A former justice minister, Richard Akinjide, is dead.
His death was confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES early on Tuesday.
The spokesperson of the Universiry College Hospital, Ibadan, Tonye Akinrinola, confirmed that Mr Akinjide was brought dead to the hospital
Born in 1930 in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Mr Akinjide attended St. Peter’s Primary School, Aremo in Ibadan, before proceeding to Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife from where he passed out in Grade One (Distinction, Aggregate 6).
Mr Akinjide in 1951 travelled to the United Kingdom for his higher education, where he studied for his LLB degree in Law at the University of London and also obtained a certificate in Journalism. He was called to the English Bar in 1955.
The deceased was subsequently called to the Nigerian and the Gambian Bar and became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 1978. When he returned to Nigeria after his studies, he practiced briefly under S.L Durosaro before setting up his practice of Akinjide & Co.
Akinjide was a contributor to West African Pilot and Daily Times. He also taught International Commercial Arbitration at post-graduate level at the University of Ibadan.
He was a member of the Judicial Systems Sub-Committee of the Constitutional Drafting Committee of 1975-1977 and later joined the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1978. He became the Legal Adviser for the party before hwas later appointed the justice minister when President Shehu Shagari assumed office.