Olanrewaju Onigegewura
To many people across the world, Friday, 19 September 2025, is just another day in the year of our Lord. However, to the family, friends, mentees, and protégés of Asiwaju Adegboyega Solomon Awomolo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, 19 September is always a special day. It is a day to celebrate and give thanks to God Almighty for the life and times of a living legend — a colossus at the Bar, an advocate of distinction, and a leader in name, in deed, and in title.
Asiwaju Awomolo belongs to that rare class of human beings whose mission in life is to add value to whatever they touch. He is the practical embodiment of the truism: he adorns not what he touches not. His life has been lived to the full in the service of God and humanity. He has consistently enriched the lives of all privileged to encounter him.
When Shakespeare wondered what was in a name in Romeo and Juliet and concluded that “…that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” the Bard of Avon did not take cognizance of African names. To us Africans, names are not random. Names are instructive, if not even divine. As Iya Agba would say: ilé la ń wò, kí a tó sọ ọmọ l’órúkọ [names reflect the heritage and circumstances of the child]. Is it therefore any wonder that a child named Adegboyega has continued to live up to his name by continuously seeking greater heights? Or that a child christened Solomon has consistently exhibited Solomonic wisdom?
For decades, Asiwaju Awomolo’s name has been synonymous with excellence in the legal profession. This is not surprising for a man who cut his professional teeth learning from a foremost advocate, Chief Tunji Arosanyin, the Gbegbegun of Egbe. Asiwaju served in the chambers of his mentor selflessly and with uncommon passion. It is not unusual in our climes for principals and associates in law firms to regard each other with mutual suspicion. The relationship between Chief Arosanyin and Asiwaju, however, was an exception to this rule.
Many years after leaving his principal to set up his own practice, Chief Arosanyin said of his former associate:
“Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, came to the chambers after completing his NYSC service in Kwara State. He came with a very mature mind. He did not appear like a newcomer to law practice at all. He brought a lot of good ideas which brought Destiny Chambers to the forefront in legal practice in Kwara State. When I started active politics, I handed over the administration of the chambers to him. He was really the doyen of Destiny Chambers, and the story of Destiny Chambers can never be complete without stating the involvement and contributions of Chief Gboyega Awomolo.”
What a most beautiful and fitting tribute.
With such a rock-solid foundation, it is again not a surprise that Asiwaju Awomolo was destined for the top echelon of the profession. According to a former Chief Judge of Kwara State, His Lordship Justice Timothy Oyeyipo:
“As a practitioner, Asiwaju Awomolo has always been an exceptional advocate and an ethical counsel whose submissions in court always reflect his industry and intelligence.”
Justice Oyeyipo’s tribute is not an isolated view. It reflects the consensus of all who have known him: Asiwaju is an exceptional human being. In the words of Asiwaju Wole Olanipekun, SAN:
“Chief Awomolo has etched his name in gold within the phylum of the very best the legal profession can boast of, particularly in terms of leadership acumen, administrative sagacity, and organisational dexterity.”
If any evidence of Asiwaju Awomolo’s leadership acumen is required, his stint as the pioneer Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Osun State is a ready example. As the first Attorney General of the newly created state, Asiwaju laid a solid foundation for justice sector reform, defence of human rights, and proactive legal architecture. More than three decades after his tenure, his administration continues to remain a reference point for succeeding Attorneys General.
In 1992, at the tender age of 14 years at the Bar, Asiwaju Awomolo was elevated to the Inner Bar as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He was the 88th distinguished practitioner to be so honoured. He was one of the youngest advocates to be admitted to the Inner Bar at the time.
It is doubtful if any book could be written on the history of the Nigerian Bar Association without a generous mention of the role played by Asiwaju Awomolo. A committed Bar Man, Asiwaju emerged on the national circuit of the Bar when he was elected Chairman of the Ilorin Branch of the NBA. Prior to this, he had served as Assistant Secretary of the Branch between 1980 and 1981, after which he was elected Secretary of the Branch.
His election as Chairman of the Ilorin Branch coincided with the period the national body of the Association was plunged into an internecine crisis, which polarized the foremost professional association. At the 1992 Annual General Conference of the NBA in Port Harcourt, delegates who had trooped to the capital of Rivers State in peace left the oil city in pieces. For years after, the association was comatose as a result of lack of leadership at the centre.
On 10 April 1997, the then existing 54 registered branches of the Association from all over the country converged in Ikeja and resolved that there should be established a body to be known as the Committee of Chairmen and Secretaries of the Nigerian Bar Association. The mandate of the Committee was to resolve the festering crisis of the NBA, which had paralysed the body for five years. It was at this auspicious gathering of brilliant legal minds that Asiwaju Awomolo was unanimously elected Chairman of the Committee.
It was thus the lot of Asiwaju Awomolo, working together with the indefatigable Chief Richard Ahonaruogo, Secretary of the Committee, to pull out all the stops to ensure that the inferno of the crisis did not consume the Association. Finally, five years after the Port Harcourt crisis, the Nigerian Bar Association under the leadership of Asiwaju Awomolo met in Jos – the first time it would be meeting as a national body after more than half a decade.
The Jos Conference affirmed the Committee of Chairmen and Secretaries, of which Asiwaju was Chairman, as the body to coordinate the affairs of the NBA and restored it to its proper status. The historic conference marked the end of the war of attrition within the national NBA. It was the Awomolo-led Committee that midwifed the 1998 historic Conference in Abuja, which led to the rebirth of the NBA.
In 2024, Asiwaju Awomolo was unanimously elected Chairman of the Body of Benchers – the body of legal practitioners of highest distinction established by Section 3 of the Legal Practitioners Act. Within the statutory one-year tenure, Asiwaju consolidated on the achievements of his illustrious predecessors and put in place solid legacies for his successors. As a legal historian, I am particularly fascinated by the vision of Asiwaju, which led to the establishment of the Museum and Archives of the Body of Benchers. I have been privileged to enter the Museum, and one cannot but be impressed by the meticulous planning that must have gone into setting it up.
That was not all. With the support of the distinguished Benchers, Asiwaju’s administration succeeded in institutionalizing a number of projects intended to advance the statutory objectives of the Body. These include: publication of the Reports of the Directions of the LPDCC; digitalization of the proceedings of the LPDC; installation of new signage at the Body of Benchers Complex; the flag-off of the Annex of the Body of Benchers Building; and introduction of Solemn Affirmation for applicants to the Bar, amongst others.
In recognition of the innovative leadership of Asiwaju Awomolo, his successor as Chairman of the Body of Benchers, My Noble Lord Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON, recently recommended that the Museum of the Benchers be named the Adegboyega Awomolo Museum and Archives.
It has always been my opinion that one index for measuring the success of a leader is the number of other leaders who have passed through his tutelage. Any success that cannot be replicated in others is actually a failure in disguise. A candle loses nothing by giving its light to other candles. It is striking in this regard that Asiwaju Awomolo is a success story. Today, one of the leading lights of the legal profession in Nigeria is Prof. Yusuf Olaolu Ali, SAN, the Kuliyan Ngeri of Ilorin Emirate. What many younger generations of lawyers might not know is that Prof. Ali cut his professional teeth in the firm of Asiwaju Awomolo.
In a manner akin to history repeating itself, in the same way Asiwaju held forth for his principal, Chief Arosanyin, when the latter went into politics, Prof. Ali stood forth for Asiwaju when he was appointed the 1st Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Osun State in 1992. It might come as a surprise to many to learn that Prof. Ali’s popular sobriquet, ‘Mallam,’ was actually given to him by Asiwaju Awomolo on account of his devotion to his faith and piety.
I want to believe that one of the secrets of the success of Asiwaju Awomolo is the peaceful home he retires to every day after work. It is doubtful if Asiwaju Awomolo could be seen alone without being accompanied by his ever dutiful and devoted spouse, Yeye Victoria Awomolo, who is a distinguished Senior Advocate of Nigeria in her own right.
Yeye Asiwaju’s professional career has never ceased to fascinate me. Here is a graduate of Chemistry who decided to start afresh and went back to the university to study Law, after more than a decade working as a teacher. In 2013, Yeye Asiwaju became the 16th female legal practitioner to be admitted to the Inner Bar, and the first female graduate of the University of Ibadan to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
How does one compress the lifetime of an achiever into a brief note of tribute? In this respect, the title of the memoirs of Natwar Singh, a former Indian Minister of External Affairs, came to my mind. The autobiography is aptly titled One Life Is Not Enough. Indeed, one life is not enough to enumerate the countless achievements recorded by Asiwaju in his single lifetime. He has made a success of virtually everything he has been involved with. As a Bar Man, he was the de facto president of the Bar in his capacity as Chairman of Chairmen and Secretaries. His leadership at that critical time in history made the NBA rise from its ashes like the proverbial phoenix. As a legal practitioner, he was Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. As an advocate, he became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. As a Bencher, he led the distinguished Body of Benchers as its 52nd Chairman. What a life!
How then do I conclude this tribute to a leader of leaders? Well, that’s a task for Asiwaju’s mentor and leader, Aare Afe Babalola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Aare Bamofin of Yorubaland, who said of his protégé:
“Chief Adegboyega Solomon Awomolo, SAN, is a gentleman par excellence. A practising Christian, he is very caring, sincere, loyal, responsible, and dependable.”
Happy Birthday, Sir!
May the seventy-eight steps you have climbed inspire generations yet to come! May you live long in good health and prosperity in your continued service to humanity.