Smaranda Olarinde is a Romanian-born Nigerian law professor, president of the

Nigerian Association of Law Teachers The Nigerian Association of Law Teachers, abbreviated as NALT is a professional body which represents the interests of law teachers in Nigeria. It was established in 1961 to promote excellence in research and legal academic teaching in Nigeria. It a ...

, and incumbent

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

Afe Babalola University Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) is a private research university located in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. It was founded by a lawyer and philanthropist, Afe Babalola, in 2009. Afe Babalola University offers Academic programs in six Colleges ...

. She worked as a legal researcher at the

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

offices in

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

and

Niger State Niger State is a state in the North Central (Nigeria), North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory, to the north by Kebbi State and Zamfara State, ...

in 1995.

Career

Olarinde has over three decades of cumulative experience as a law teacher, academic, researcher and

legal practitioner 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 wel ...

. She has a legal background in civil and common law. Olarinde's focus has been on the rights and protection of women, children and young adolescents. In 1989, she was a legal researcher for IDRC on

land tenure In Common law#History, common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land "owned" by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement betw ...

and access to land for women. She also served as a legal researcher for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

on law development and the

status of women Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

(1990) and towards a gender strategy in Nigeria (1992). She was a member of the “

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

” for the legal protection of children in

and coordinator of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). Olarinde carried out several multidisciplinary researches on

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to human reproduction, reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights: Reproductive rights ...

, women and children's rights, HIV/AIDS and participated in the collaborative effort between researchers from

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and Nigeria. She is actively involved in training law students at the

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

levels, as well as law

clinicians A clinician is a health care professional typically employed at a skilled nursing facility or clinic. Clinicians work directly with patients rather than in a laboratory, community health setting or in research. A clinician may diagnose, treat a ...

for participation in

community services Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

involving

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

legal advice Legal advice is the giving of a professional or formal opinion regarding the substance or procedure of the law in relation to a particular factual situation. The provision of legal advice will often involve analyzing a set of facts and advising a p ...

Personal life

Olarinde is the mother of

Daddy Freeze Ifedayo Olarinde (born 6 May 1976), popularly known as Daddy Freeze, is a Nigerian -Romanian broadcaster and radio talk show host. Early life Ifedayo Olarinde was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to a Nigerian father and a Romanian mother. He spe ...

References

External links

Living people People from Oyo State Nigerian women lawyers Nigerian human rights activists Nigerian women academics Academic staff of the University of Ibadan Nigerian people of Romanian descent Nigerian women activists UNICEF people Nigerian officials of the United Nations Year of birth missing (living people) Yoruba lawyers {{Nigeria-academic-bio-stub

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links