In 1959 the Western Region Premier Chief Obafemi Awolowo awarded him a scholarship to travel to England to study for a law degree under a plan drafted by Chief F.R.A. Williams.
He began his career teaching law at the University of Lagos, holding this position until retiring to go into private practice in September 1976.[4]
Later career
In 1971 Adegbite was appointed Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Matters in the old Western Region of Nigeria during the military administration of Brigadier Christopher Oluwole Rotimi.
He was then appointed Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the Western Region in 1973.[2]
In October 1976 he founded the legal firm of Lateef Adegbite & Co as the Principal Partner, with main office in Lagos and a branch office in Abeokuta, specialising in Commercial and Corporate Law.[4]
The Abeokuta office is in Ago-Oba.[5]
He was one of the founders of the Abeokuta Social Club in 1972.[6]
On 9 March 2011 President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him Chairman of a Presidential Committee on Public Awareness on Security and Civic Responsibilities.[8]
Dr Lateef Adegbite was a brother of the late famous, renowned historian Professor Saburi Biobaku (1918–2001), a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos.[9]
Muslim leader
At the constituent assembly in 1976, Adegbite argued in favour of introducing Islamic courts of appeal into the southern states of Nigeria, arguing that Muslims had the right to have their affairs judged according to Sharia law.[10]
He has stated "Muslims have no other constitution and law apart from what Sharia had laid down. Sharia as a divine law supersedes all other civil and moral laws".[11] He was to support efforts by M.K.O. Abiola to introduce Sharia to the southern states in the early 1990s.[12]
He reasserted this position in December 2002 during a period of heightened tension between Christians and Muslims.[13] Adegbite was chairman of the Ogun State Pilgrims Board and a member of the National Pilgrims Board.[3] When Ibrahim Dasuki became Sultan of Sokoto in 1988 and President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Adegbite was appointed Secretary-General of the council.[2] Under the leadership of Adegbite and Dasuki the NSCIA, which had been established in 1974, became much more active.[14]
In late 2002 and early 2003, Adegbite was engaged in a public dispute with the Nobel Prize–winning author Wole Soyinka, who accused Muslim leaders of inciting violence after rioting in Kaduna had led to many people being killed. The origin was opposition by Muslims to staging the Miss World beauty contest in Nigeria.
The riots were triggered by what were taken to be blasphemous statements by a Christian newspaper reporter, Isioma Daniel, who wrote that if the Prophet had attended the event he might have picked one of the contestants as a wife.[15]
Later the deputy governor of Zamfara State, Mamauda Aliyu Shinkafi, was reported to have said in a public speech that it might be lawful for a Muslim to shed the blood of Isioma Daniel. Adegbite immediately rejected this position, since the journalist was not Muslim and the newspaper had apologised publicly.[16]
Adegbite stated in an October 2003 newspaper article that "the US and their allies should be persuaded to accept that the prevailing international terror would reduce considerably if justice is entrenched in the Middle East. Give the Palestinians back their land, there will no longer [be] platforms for the Osama bin Ladens of this world to thrive. Without justice there can be no peace".[3]
When UNESCO arranged a conference on inter-religious dialogue in Abuja in December 2003, Adegbite was invited to speak on The role of religious leaders in conflict resolution.[17]
Death
Dr Adegbite died in Lagos on 28, September 2012.[1][18]
^ abcdPaden, John N. (2005). "Abdu-Lateef Oladimeji Adegbite". Muslim civic cultures and conflict resolution: the challenge of democratic federalism in Nigeria. Brookings Institution Press. pp. 65, 249. ISBN0-8157-6817-6.
