Meet the 78-Year-Old Grandfather Who Just Became A Lawyer After Graduating From A University In Nigeria (Photo)

Adepoju fulfilled his dream by becoming a lawyer at the age of 78

A Nigerian grandfather has fulfilled his ambition to become a lawyer.

The 78-year-old fresh graduate of law from Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Chief Suleiman Adepoju is taking no prisoner as he said that he will be going for a master’s degree after finishing from law school.

The septuagenarian, in an interview with PUNCH, said the motivation behind his return to school at an old age to study law, was to contribute to society.

Adepoju noted that the courses he found most challenging were Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, Law of Evidence and Company Law, to mention a few.

He said, “I was lucky to be an adorable child, well loved by the generality of people in my immediate environment. l am happy to say with confidence that l enjoyed the goodwill of my parents. So also, l enjoyed the love of my peers. It is the same now by the grace of God.

“My parents were illiterate but they were very good parents, who cared for their children. Within the limit of their resources, they sent me to school. They cared for all of us when they were alive. That’s what I can say about them; may their souls rest in peace.

“My father had two wives and he had 11 children. I am number three. I have two women ahead of me and the others came after me.

“My childhood ambition as a child when I was in secondary school was to be a banker. And God gave me the grace to achieve it. When I left secondary school in 1962, I worked for two years at the National Bank of Nigeria; then I went abroad to study banking. When I came back, I joined Wema Bank in 1972.

“In 1990, I registered to read law at the University of Lagos with the backing of the then Dean of Law Faculty, who was later the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, the late Prof. Jelili Adebisi Omotola. I was then a director in the bank. My schedule of duty did not allow me to finish the law programme at the time; so, I suspended it. I retired in 1995 and then in 2016 I thought why did’t I go back to this programme?

“That was how I went back to read law at Lead City University. And to God be the glory, I met very good people, good lecturers and colleagues who were kind to me. I had a very good time in school.”

“I found Criminal Law a bit technical; because of my age, I am not planning to go into litigation, wearing gown and going to court. I’ll like to be a corporate lawyer. After I finish from law school, if God spares my life, I will go back to school to get a master’s degree in law,” he added.