Written by Festus Adedayo
In 1995 when I joined the Tribune newspaper and “squatted” with a friend in Odo-Ona, one of Ibadan’s slums, I met one young boy in whom I took interest. His mother was a dedicated teacher and a devout Christian. His father then lived in the northern part of the country. He was a second year student of Government College, Ibadan. He was precocious, inquisitive and held promise of a tomorrow. In decades to come when we met, he reminded me that he was then a science student and that, perhaps seeing beyond 1995, I foretold that the law would be his right profession. You know children have the memory of a dolphin. Last week, Adeola Oluwaseun Adedipe was one of the 58 lawyers who the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). I am overjoyed.
Oluwaseun proceeded from the GCI to the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife from 2001 to 2007 where he bagged a 2nd Class Honours, Upper Division and then the Nigerian Law School. He was to work at Ahmed Raji & Co. where he occupied the position of Head of Chambers, for 8 years. In years, he garnered the renown of, apart from myriads of cases that he handled, which were reported and which became utilized today in the legal field, the face of the leading decision on garnishee proceedings which he argued and won at the Supreme Court, now reported as CBN v. Interstella Communications & 3 Ors. (2018)7 NWLR (Pt. 1618) 294. He has also consulted for several organizations on arbitration cases, for AMCON, in and out of court and has been involved in very high-profile litigations and commercial transactions.
The morale of this short story of climb to the pinnacle of one’s career by Adedipe is that there is still space at the top for a man of determination. He is just 40 years old.
Congratulations, Learned Silk!