NBA President Badejo-Okusanya Mourns Late Professor Kasimu

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, has paid tribute to Professor Alfred Bamidele Kasimu, SAN, describing the late legal luminary as a great lawyer, distinguished teacher and elder of the Nigerian Bar.

Badejo-Okusanya stated this in a condolence message via her X handle on Saturday, September 5, after she joined the family, friends, colleagues and members of the legal profession to bid farewell to Kasimu.

She described the late professor as one of the “great patriarchs of the Nigerian legal profession”, noting that his contribution to the profession went beyond legal practice.

According to her, Kasimu belonged to “a rare generation of lawyers who did more than practise the law”, as they helped build institutions, shape traditions and establish professional standards for subsequent generations.

The NBA president said the death of Kasimu was particularly personal to her, recalling that his chambers provided her with her first vacation job as a law student.

“My very first vacation job as a student of Law was in the chambers of Professor Kasimu, SAN. It was one of my earliest encounters with the profession,” she said.

Badejo-Okusanya added that she remained grateful for the opportunity to learn from the late professor, whose influence, she said, extended beyond the cases he handled and offices he occupied.

She also described teaching and mentorship as part of Kasimu’s enduring legacy, saying, “There is a particular immortality that belongs to a great teacher.”

According to her, such teachers continue to live through the people they “taught, mentored, influenced and inspired”.

Badejo-Okusanya extended condolences, on behalf of the NBA and lawyers across Nigeria, to Kasimu’s children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and the entire Kasimu family.

“We mourn a great lawyer.

“We honour an extraordinary teacher.

“We salute a distinguished Senior Advocate.

“And we bid farewell to a true elder of the Nigerian Bar,” she said.