For leading, in 1987, people of like minds including Ama Ogan, then editor of The Guardian in Lagos; Abdul Oroh, her political correspondent; Richard Akinola, then a pioneering judiciary correspondent with the Vanguard newspaper also in Lagos; as well as Emmanuel Erakpotobor and Clement Nwankwo, young associates in the law firm then known as Olisa Agbakoba and Associates to expose alleged human rights abuses ongoing in Ita-Oko, a somewhat prison located in an island in the Atlantic Ocean, some 100 kilometres off the coast of Lagos for years; for his widely acclaimed roles in activism to ground-breaking courtroom victories and landmark legislative reforms; for being at the forefront of numerous landmark cases, advocating for social justice, human rights, and the rule of law; for his unwavering pursuit of justice and tireless dedication to the legal profession; for belonging to a pantheon of exceptional lawyers whose remarkable works are a source of inspiration; for championing legal reforms in arbitration in Nigeria including the establishment of industry specific arbitration centres in maritime, construction, energy, telecommunications and entertainment sectors; for staking his life to selflessly and relentlessly fight for the masses, notwithstanding his opulent background; for blazing the trail for others in human rights and pro-democracy community to follow with the establishment of his Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in 1987, the instrument he used to lead people of like minds in the country to fight human rights abuses and military dictatorship; for being one of the leading legal minds in the country who have contributed immensely and is still contributing to the development of law and jurisprudence in the Nigeria’s legal firmament; for demonstrating uncommon courage, diligence, brilliance, probity and unparalleled patriotism to the Nigerian Bar Association during his tenure as president of the lawyers association between 2006 and 2008; for his courage to speak truth to powers no matter whose ox is gored for the betterment of the society and for being one of the most decorated lawyers and rights crusaders in the country, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, OON, SAN, is our ICON for the week.
Upon the completion of his primary education, he got admission into the famous Christ the King College, Onitsha in1966 but the civil war interrupted his academic programme. In fact, his family had to leave Jos
Born in Jos, the capital city of the present day Plateau State in the North Central Nigeria to the family of Justice Godfrey Charles Ubaka Agbakoba, the first Chief Judge of old Anambra State and Mrs Phina Agbakoba on May 29, 1953, the young Olisa attended a number of primary schools in Jos. Specifically, he had his elementary education at Government Primary School, Jos between 1959 and1960, and his post-elementary education at an international American School called Hillcrest School, Jos in 1961. Olisa, his brother, Gozie, and one Indian boy, Peter Adams, were the first non-whites to have ever attended the school in 1961. He later attended Government Primary School, Jos between 1962 and1963. Thereafter, Agbakoba returned to Eastern Nigeria and enrolled at Zixton Public School, Ozubulu, Anambra State in 1964 to complete his primary education. Upon the completion of his primary education, he got admission into the famous Christ the King College, Onitsha in1966 but the civil war interrupted his academic programme. In fact, his family had to leave Jos. Olisa was just 13 years then. At that time, the Biafra was shrinking and it needed to boost its army and so there was a massive call for soldiers to join but nobody wanted to come out, a development that made conscription of people inevitable. Olisa was conscripted at 13 and was sent to fight alongside others after a brief training. According to him, “While in training, there was a guy we nicknamed Immortal because he seemed almost invincible. During training, he always withstood everything thrown at him. However, on the first night we went to the battlefront, the man we least expected to die was the first person to go down. He was felled by a rocket-propelled grenade and he had a massive hole in his chest. After he fell, we were disillusioned and disheartened and to make matters worse, it was raining heavily. The rain was even worse than the Nigerian soldiers that were advancing. We simply disengaged and stood down at that point. The following day, we pulled back to base and regrouped.”
But soon after the war, the young Olisa who survived the war went back to school. This time, he was admitted to the College of Immaculate Conception in Enugu in 1970. He was there till 1972 and subsequently, completed his programme in Government College, Ughelli, Delta State in 1973.
Though he came from a family of lawyers, especially from maternal folks, he was dreaming of becoming a soldier. “My dream was to become a soldier and I fought hard to get into the Nigerian Defence Academy. However, my father managed to use guile to keep me away from there. He didn’t allow me to know the time for the exams into the NDA. Along the line, he suggested that I should sit for exams into the UNN,” he said. Young Agbakoba therefore got admission to the University of Nigeria (UNN) for his LLB (Hons) in Law. With the admission, he gradually forgot about his desire to become an officer in the Nigerian Army. He was in the University between 1973 and1977. On graduation, he enrolled at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos for his BL. in 1978.
When he completed the Law School, he travelled to the United Kingdom (UK) for greener academic pastures. According to him, what was paramount to him was to read up to doctorate degree at that time. Of course, like other prominent Nigerians who read Law in London, Agbakoba’s first port of call was the renowned London School of Economics & Political Science where he bagged his LLM. He was in the School between 1979 and1980. When he finished his Master’s degree, he immediately started his doctorate in the same school. He, however, later chose to convert to an external student and return to Nigeria in 1981 to complete it but by twist of fate, that dream was aborted. According to him, “I was unfortunate to be caught up in the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s hateful policy on immigrants. I was previously paying £900 in my first year as a PhD student before she increased the fee to £4,000, and I couldn’t afford that amount. I then applied to the university to convert my internal PhD to an external one. When I returned to Nigeria, I got into the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, where I continued with my PhD. However, I got bored with research and quit the programme,” adding “I started by groping about what I wanted to do thereafter. It took me a while to get the roadmap. Once I had the roadmap, then I have been on the roadmap relentlessly.”
My dream was to become a soldier and I fought hard to get into the Nigerian Defence Academy. However, my father managed to use guile to keep me away from there. He didn’t allow me to know the time for the exams into the NDA. Along the line, he suggested that I should sit for exams into the UNN
Today, Agbakoba is incontestably, one of the leading legal minds in the country who have contributed immensely and is still contributing to the development of law and jurisprudence in the Nigeria’s legal firmament. The courts are awash with his private prosecution records, which are mostly propelled by the quest for social justice and human rights.
Although, Agbakoba was doing great in law practice, he however was not getting enough satisfaction from the money he was making from it. He later found more satisfaction in doing public interest cases. According to him, “In my early days as a lawyer, I wasn’t satisfied with getting private fee-paying clients; I found more satisfaction doing public-interest cases. I also found that you can actually combine your private clientele with the need to pay back the society. For my fee-paying clients, I have a very strong brand, Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), and I don’t interfere with what they do. There is a managing solicitor, who runs the practice. I just bring my expertise and experience to bear on the practice. For my public interest outlook, the first institution I created was the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) where I was the president for eight years. I never did anything personal and there was no clash of interest. If I had a case in the fee-paying side that might conflict with my public interest angle, I would simply exclude it. Forty years down the line, I am happy that I have a reputation as one of Nigeria’s premier public interest lawyers.”
For his belief in democracy and social justice, Agbakoba had faced various threats to his life, especially during the dark days of military dictatorship in Nigeria. For instance, he was part of the legal team headed by Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN that defended Ken Saro Wiwa. “Gani Fawehinmi was the leader of our team and his strength also helped us immensely because he was fearless and ruthless. We had a clash with an army unit in the court and the commander threatened Gani to repeat what he said in court outside. Gani repeated the same thing outside the court and the military commander dared him to come to their camp. Gani and the rest of the team then went to the military’s camp. Gani’s supreme confidence overwhelmed the army and that incident remains indelible in my memory,” he recalled. Also, in 1998, he had faced the government of Gen Sani Abacha when the head of state told the world that he had become the adopted presidential candidate of the political parties in the country and that no one was challenging him. Olisa founded the United Action for Democracy (UAD) which later convened a five million-man march to prove Abacha wrong. What happened thereafter was history as Agbakoba was beaten black and blue by agents of the state and almost lost his sight after. He was thereafter arrested and was taken to the Western Avenue Police Station before he was moved to Panti, to Awolowo Road, then to Kingsway police stations in Lagos and later moved to Enugu where he was detained till Abacha died. “I don’t care about the personal suffering I underwent. I am just happy that it led to democracy. Abacha could not control things after that incident,” Agbakoba recalled.
Today, apart from practicing law, especially commercial and particularly, maritime law, which he had climbed to the apogee and being an avowed crusader of human rights, he is a ready asset for challenging national assignments.
Agbakoba, a notary public is a member of various local and international organisations. They include: President, Inter-African Network for Human Rights and Development (AFRONET), 1995; Senior Counsel, The Human Rights Law Service (Hurilaws), 1997, Senior Partner, Legislative Solicitors, Senior Partner, Multi-sector Law Group, the Coordinator, Justice Sector Reform Group concerned with drawing up a national plan for justice sector reforms as well as the chairman, Law Reform Committee, Nigeria Bar Association, 2005.
Today, apart from practicing law, especially commercial and particularly, maritime law, which he had climbed to the apogee and being an avowed crusader of human rights, he is a ready asset for challenging national assignments
He is also a Life member, Body of Benchers, member, NBA, member, International Bar Association (IBA), member, Nigerian Maritime Lawyers Association, member, Nigerian Maritime Law Society and the President/Founder, Nigerian Chamber of Shipping. He is also a member, Human Rights Institute, member, board of trustees, International Centre for the Protection of Cultural Diversity and Human Rights in Africa as well as member, Nigerian Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, Catholic Secretariat, Lagos among numerous others.
Agbakoba was elected the national president of the NBA in 2006 and he served till 2008.
Back in 1996, he convened the first all-Nigeria Conference on Human Rights and Democracy. Relishing on the success of that, he immediately after serving the NBA as the president, convened, United Action for Democracy, Nigeria (1998-2001). He was conferred with the rank of SAN in 1998, having distinguished himself in law practice.
For his hard work and commitment to law and human rights, a barrage of awards and honours had also come his way. They include: Roger Bawldwin Medal for Civil Liberties, 1990, Fellow, of the Institute of Administrative Management of Nigeria (FIAMN),1993 Human Rights Prize, German Association of Judges Aachen Peace Prize – 1996, the International Human Right Award of the American Bar Association, in recognition of extra-ordinary contributions to the causes of human rights, the rule of law and promotion of access to justice.
He was a member of the Judicial Reform Committee set up by Justice Dahiru Musdapher, the Chief Justice of Nigeria following the crisis that rocked the judicial sector. Also, the Federal Government of Nigeria on February 10, 2012 appointed him as one of the members of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force (PRSTF) set up by the Minister of Petroleum Resources. The Taskforce is designed to enhance probity and accountability in operations of the troubled Petroleum Industry.
The legal luminary also has an Award of Excellence from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of Nigeria – 2005 as well as an Award from the British Council and Human Right Commission – 2005 among litany of others.
He has delivered lectures as a resource person at conferences across the globe.
He also has a myriad of publications to his credit. Some of them are: Federal High Court Practice Manual (published by Lexixnexis South Africa), Maritime Newsletter Volumes one and two; Manual on Election Petition in Nigeria; Maritime Cabotage in Nigeria; Bankruptcy Proceedings in Nigeria; Development Law Books (in three volumes; Towards A People Constitution in Nigeria; Transcending the Wall: A manual for Prisoners Reform, when justice slumbers and legislative agenda for good governance in Nigeria.
Agbakoba is listed in the International Biographical Association, Newswatch Who’s Who in Nigeria, Africa who’s who as well as International Biographical Centre, 20th century Award among others.
He is married to Mrs. Lilian, whom he met in the university in 1974. Lilian is also a lawyer and head of Beverly & Sam Properties with three children and grandchildren. He is a caring family man. According to him, “I don’t work after 7pm. I don’t work on Saturday too and I switch off my phones. You would mostly find me at home on weekend and holidays. I like to spend time with my six grandchildren. You would have to pay me a lot of money for me to work on weekend.”
