LATE PROFESSOR S A. ADESANYA(SAN)
Late Professor Safiriyu Abiodun Adesanya (SAN) was an eminent lawyer, a Ph.D holder, a Barrister of the Inner Temple, a Professor of Law, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a Bencher and a member of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Acquiring his LLB degree in London in 1962 and a BL from the Inner Temple Inns of Court, he was called to the Bar in Trinity Term in 1965 qualifying top of his class of 2000 students.
Subsequently, he was appointed from London as an Assistant Lecturer in Law at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where he taught for 12 years.
In 1966, he was sponsored to the Queen's University of Belfast where he finished his PhD degree in 18 months under Sir Francis H Newark, Q.C and Professor W.L Twinning becoming an E.S Montgomery Scholar and Sir Thomas Dixon Scholar in the process.
In 1977, he left for the University of Lagos where he became an Associate Professor of Law. In 1979, he was appointed as Professor of Law and Head of the Department of public law. He gracefully and voluntarily retired from Law teaching in 1984 and became a full-time Legal Practitioner.
In 1993, he was made a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and subsequently became a Bencher and a member of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association. He was the author of many publications including law books, monographs, contributions to other books, and several articles in the learned Law Journals.
His legacy remains strong as exemplified by the exceptionally brilliant team of lawyers he mentored, and the numerous landmark cases he won in his lifetime.