Chris Ogunbanjo, Renowned Corporate Lawyer Dies At 99
Chief Christopher Oladipo Ogunbanjo, one of Nigeria’s pioneering corporate lawyers, has passed away at the age of 99.
Ogunbanjo, who would have turned 100 in December, died after an illustrious legal career spanning over 70 years. He was one of the early advocates for domiciliary accounts in Nigeria and supported local equity participation in foreign firms in the 1960s.
Chief Christopher Ogunbanjo served Nigeria in various public capacities. These include but are not limited to:
• The first Chairman of the Nigerian Council for Management Education and Training
• The first Chairman of the governing body of the Centre for Management Development
• The Chairman of the Study Group on Industrial Policy (set up by the Federal Government to examine industrial development in Nigeria in 1984).
• The Chairman of the Consultative Assembly on the Review of Company Law in Nigeria.
His traditional titles include: Asiwaju Ijebu-Imushin, Larinja of Egbaland, Bab Ijo, Church of Epiphany, Eruwon, Ijebu Ode, Bagbimo of Ilugun, Abeokuta, Olotu of Ijebuland. In 1982, He was conferred with the award of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Commander of the Niger (CON) in 2001.
Ogunbanjo was born to the family of Daniel Ajayi Ogunbanjo, a catechist from Erunwon, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State on December 12th, 1923.
His father was a Headmaster, a Deacon and later became a very prominent Pastor and Canon around the Old Western Region. His mother, the late Madam Towobola, hailed from a neighbouring village, Ijebu-Imushin.
He was educated at St Phillips Primary School, Aiyetoro, Ile-Ife before proceeding to Oduduwa College, Ife for his secondary education in 1936. Two years later, he transferred to Igbobi College in Lagos.
He began work in 1942 as a junior clerk in the Judicial Department in Enugu and was subsequently transferred to Port Harcourt. He left the civil service in 1946 to study law at the University of London.
He obtained a law degree in 1949 and was called to the bar in 1950. On his return from London, he worked briefly for the law firm of H.O. Davies before establishing his own private practice.
His firm added two more partners, Samuel Ladoke Akintola and Michael Odesanya in 1952 to become Samuel, Chris and Michael Solicitors. The partnership was dissolved in 1960 and his practice became Chris Ogunbanjo & Co.
The new practice specialized in corporate law and its one of the pacesetters in the building of platforms for many successful luminaries in Nigerian legal practice.
Within a few years of specialising in Corporate Law, he was spotted and appointed “Retainer-Solicitor” to the NIDB Project by the Federal Government and International Finance Corporation.
Ogunbanjo later became a significant shareholder in several leading Nigerian companies as his practice focused on corporate law. He mentored renowned lawyers like George Etomi, who paid tribute to Ogunbanjo’s generosity and sense of purpose.
President Bola Tinubu also mourned the Ijebu chief, describing him as a distinguished figure in Nigeria’s legal and business communities. He recounted Ogunbanjo’s philanthropic endeavours and advocacy for peaceful coexistence.
With several chieftaincy titles and national honours like OFR and OON, Ogunbanjo dedicated himself to community development and progress of humanity. He was 99 years old.
