The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has narrated how Prince Bola Ajibola predicted that he would one day he would become the Attorney-General of the Federation, reports thegazellenews.com.
Thegazellenews.com reports further that the prediction became a reality in 2023 when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Fagbemi as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation.
Speaking at the post humous book presentation of the autobiography of the late eminent jurist titled “Tribulations and Trophies, Bola Ajibola ….In His Own Words! In Lagos on Thursday, 10 April, 2025, Fagbemi said he was revealing the prediction for the first time, which has come to pass in his life.
According to him, “I went with Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, to see him (Ajibola), and when he asked who I was, Aare Babalola answered saying he was my junior colleague. Then, Prince Ajibola turned to me and asked, “Young man, who are you? I looked back, and he said, “How many of you are here? I was able to muster the courage and tell him my name, and he said, “One day, you’ll become an Attorney-General.”
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the occasion and former President Olusegun Obasanjo revealed what transpired between him and Prince Bola Ajibola from the famous Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta till he breathed his last.
Chief Obasanjo held the audience spellbound as he chronicled all their past adventures.
He explained how one of their teachers told them to translate a yoruba adage called ” Orukutindi tindi” to no avail.
Drawing similarities between their lifestyle, Obasanjo said; “Bola Ajibola loved his people. He’s always striving for excellence. When I started farming, he, too, started one. When I started school, he also did the same. When I built a presidential library, he started one but came to me one day that since he has never been a president, he would not be able to name his ‘presidential library’.
Also speaking, former Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, who was a Special Assistant to Prince Ajibola at the International Court of Justice, Hague, said he was a man of integrity who says what he meant at all time.
Prof Osinbajo said his relationship thereafter with Prince Ajibola was like that of a father and son, adding that he really impacted his life.
Other speakers at the occasion, like former governors: Babatunde Raji Fashola, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Ibikunle Amosun, and Chief Olusegun Osoba paid glowing tribute to Prince Ajibola.
The book reviewer, Awwalu Yadudu, said the eminent jurist was a man of integrity.
Yadudu said, but for his non- compromise stance, some alterations would have been smuggled into the 2005 conference organised by Chief Obasanjo.
“He looked straight into the man who brought the alterations and said we can’t accept this, and that saved our committee from the backlash thereafter,” he narrated.
Other eminent personalities at the occasion were: Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu represented by Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin; Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun represented by his deputy, Engr Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele; Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke who was also represented; Olowu of Owu, HRM Oba Prof. Saka Adelola Matemilola, Oluyalo Otileta VII; former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof Ibrahim Gambari; former Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Senator Musiliu Olatunde Obanikoro; GAC members: Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Alhaji Mutiu Are; former House of Representatives member, Dr Samuel Babatunde Adejare; former Lagos Assembly members: Dr Oluyinka Ogundimu, Olumuyiwa Jimoh and Olajide Jimoh; Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission in Lagos State, Honourable Kamal Baiyewu; Presidential Spokesman, Bayo Onanuga; and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Adeniji Kazeem among others.
