Akinola Aguda (1923 – 5 September 2001) was a Yoruba Nigerian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and a former Chief Justice of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. Prior to becoming Chief Justice, he was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and a High Court judge in Nigeria's Western Region. He was the first indigenous African to head the position of Chief Justice in Botswana. Throughout his legal career, he was known as a cerebral jurist and lawyer, who embraced radicalism especially during period of military rule in Nigeria. It is believed this may have resulted in his exclusion as a member of the supreme court of Nigeria."Man In The News", ''The News'', 26 October 1998.

Early life and education

Judge Aguda was born in

Akure Akure is a city in south-western Nigeria. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Ondo State. The city had a population of 403,000 as of the 2006 population census. Its current population is estimated at 774,000.Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

couple in Akure. He studied at St David's Primary School, Akure, for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

and left for the Government College, Ibadan for secondary education."Aguda: Burying the Dead, Honouring the Living", ''Thisday'', 19 October 2001. Originally, he wanted to be a doctor or an engineer but his mind was not quite into chemistry, a crucial subject necessary to pass medical school. He left medical school after the first year and tried teaching but on the advice of Obafemi Awolowo, he changed his mind and decided to enrol in a

Law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

. He studied Law at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1952.

Career

After completing his studies, he entered private practice in the chambers of the distinguished Nigerian lawyer, Ayo Rosiji. but later transferred to the legal department of the western region of Nigeria, and became the Pupil Crown Counsel. Soon thereafter, he was made

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Adv ...

in 1955 and in 1968, he became the acting solicitor general of the Western region. On 3 February 1972 he was appointed the first African Chief Justice of Botswana, concurrently, he was also a judge of the Court of Appeal of

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

, Botswana and

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

. After, leaving the supreme court in 1975, he returned to Nigeria and continued his judicial career as Chief Judge of

Ondo State Ondo () is a States of Nigeria, state in Points of the compass, southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State (Nigeria), Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast fo ...

. In 1976, he was a leading member of the committee that recommended

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

as the capital of Nigeria. He retired from civil service in 1978 and became the director of the newly created Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

. As director of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Aguda assumed a new role, as a

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and governance in Nigeria and Africa. To Aguda, the lack of thorough knowledge of judicial norms and

precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

s by the common African man or woman leads to the abuse of vital human rights by the government. A situation that can be fuelled by poverty, which allows many to rot in jails without due process or even a notice of trial as they do not have the money to get an astute lawyer or the connections to effect changes to their situation.Brendalyn P. Ambrose; ''Democratization and the Protection of Human Rights in Africa: Problems and Prospects'', Praeger Publishers, 1995. His defence of the right of suspects was a crucial issue that was prominent during his days as a judge. In 1968, in the case of Agbaje vs the Western Government of Nigeria, he wrote a comment that is still relevant in today's Nigerian judicial system.Reuters AlertNet - NIGERIA: Human rights groups welcome UN spotlight on police torture
/ref> He also sought for removal of economic barriers in the criminal justice system, concurrently with a speedy trial and to put omnipotent leaders under the law not above it.

Personal life

He married his first wife in 1952 and took on a mistress two years after.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguda, Akinola 1923 births 2001 deaths People from Akure Alumni of the University of London Nigerian judges Nigerian judges on the courts of Botswana Nigerian judges on the courts of Lesotho Nigerian judges on the courts of Eswatini Government College, Ibadan alumni Yoruba lawyers Academic staff of the University of Lagos 20th-century Nigerian lawyers Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom