means of your parents whether they could afford to finance your education abroad or not. It was a normal thing under the colonial system in those days. But while the application was pending, I was working at the Cooperative Department of the Federal Government.
You travelled by sea to England. How long did it take the ship to arrive there and what was going on in your mind?
It took us two weeks to arrive in England and I was seeing myself as a future lawyer. It was one of the happiest moments in my life and I enjoyed it. There were a lot of Europeans and Nigerians in the ship. We all interacted very well with one another. While in England, I did not suffer any discrimination; the British were very nice to me. My parents were able to look after me. During that period, I studied LLB degree in Law at the University of London, I did the Bar and the Inner Temple. I also read journalism and I had an attachment of three months at Lincoln Inn. Before I came to Nigeria, I already had an idea of what I was coming to do. I really enjoyed it.
Do you still communicate with your English friends now?
Yes. I am a member of Inner Temple. So, any time I travel to London, I visit the place to dine and wine. We have a restaurant where we can have our lunch any day. If it is dining time, we do what is called dining; you go to your Inn and dine with your professional colleagues. It is like a family culture. Once you are there as a member, you are there throughout your life and there is no time you retire.
After you returned to Nigeria as a qualified lawyer, you practised briefly under S.L Durosaro before you set up your own chamber. How did you feel the first time he gave you a brief to handle?
It was extremely good. The first brief I handled was called exparte motion before the late Justice Ademola Adetokunbo in Ibadan. He was the head of the judiciary of Western Nigeria at that time. Western Nigeria, at that time started from Asaba and ended in Yaba, Lagos. There was no Abuja then. Because I had experience in England, what I did in Ibadan was not strange to me; it was normal. The court clerk at that time was Olatawura, who later went to England to read Law and he came back to practise. He later on became a very distinguished judge and rose to the level of the Supreme Court.
Can you recall the case you handled that brought you to limelight?
It is for others to make judgement on that, but I had a brief soon after I started and it came from the Ministry of Justice in Ibadan for five pounds. It was a lot of money then. I did not even know that they were aware of my person, so I just got a letter from them with the brief and it was wrapped and also with a red label. They put my fee on it, which was five pounds. I was happy and ecstatic because five pounds at that time was enough to start building a house. When I started earning money as a bachelor, my mother was excited and wanted me to marry a daughter of one of her friends, but I politely declined because I thought I should grow up; I was 24 years old then and I wanted to get involved in politics. I knew that Nigeria would get independence one day and I wanted to be in the parliament at the time of independence. The last election before independence was held in 1959 and I contested to represent Ibadan South-East in the Federal House of Representatives and I won. Our salary as a lawmaker then was eight pounds per annum. I was able to combine my duty as a parliamentarian with my law practice. I was in parliament before independence, I was in parliament during independence and I was also in parliament after independence. So, I went through an era in the history of this country.
You did not even practise for long before you dabbled into politics. Why the haste?
My parents expected me to go into politics because my grand-parents were involved in local politics and my parents too. Whether you look at it from my mother’s side or father’s side, we have the tradition of being in public life in different forms.
How did you now combine politics with law?
The two are in the same family. If you go to England, you see many people in the House of Commons who are also lawyers. The same thing happens in the United States and France.
The late Chief Rotimi Williams was an astute lawyer like you. Did your path ever cross his in court?
Yes. We met several times. First, he was older than me. Second, he was my senior as a lawyer. He was a first class lawyer who studied at the University of Cambridge, with whom I related very well. I sometimes had a case with him and sometimes I had a case against him and he was a perfect gentleman.
Can you remember any case you nearly regretted handling?
I can’t remember any. When you are in your profession, you should be able to devise ways that will make you enjoy it. You should be able to move forward in your profession whether you are bored or not.
Since you politely rejected the girl your mother wanted you to marry, how did you then propose to the person you eventually married?
I did not say I rejected anyone, there was no offer made to me. My mother was interested in my getting married at 24 because she thought that as a lawyer, I should have a wife. I was the first born of my grand-parents and also the first born of my own parents. So, my mother was interested in seeing her grand-child, which was a normal thing at that time and I believe it is still a normal thing today. Concerning the way I proposed to my wife when I was eventually set to marry, I did exactly what every bachelor does.
You still go to court sometimes…
Not sometimes, I go to court often. I go to the Supreme Court, I go to the Appeal Court and I go to the Arbitration. I am also still active in politics. I am the Chairman, Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria. I am today the most senior lawyer in the legal profession in the country.
Don’t young lawyers feel intimidated when they see you in court?
They feel very well; they don’t feel intimidated at all. They are my colleagues. Sometimes I have cases with them and sometimes I have cases against them. We all smile and enjoy our profession.
Can you remember some of the things you loved doing or pranks you played while growing up in Ibadan?
I used to play football then and I loved eating bread with sardine and hot pap. I also loved reading.
No pranks?
It all depends on what you call prank. What you call prank may not be a prank to me. All I know is that I was brought up in a mature manner. I had no girl friend then, even before I went to England and I had no relationship with any female until I got married.
Didn’t you feel jittery when you wanted to propose to your wife?
I did not at all. She too studied in England and we had a lot of things in common. Her parents and my parents were friends.
They say no marriage is perfect. How do you reconcile differences with your wife and who makes the first move?
I can’t remember that we ever had any disagreement. We are operating as brother and sister and we are blessed with wonderful children who went to University of Cambridge in England and Harvard University in the United States. Also, my grand-children went to University of London and University of Newcastle.
You preferred your children and grand-children should study abroad, why not any of the Nigerian universities?
One of my daughters studied Classic in the University of Ibadan and she got double First Class and the university even wanted to retain her, but she decided to further her education at Harvard University in the United States. I also taught law for two years at the University of Ibadan and I taught international commercial arbitration at post-graduate level.
How did your father-in-law receive you the first day your wife introduced you to him?
He was not only excited; he took me as his son and I remained his son throughout.
As a successful man, how do you handle pressure from friends and members of your extended family?
Oh! I treat them very well and delightfully. If it is possible for me to do what they ask for, I do them, but if it is not possible for me, I will explain to them why it is not possible.
When your name is mentioned, the first thing grown-up Nigerians will remember is the 12 2/3 controversy where it was said that 12 is the 2/3 of 19 states. How do you feel about it?
Oh! I enjoy it. I like it, but don’t forget that I did not write the judgement. Seven judges wrote the judgement in the Supreme Court and three judges wrote the judgement in the court of first instance. In the Supreme Court, six judges accepted my submission and one did not. It is one of those moments in history which I will never forget and I will continue to enjoy it.
The 12 2/3 controversy?
I will not call it controversy, but argument which has become the judgement of the Supreme Court. Those who should be praised are lawyers on both sides, not me alone and also the three judges in the first court who heard the argument and the seven judges of the Supreme Court who listened to it. So, if that matter should be discussed, it is not my name alone that should be mentioned. The names of all lawyers on both sides and the names of all the judges should equally be mentioned.
When was your low moment since you have been practising law?
Well, I would like Western Nigeria to have remained the same. I didn’t like the crisis between the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the late Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. I was not a member of their political parties, but the crisis between them was a very sad moment in the history of Nigeria, not just in the history of Yoruba. The crisis had consequences which resulted in the creation of more states. Later on, it became a terrible crisis, although we were a beneficiary of that, because that crisis led us to become part of the government of Western Nigeria. The crisis was good in the sense that we became a beneficiary, but it was bad because it divided the Yoruba race. The good news is that a lot of the people who disagreed at that time are now friends and working together.
Your contemporary, Chief Afe Babalola, extended his tentacle to education by establishing Afe Babalola University. Should we be looking forward to Richard Akinjide University of Science and Technology?
I can’t say yes or no. But if I don’t, members of my family could do it. I have reasons to believe that. So, let us hope for the best.
What do you want to leave for posterity?
Happiness, joy and the development of Nigeria. I am not happy with the state of the development of this country. Economically, I want Nigeria to be the best in Africa.
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