Babalakin, Rhodes-Vivour celebrate Adaralegbe’s SAN elevation

Former Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma; former Supreme Court Justice, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour (retd.); and senior lawyer, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), have celebrated Prof. Bayo Adaralegbe following his elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and his 64th birthday.

The celebration, held at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday, brought together prominent figures from the legal, political, academic and corporate sectors as well as family members to honour Adaralegbe’s contributions to legal practice, scholarship and mentorship.

Also at the event were Justice Lateefah Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court, and Justice Yinka Adeniyi of the National Industrial Court, Abuja, colleagues from his law firm, NineWells Law Practice; Seplat executive, Mr Larry Ettah; MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Mr Karl Toriola; Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Segun Aina, amongst others.

The chairman of the occasion, Justice Rhodes-Vivour (retd.), congratulated Adaralegbe on his elevation, describing the achievement as the product of hard work and God’s grace.

The retired Supreme Court Justice recalled their professional relationship dating back to Adaralegbe’s days at Wale Babalakin & Co., when he was a judge of the Lagos State High Court.

He said they had been involved in several legal battles but described their encounters as friendly, expressing delight at the celebrant’s rise in the legal profession.

“I knew when he started, and I think he also knew when I started. He started at that great law firm, Wale Babalakin & Co., while I was a High Court judge in Lagos. So we had many battles together. But they were friendly battles,” he said.

Rhodes-Vivour also expressed surprise at the extent of Adaralegbe’s involvement in academia, saying he had not realised when the lawyer ventured into academic pursuits.

“I never knew when he veered into academics. I always thought it was one for making money, because that’s what I always thought, but this going into academics, it sort of set me back a bit,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Babalakin, who employed Adaralegbe in 1991, described him as a dependable lawyer, outstanding scholar and remarkable advocate, recalling his transformation from a shy young associate into an accomplished legal practitioner.

He said he had witnessed the different stages of Adaralegbe’s professional development during their 34 years together, expressing pride in his achievements.

“This is a day that I’m very proud of, especially when I reflect on this young man walking into our firm in 1991, very, very shy, very, very unsure, but very determined.

“And to see him grow to become an outstanding scholar and also a remarkable advocate. I saw all the stages of this evolution, and I’m proud of what he has achieved,” Babalakin said.

He described the celebrant as a reliable professional who gave his best to every assignment entrusted to him.

“Bayo is reliable. You can trust him. When you give him an assignment, he will commit his entire quality and rigour to the assignment,” he said.

Babalakin also recalled some of their experiences handling major legal and commercial disputes, sharing a humorous account of an assignment involving a prominent Nigerian businessman and his estranged wife.

According to him, Adaralegbe was once asked to deliver a letter requesting that the woman vacate a property, but the encounter took an unexpected turn when she confronted him and insisted that even the businessman’s mother could not reclaim the property.

He recalled that the woman told Adaralegbe she would have dealt with him but for her belief that Babalakin was a good man.

The senior lawyer said the incident later revealed that their client was himself afraid of the woman and had given the firm an assignment he knew would be difficult to execute.

Reflecting on their long professional relationship, Babalakin wished Adaralegbe success as he continued his career independently, expressing confidence in his ability to build a successful practice.

“Bayo and I spent 34 years together. That’s a lifetime. All I can do is to wish him the best as he forays into the outside world, where he has to be totally accountable for everything he does, and there’s nobody to pass the buck to.

“But I have no doubt that he will make a success of it. I have no doubt that he has the determination to make a success of it,” he said.

He disclosed that Adaralegbe was the 10th or 11th Senior Advocate to emerge from Babalakin & Co., expressing hope that more lawyers from the firm would attain the prestigious rank.

In her remarks, the celebrant’s wife, Eleanor, expressed gratitude to guests for attending despite their demanding schedules and the heavy traffic in Lagos.

She said the gathering was not merely about celebrating her husband’s elevation to the rank of SAN but also about recognising God’s faithfulness throughout his professional journey.

“It’s nice to say ‘Learned Silk, sir,’ ‘SAN, sir.’ That’s not all we’re celebrating. We’re mostly celebrating God’s faithfulness. It’s been a journey of faith, a journey of sacrifice, a journey of loyalty, a journey of immense and intense service,” she said.

She also thanked friends and associates who travelled from different locations to celebrate with the family, describing their presence as a demonstration of love and support.

The celebrant, Adaralegbe, expressed gratitude to God and everyone who attended, describing the occasion as a double celebration of his birthday and conferment with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

He said the two milestones were particularly significant to him, adding that the gathering marked the first time he had deliberately organised a celebration for his birthday.

“As we all know, today, I celebrate two in one, my birthday and the conferment of SAN on me. For those two milestones, I’m very grateful to God,” he said.

He added that previous family celebrations had largely centred on his daughter’s wedding, but he felt the need to mark his own milestone.

His daughter, Ifeoluwa Oduntan, also paid tribute to him, describing him as a present and attentive father who consistently made time for his children despite his demanding professional engagements.

She said one of the qualities she admired most about him was his ability to give undivided attention to people and things that mattered to him.

Recalling her childhood, Oduntan said her father often returned home late but ensured that he spent quality time with her and her sister, particularly at weekends.

“There are some times when he would come home late at night and, on many occasions, he would only have maybe the weekend to spend time with my sister and me. He would spend hours telling us stories. There are some times he would even get on all fours, and we would play,” she said.

She also praised his commitment to mentoring young people, recalling how he reviewed her academic essays while she was studying law at university, offering detailed corrections and suggestions before submission.

Oduntan said her father examined her work from the introduction to the conclusion and discussed his observations with her over the telephone.

She described it as an honour to be associated with him, expressing gratitude to God for his life and achievements.

Amanda Opara, managing associate at NineWells Law Practice, in her goodwill message described Adaralegbe as a courageous, visionary and purposeful leader whose determination had inspired younger lawyers at the firm.

She praised his decision to establish an independent law practice after spending 34 years and five months at Babalakin & Co., describing the move as particularly courageous.

“What I can testify is that Prof is very brave, very intentional, very dogged, and Prof is really a visionary,” Opara said.

She explained that his leadership had encouraged members of the firm to pursue opportunities beyond their perceived limitations, recalling how he persuaded the team to pursue an engagement they initially considered beyond the capacity of a relatively young practice.

According to her, the firm eventually secured the opportunity, reinforcing Adaralegbe’s belief that lawyers should not allow perceived limitations to discourage them from pursuing challenging assignments.

She said his philosophy could be summed up as “go big or go home,” adding that even when an anticipated outcome was not achieved, the effort often opened doors to other opportunities.

Opara described the SAN conferment as a recognition of Adaralegbe’s professional discipline and commitment, saying it should be regarded as the beginning of another chapter rather than the culmination of his career.

She said NineWells Law Practice, which began operations in February 2026, was a multidisciplinary firm with interests in energy and extractive industries, foreign investment, financial services, capital markets, corporate and commercial law, technology and dispute resolution.

Adaralegbe’s elevation to the SAN rank on October 12, 2026, marked another milestone in a career spanning legal practice, academic research, teaching and arbitration.

He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1988 after studying law at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and attending the Nigerian Law School.

He joined Babalakin & Co. in 1991, became a partner in 2000 and later obtained an LLM degree with distinction from the University of Dundee, United Kingdom, in 2001.

He subsequently earned a PhD focusing on investor-state treaty arbitration.

He is an adjunct professor at the Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law, University of Ibadan, and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom.

He is the lead partner at NineWells Law Practice, which has offices in Lagos and Abuja.