It was an assembly of the crème de la crème of the legal world, as distinguished legal practitioners, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, public prosecutors, and legal administrators converged for the dedication and commissioning of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Ijebu-Ode Branch Bar Centre situated in the premises of the Ogun State High Court, Ijebu-Ode Judicial Division.
The Bar Centre, donated by the Bamofin of Ijebuland, Chief Ade Adedeji, SAN, was dedicated and commissioned by the Chairman of the Ogun State Governor’s Elders Advisory Council, Chief Oluneye Bisola Okuboyejo, who is the oldest lawyer in Ijebuland, and a former NBA Ijebu-Ode Branch Chairman (1999-2003).
The occasion, which is part of activities marking the 2026 NBA Ijebu-Ode Annual Law Week, was attended by a glittering array of legal practitioners and other guests, including the Ogun State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Barrister Olusegun Olaotan; the Deputy Director of Public Prosecution, Ogun State Ministry of Justice, Dr A. M. Adebayo; a retired Permanent Secretary of the Ogun State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Otunba Tokunboh Owotomo; and a former NBA Ijebu-Ode Chairman, Otunba Adesegun Adebayo, who led the branch in the 1996-1999 term.
Also, in attendance were the Chairman of the NBA Ijebu-Ode Branch, Professor Fassy Yusuf, Vice-Chairman, A. D. Sosanwo, Esq., other members of the executive committee, the Branch Chairman-elect, G. T. Adeiye, Esq., and the executive committee members-elect.
The NBA Ijebu-Ode Bar Centre comprises a multi-purpose hall (venue of the dedication ceremony), the branch secretariat on two floors, which includes offices for NBA executives, a 20-seater boardroom, a reception area, a business centre, changing room for lawyers, a lounge for lawyers, and a law library. Complementing the facility is a dedicated structure that houses the cafeteria, bookshop, and store, which is currently under construction and fully funded by the Branch Chairman, Prof. Yusuf.
The donor, Chief Ade Adedeji, SAN, said the vision was to have a Bar Centre of pride to the legal community that will serve as a workstation to equip and upskill young lawyers and inspire them to become successful professionals.
Chief Adedeji, SAN, added that a continuing legal education centre will be established in the Bar Centre to provide training to lawyers in the Ijebu-Ode NBA Branch.
He said, “Today, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here to commission a noble project for the fulfilment of a noble vision of supporting justice not only in our community, but indeed our beloved Ogun State and the nation we love so much. This is a fulfilment of the need to further grow our profession and indeed develop the talents and skill of our junior colleagues towards a more robust and fulfilling career in the profession. It is in fulfilment of this need that, for many years, we envisioned that a facility of this nature will serve a purpose. It is a workstation. And I need to emphasise that this project is the beginning of a vision, not the vision itself.
“The vision itself is to make this place a workstation that will deliver successful professionals in their efforts to become eminent barristers, solicitors and jurists of our future generations.
“The vision and mission of this project is to have a Bar centre of pride to the legal community in Ijebu land. That will inspire lawyers, particularly the junior ones, to aspire to the height they can dream of. To equip them with the task they need to grow and develop the profession and their practice of the law. To achieve this vision, we are putting in place, through collaboration, a continuing legal education centre, as envisaged by NBA and has been considered in the new Legal Practitioners Act. Our efforts, our dream must stay alive through training, conferences, seminars; all of which this facility is merely an enabler.”
Chief Adedeji, SAN, recalled that he became involved in the NBA Bar Centre project three years ago, joking that he agreed to participate because of Prof. Yusuf’s unconventional approach during their conversation, only to realise later the enormity of the undertaking he had committed himself to.
He said, “I came into this project three years ago….. About three years ago, a gentleman became the chairman of this branch, and he was given the mandate because of his larger-than-life personality. He was given a mandate to renew the efforts by previous chairmen to deliver a bar centre. He approached me, and we spoke without even a mention of the Bar Centre. Now I understand his style of approach. He made me feel so comfortable…. Before he dropped the bombshell, and without knowing what I was doing, I said yes, yes, yes and yes. It was the following day that I realised what I got myself into. Call me a victim if you like.”
Adedeji, while appreciating Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, for granting the necessary approvals for the construction of the Bar Centre, appealed to the governor to pave and tar the access road to the facility, which serves as an alternative entrance to the High Court main gate.
He said, “Nothing is fully completed without the seal of authority of the government. I thank the Excellency for the approval he gave for this to happen. Because without his approval, we cannot have this.
“To the Governor, we have a humble request. When we started this project, we were under the wrongful impression we could access this facility through the court. But we immediately realised the futility of this assumption. We discovered that it posed security threats to our courts. And this informed our decision to clear the path through which you access the Bar Centre. Our humble request to our Governor, therefore, is for a decent paved or tarred road to further provide us with the final lap of our race to 100% completion.”
Chief Oluneye Okuboyejo, who went down memory lane, recalled several efforts of previous chairmen to deliver the Bar Centre project, starting from his own tenure in office in 1999, all to no avail.
Chief Okuboyejo also recalled that, in another effort to revive the Bar Centre project, the NBA Ijebu-Ode Branch secured the necessary approvals and mobilised funds from branch members and well-wishers to commence construction, which had reached the foundation stage before Chief Adedeji offered to restart the project from scratch and single-handedly see it through to completion.
He thanked the donor for seeing the project through to completion, describing it as a “lifelong gift” to the NBA Ijebu-Ode Branch.
He said, “I became the chairman of the branch in 1999…. Initially, I think the Chief Judge of that time was magnanimous enough to give us, for use as part of our Bar Centre, a section of the garage reserved for judges. And from 1999, we were using that branch, that short small apartment, as our bar centre. So, when I took over, it became…a charge for us that we must, as a matter of urgency, be thinking of how we will have a branch in the Ijebu-Ode branch.
“So, the first thing we did was to try and see how to mobilise our resources from our distinguished silk, from our friends and well-wishers, to come to our aid to build the Bar Centre…. After my two terms, we did not succeed, but we tried and had other successors after me. I want to say that every chairman after me, one of his projects was the Bar Centre. And very many of them, if you look at it, up to the last one in the list of past chairmen, they tried.
“Eventually, we got this site given to us. And we then decided to task ourselves, from donations, from friends, from well-wishers, to see if we can start ourselves instead of looking for donors. We tried, and we made some success…..We had obtained the town planning approval, and all the necessary approvals at the foundation level, when my colleague, Chief Adebayo, came to me and said, ‘There’s somebody, a very senior learned colleague by name Ade Adedeji, that he had met him and said he was going to offer us a Bar Centre’. My first question was, where are we going to start from? Will it be from where we stopped? Or what? A new design or what?
“Then, for the first time, I had the opportunity of meeting Chief Ade Adedeji. And he said to me, ‘Sir, if you don’t mind’, that is, if we don’t mind, what we were doing was going to be pulled down to the foundation, and he was going to start from the foundation and hand over the keys to us. When I heard this, I said to myself, this appears to be too sweet.
“On your behalf, and on behalf of the entire members of Ijebu-Ode Branch, we thank you very much for this gift. It is a lifelong gift.”
The Branch Chairman, Prof. Yusuf, commended the donor for his selfless generosity, noting that Chief Adedeji undertook the project as a way of giving back to the legal profession, and not as an opportunity of seeking anything in return. Prof. Yusuf also dedicated the commissioning of the Bar Centre to the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, who had conferred a chieftaincy title on the donor before he passed away.
He said, “He (Chief Adedeji) is very generous because he had the choice. He was not looking for SAN; he was not looking for any other appointment. He has been a member of the legal practitioners’ privileges committee for some years now. He just decided that look, ‘what can I give back to the formation that has done so much for him?’ So, we started in earnest; fortunately, we synchronised, and we were able to achieve many things in common. And I tell you, like it was said earlier, he was the last person to be conferred with a chieftaincy title by our revered, enigmatic Baba, the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona.
“Incidentally, Baba joined his ancestors in July last year, so I can also say quite confidently that this commissioning or dedication will also be to his memory. At least Baba, in his grave, will be happy that he was able to recognise the donor before he died.”
Barrister Olusegun Olaotan described the NBA Ijebu-Ode Bar Centre as the “first of its kind” in Ogun State, noting that no other NBA branch in the state currently has a Bar Centre.
Barrister Olaotan applauded the donor for the project, saying it would serve as a platform for learning and service to Ijebuland, and as a centre for lawyers to engage professionally.
He said, “Today is a great day in the life of the Bar, not only in Ijebu-Ode, but in Ogun State. I have done a check, and I believe that this is the first of its kind in Ogun State. So today, Ijebu-Ode has made history. I know that Abeokuta is still constructing; I am not sure Sagamu is doing anything, and I am not sure Ota is doing anything. The Ilaro branch that I belong to, we are still at the purchase of land for our Bar Centre.
“So, the commissioning of this Bar Centre today, graciously donated by Bamofin Adedeji, is more than the unveiling of a building. It is the laying of a foundation for greater collegiality, learning, welfare and service to the bar and to Ijebu Land. Bamofin’s generosity today exemplifies the highest ideals of our profession…. Today, Bamofin is giving back; he is building an institution and creating a home where members can interact, grow and serve justice without disruption…. May this centre be a place of robust debates, mentorship for young lawyers and a lasting legacy.”
The Head of Chambers, Adedeji & Owotomo Chambers, Bidemi Adenola Bello, SAN, while congratulating members of NBA Ijebu-Ode Branch on the edifice, charged them to make good use of the opportunities provided by the Bar Centre. He also urged the Chairman-elect to encourage lawyers to use the facility and ensure it is well maintained.
The NBA Ijebu-Ode Branch Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Law Week Planning Committee, A. D. Sosanwo, Esq., delivered the Vote of Thanks, appreciating the donor for the Bar Centre. He also expressed gratitude to the guests, outgoing executive committee members, planning committee members, the Chairman-elect and the Executives-elect.
The dedication of the NBA Ijebu-Ode Bar Centre was also attended by other guests, including Barrister Aderibigbe Adedeji (wife of the donor), Prince Adesoji Adedeji (younger brother of the donor), Otunba Kunle Olujobi (an International Legal Practitioner and friend of the donor), Mr Joseph Dauda (friend of the donor), Rev. Tola Kolawole (friend of the Donor), and ASP Kazeem representing the Divisional Police Officer, Igbeba Police Division, CSP Muritala Adeyemi.
