Read more about Did you know?
While working at the Nigerian Railway, Elias became an external student of London University, and later he passed the intermediate examinations for the BA and LLB degrees. He left Nigeria for the United Kingdom in 1944 and was admitted to University College London. As this was during World War II, with London the target of frequent bomb attacks, he spent some time at Cambridge’s Trinity College. He graduated with a BA the year he entered University College London and two years later received the LLB. In 1947 he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple, where he was a Yarborough Anderson Scholar, and in the same year received his LLM degree. He continued his graduate education and became the first African to earn a Ph.D. in law from the University of London in 1949. In 1951, Elias was awarded a UNESCO Fellowship to undertake research into the legal, economic, and social problems of Africa. Later that year he had his first academic appointment, the Simon Senior Research Fellow at Manchester University. There he was an instructor in law and social anthropology. It was also in 1951 that he published his first book, Nigerian Land Law and Custom.
Professional life
Elias moved from Manchester to Oxford in 1954 when he became the Oppenheimer Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Nuffield College and Queen Elizabeth House. He continued his research into Nigerian law and published Groundwork of Nigerian Law in the same year. In 1956 he was a visiting professor of political science at the University of Delhi. He was instrumental in organizing courses in government, law, and social anthropology and in establishing the African Studies Department. Elias also lectured at the universities of Aligarh, Allahabad, Bombay, and Calcutta. In that year he also published two books, Makers of Nigerian Law and The Nature of African Customary Law.Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
He returned to London in 1957 and was appointed a Governor of the School of Oriental and African Studies. As the constitutional and legal adviser to the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (which later became the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens), he participated in the 1958 Nigerian Constitutional Conference in London. He was one of the architects of Nigeria’s independence constitution
Appointments and Reappointments
In 1960, Elias was invited to become Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. He served in this capacity through the whole of the first republic. Although later dismissed after the coup d’état in January 1966, he was reinstated in November of that year. In addition to contributing to Nigerian and African law, Elias had long been active in the field of international law. He was a member of the United Nations International Law Commission from 1961 to 1975, he served as General Rapporteur from 1965 to 1966 and was its chairman in 1970. He was the leader of the Nigerian delegations to the conference held to consider the Draft Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States in 1963 and to the Special Committee on the Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in 1964. He was a member of the United Nations Committee of Experts, which drafted the constitution of the Congo, 1961–1962. He also helped to draft the charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and its Protocol of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration. Elias also represented the OAU and Nigeria before the International Court of Justice in the proceedings concerning the status of Namibia. He was elected as an associate member of the Institut de Droit international in 1969. He was Chairman of the Committee of the Whole at the Vienna Conference on the Law of Treaties (1968–1969).Register to attend the Connect Nigeria Business Mixer
Later in 1966, Elias was re-appointed as Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice (a position he held while remaining Dean and Professor at the University of Lagos), until 1972, when he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He was ousted from this position by a military regime that took power in Nigeria at the end of July 1975. A few months later (in October 1975), he was elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations to the International Court of Justice at The Hague. In 1979, he was elected Vice-President by his colleagues on that Court. In 1981, after the death of Sir Humphrey Waldock, the President of the Court, he took over as Acting President. In 1982, the members of the Court elected him President of the Court. He thus became the first African jurist to hold that honour. Five years later, Elias was also appointed to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.
Outstanding Scholarship
In 1966, Elias was appointed Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Lagos. Four years earlier he had received the LLD degree from the University of London for his work on African law and British colonial law. (He would go on to receive a total of 17 honorary doctorate degrees from various universities around the world). He was one of the inaugural recipients of the Nigerian National Merit Award in 1979. Several of his works on various legal subjects were standard reading in Africa in law schools of the former British colonies. He was also a scholar who modernized and extensively revised the laws of Nigeria.Death
Elias died on 14 August 1991, in Lagos, Nigeria.Reference
lawin.org cambridge.org innertemple.org.uk Wikipedia Featured Image Source: Independent Newspaper NigeriaGot a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com
You might also like:
- Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove – A Living Connection to Ancient Traditions
- Did You Know? – That King David was a Skillful Musician with 4,000 Music Ministers
- Did You Know? – That the Phrase “When Praises Go Up, Blessings Come Down” is not a direct quote from the Bible
- Kelechi Ndukwe Makes History as the First Nigerian to Become US Navy Captain
Hello to all, the contents present at this web page are actually amazing for people
experience, well, keep up the good work fellows.
Hi there to all, the contents existing at this website are genuinely remarkable for people experience, well, keep up the good work fellows.
Fine way of explaining, and fastidious paragraph to take information about my presentation focus, which i am going to deliver in college.
Wonderful blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.
Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Many thanks
Today, while I was at work, my sister stole my iphone
and tested to see if it can survive a forty foot drop,
just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views.
I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Hey there just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the
pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same outcome.
Pretty component of content. I just stumbled upon your site and
in accession capital to claim that I acquire in fact enjoyed account your weblog posts.
Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access persistently
rapidly.
Greate post. Keep writing such kind of info on your site.
Im really impressed by it.
Hello there, You have performed a great job. I’ll certainly digg it and for
my part suggest to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be
benefited from this web site.
Paragraph writing is also a fun, if you know afterward you can write if not it is complex to write.
Feel free to visit my homepage – tracfone special
Can I simply say what a relief to uncover an individual
who actually knows what they are talking about online.
You definitely realize how to bring an issue to light and
make it important. More people should read this and understand this side of
the story. I was surprised you are not more popular given that you certainly have the gift.
Also visit my page tracfone coupon
Hello There. I found your blog the use of msn. This is an extremely neatly written article. I?ll make sure to bookmark it and return to learn more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I?ll certainly return.
This site can be a stroll-by way of for all of the info you wished about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and also you’ll definitely uncover it.
local females online dating personals free dating
sites women interracial dating site