Prominent Nigerians have continued to express their condolences to the family of Prince Bola Ajibola, who died yesterday at the age of 89 and was buried in Abeokuta in line with Islamic rites after Janazah prayer led by Chief Imam of Egbaland, Sheik Sa’dallah Bamgbola.
Ajibola was buried at the Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA) premises, which he set up on Abiola Way, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
He was president of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) 1984-1985, former High Commissioners to the United Kingdom, one time judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, and one time Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice between 1985 and 1991.
Among those who paid tributes to him were President Muhammadu Buhari, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, President-elect Bola Tinubu, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Others are: Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Senate President Ahmad Lawan; the chief mourner and governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun; Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and former Ogun State governor, Olusegun Osoba, amongst others.
Buhari, in a release issued by his media adviser, Femi Adesina, said that the outstanding lawyer and eminent jurist used his God-given knowledge, intellect, and talent to advocate for justice, fairness, and equity in all his undertakings within and outside Nigeria.
Babangida, in a statement he personally signed, said, “I feel a deep sense of pain on hearing the news of the sudden demise of our former Attorney-General, Prince Bola Ajibola: a great Nigerian, an unimpeachable patriot, a sound legal mind, humanist, and a quintessential legal luminary of global reputation. His death, no doubt, marked the end of an eventful career of an exceptional Nigerian, whose love for country was total.
President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also expressed his sadness over Ajibola’s demise, in an issued statement signed by Tunde Rahman. He sent his condolences to the family of the legal luminary and founder of Crescent University, Abeokuta.
The president-elect also acknowledged Ajibola’s important contributions to Nigeria’s political evolution and nation-building, legal profession, and international jurisprudence, saying, “The former Nigerian Minister of Justice and leader of the Bar was an eminent statesman and legal icon, whose contributions to national progress and development will be written in gold.
