Corporate Lawyer and industry leader, Chief Christopher Oladipo Ogunbajo, has passed away at the age of 99. He was born in 1923 into the family of Reverend Canon Ajayi Ogunbanjo and Mama Christianah Towobola Ogunbanjo in Ijebu Ode and would have turned 100 in December.
Chief Ogunbanjo was well-known for his efforts in advancing and nurturing industrial ventures. During the late 1960s, he was part of a group of businessmen who supported local equity participation in foreign companies operating in Nigeria. He was also an early advocate for domiciliary accounts in Nigeria, which later became a reality with the enactment of the Foreign Currency Decree 18 of 1985.
His educational journey began at St. Phillips Primary School, Aiyetoro, Ile-Ife, followed by secondary education at Oduduwa College, Ife, in 1936. He later attended Igbobi College, where he successfully completed his Cambridge School Certificate Examination. In 1949, he obtained his Law degree from the University of London and was admitted to the Bar in Lincoln’s Inn in 1950. That same year, he became a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Chief Ogunbanjo initially worked briefly at the law firm of HO Davies before establishing his own private practice. His firm later expanded, with Samuel Ladoke Akintola and Michael Odesanya joining in 1952, and it became known as Samuel, Chris, and Michael Solicitors. However, the partnership dissolved in 1960, and his practice evolved into Chris Ogunbanjo & Co., specializing in corporate law.
He played a pioneering role in the American Chamber of Commerce, which was established in 1960, and served as its president from 1968 to 1970. In 1961, he joined the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was later named an honorary Life Vice-President of the Chamber in 1979. Chief Ogunbanjo also chaired the Centenary Foundation of the Chamber, a charitable initiative aimed at raising funds to support the development of commerce and industry in Nigeria.
Furthermore, he held the honorary Life Vice President title in the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and was a life Patron and merit Awardee of the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which he helped establish in 1977.
Chief Ogunbanjo was a significant shareholder in various Nigerian companies, including West African Batteries, Metal Box Toyo, Union Securities, 3M Nigeria, ABB Nigeria, Roche Nigeria, and Chemical and Allied Products Ltd.
He also served Nigeria in several public capacities, including as the first Chairman of the Nigerian Council for Management Education and Training, the first Chairman of the governing body of the Centre for Management Development, and as Chairman of the Study Group on Industrial Policy appointed by the Federal Government to examine industrial development in Nigeria in 1984. He also chaired the Consultative Assembly on the Review of Company Law in Nigeria.
In addition to his professional accomplishments, Chief Ogunbanjo held various traditional titles, including Asiwaju Ijebu-Imushin, Larinja of Egbaland, Baba Ijo of the Church of Epiphany in Eruwon, Ijebu Ode, and Bagbimo of Ilugun, Abeokuta. He received the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) award in 1982 and the Commander of the Niger (CON) award in 2001.
Chief Ogunbajo married Hilda Ladipo in 1953, who was the editor of AMBER, a women’s lifestyle magazine established in the 1960s.
