Nigeria’s Former Justice Minister, Richard Akinjide Dies @88

Former Minister of Education in the government of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa during the First Republic, Chief Richard Akinjide, has passed on at the age of 88 years.

Counted among the crop of Nigeria’s legal icons, Akinjide died in his Ibadan home early Tuesday, April 21, at about 1.00am after a long battle with an undisclosed ailment.

Born Osuolale Abimbola Richard Akinjide in the city of Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in 1930 to an influential family of warriors, he attended Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife and passed out with Grade One (Distinction, Aggregate 6).

He was also a former Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) during the administration of President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic.

Young Richard travelled to the United Kingdom (UK) in 1951 for his higher education and was called to the English Bar in 1955 and later in Nigeria. He established his practice of Akinjide & Co soon after.

He was a member of the judicial systems sub-committee of the Constitutional Drafting Committee (CDC) of 1975-1977 and later joined the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1978. He became the Party’s Legal Adviser and was later appointed the Minister for Justice.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the late Akinjide also served as a chieftain in the Olubadan of Ibadan’s court of clan nobles.

It was under his watch as Attorney General that Nigeria temporarily reversed executions of armed robbers and also abolished a decree barring exiles from returning to the country.

Akinjide was also the lead prosecutor in the treason trial of Bukar Zanna Mandara.

Similarly, he handled the eviction of many illegal foreign nationals from Nigeria which contributed to mild violence against some foreigners in the country. The event also exposed some weaknesses within the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS).