Olumuyiwa Jibowu

Sir Olumuyiwa Jibowu, Kt (26 August 1899 – 1 June 1959) was a Nigerian jurist who was the first African to serve on the Supreme Court of Nigeria.[1] The first African police magistrate, the first Nigerian High court judge, a pioneer of the Nigerian Judiciary and one-time Chief Justice of Western Region, Nigeria. Jibowu was also a judge of the West African Court of Appeal.[2]

Olumuyiwa Jibowu
Born26 August 1899
Abeokuta
Died1 June 1959
Ibadan
EducationAbeokuta Grammar School and Oxford University
OccupationJurist
Spouse(s)Celia Jibowu (née Alakija) deceased; Deborah, Lady Jibowu-MBE
Children7
Parent(s)Samuel Alexander Adebowale Jibowu (first Secretary Egba United Govt) and Mary Elizabeth Jibowu [née Pearce]

Life and career

Samuel Olumuyiwa Jibowu was the first surviving male child of Samuel Alexander Adebowale Jibowu and Mary Elizabeth Jibowu [née Pearce]. He was also a nephew-in-law to Adeyemo Alakija. He was born on August 26, 1899. He attended Abeokuta Grammar School and taught at the school prior to attending college. In 1919, he left Nigeria for London where he attended Oxford University, England and earned a degree in Civil Law. He was called to the bar in 1923 at Middle Temple, London. By 1931, he was a police magistrate, the first African to hold such a position during the time colonial authorities doubted the integrity of Africans. In 1942, he was appointed as a Judge of the High Court. He later became a puisne Judge at the High Court in Benin city and in 1957, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Lagos High Courts and the Southern Cameroons.[3] He was the only black magistrate in Nigeria before 1934 and was respected for his sterling principles.

In March 1958, he succeeded Adetokunbo Ademola as the Chief Justice of the Western region. Jibowu was highly regarded and among those present at his funeral service included: James Wilson Robertson Kofo Abayomi, John Rankine, Akintola and Supreme Court Justices.

Commission of Enquiry

In 1956, Jibowu was appointed to head an enquiry into the management of the Cocoa Purchasing Company, a semi-governmental company formed to compete against expatriate firms and to act as an agency for loan disbursement. The report of the commission detailed instances of corrupt practices by officials of the company. The company was used a conduit of patronage benefiting allies of company officials and for[4] the furtherance of the political activities of its leaders.[5] The critical report led partly to the abolishment of a loan scheme that was open to cocoa farmers.

References
  1. "Past Justices of the Supreme Court."
  2. West African Court of Appeal. (1933). Selected judgments of the West African Court of Appeal. Accra: Govt. Print. Dept.
  3. Adewale Thompson. Reminiscences at the Bar, Bookcraft Publishers 1991. ISBN 978-2659-66-5
  4. Kathryn Firmin-Sellers. The Transformation of Property Rights in the Gold Coast: an empirical analysis applying rational ...Cambridge University Press, 1996. p 136 ISBN 0-521-55503-5.
  5. Jonathan H. Frimpong-Ansah. The Vampire State in Africa: The Political Economy of Decline in Ghana, Africa World Press, 1992. p 86. ISBN 0-86543-279-1
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