Rt. Hon. Sir
Adetokunbo Ademola
GCON, KBE, KT, CFR, PC, MA (Cantab), LLB, (Hon)
Sir Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola, GCON, KBE, PC, SAN (1th Feburary 1906 - 29 January, 1993), the second Olori Oluwo was a Nigeria jurist who was the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1958 to 1972. He was appointedc as Chief Justice on Apirl 1, 1958, replacing Sir Stafford Foster Sutton who was retiring. Ademola was a son of Oba Sir Ladapo Ademola II, the Alake of the Egba clan of Nigeria. He was the first chancellor of the University of Benin.
He was educated at King's College, Lagos and Selwyn College, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He became a Lawyer in 1934 at the age of 28, In 1939, he became the first African Resident Magistrate in Nigeria
He became a judge in 1949 and later became the Chief Judge of Western Region of Nigeria in 1955 during the colonial era. He was the co-founder of the Nigeria law School. He was the first African or Nigerian to become the Chief Justice of Nigeria before the Independence of Nigeria in 1958 and remain in that position until 1972 The following are among the high national and international positions he held:
Chancellor University of Nigeria, Nzukka (between 1976 and 1993), Chairman, Federal Census Board (between 1972 and 1975): Chairman, Nigeria Red Cross Member International Commission of Jurists, Member. British Privy Council: Member International Olympic Comittee.
The late Sir Ademola was initiated into the ROF at the palace of his late father Sir Ladapo Ademola II, the Alake of Abeokuta in Abeokuta in 1934 at the age of 28 by the founder late Venerable Archdeacon Reverend T. A.J. Ogunbıyı CBE.LTH the first Apena. In 1940, at the age of 34 he became an Oluwo in Warn. He later rose within the fraternity to become the Olon Oluwo at the age of 47 in 1953. He died on 29 January 1993 few days before his 87th birthday having served the R.O.F as an Olon Oluwo for 40 vears.
Olori Ademola was a prince of the Yoruba people, and thus often made use of the pre- nominal honorific Omoba. He was first knighted in January 1957, and then in 1963 appointed a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom (PC) as well a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE),all by Queen Elizabeth II during the time Nigeria was a British protectorate and later a Commonwealth realm. By serving as Chief Justice of Nigeria, Adetokunbo was awarded as Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) by the Federal Government of the Republic of Nigeria.
Adetokunbo was also a Member of the United Nations International Public Service Advisory Board; Member of the International Commission of Jurists, Executive Member of Word Peace through Law, Vice President of the World Association of Jurists, President of the Nigerian Red Cross Association
Chairman of Nigeria Cheshire homes, Member of the International Olympic Committee, Member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.
In addition to all of this, he was both one of the founders and eventual chairman of the Metropolitan Club, a founding member of the Island Club, and vice patron of the Yoruba Club. He married the former Miss Kofo Moore, who obtained a BA at Oxford and who was a daughter of the late Erie Moore, firs t Lagos Member of the United Nations committee of experts advising on labor conventions and regulations. They had five children.