Lateef fagbemi biography of donald
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By Murtala Abdul-Rasheed ,SAN
By the time you are reading this piece, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN, will probably have been or about to be sworn-in as the 24th Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice of Nigeria. To somebody like me and certainly all those who are well-acquainted with his pedigree, the emergence of this iconic prince from Ijagbo town in Kwara State is a palpable demonstration of the mantra of putting a round peg in a round hole.
Like many other people in the current ministerial list, Lateef Fagbemi,SAN is somebody whose appointment as a minister of the Federal Republic cannot be faulted, both in terms of superlative qualifications he wields and the enviable personal attributes he possesses.
Born on June 22, 1956 in Ijagbo, Kwara State, Prince Fagbemi has made significant and indelible contributions to the development of legal profession through the expansion of frontiers of jurisprudence in Nigeria. The singular trajector
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I Never Wanted to be Anything Else Than a Lawyer
MR. LATEEF FAGBEMI, SAN (LAWYER)
Interviewed by Funke Olaode
What attracted you to the law profession?
I have never dreamt of studying any discipline outside law. From my childhood even before I got into secondary school my dream was to be a lawyer. The propelling force was my passion for argument. The urge was further strengthened because of availability of a magistrate court within the vicinity. As a student at Offa Grammar School in Offa, Kwara State, we used to sneak out to watch proceedings at the Magistrate Court.
At the time of your birth, what kind of work were your parents doing?
They didn’t have western education but their native intelligence was equal to none. They appreciated the value of education. It was their aim that all the children should be educated.
What factor shaped your life while growing up?
My parents, particularly my mother shaped my life to become the man I am today. We feared her more than
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It is said that hard work and success go hand in hand. Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) realised this early and imbibed the spirit of hardwork as the tonic needed to achieve whatever he wants to in life. Though the son of a king, Prince Fagbemi still considers himself as coming from a humble background. This classification must have set the tone for his determination to succeed and become a role model in the society.
Born to His Royal Highness, the late Oba Salawudeen Olagunju Adeyeye Fagbemi(Obembe II), the Onijagbo of Ijagbo, nära Offa, Kwara State on July 16, 1959, Prince Fagbemi attended University of Jos before being called to Bar. He thereafter joined Emmanuel Chambers of Aare Afe Babalola SAN in 1985 where he worked for 15 years. He was the Deputy Head of Chambers in 1996 when he attained the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) at the age of 37, the youngest Nigeria to attain the rank at the time.
To achieve his ambition of success, Fagbemi