Adebola O. Lema holds a Bachelor of Laws (L.LB) and a Master of Laws (L.LM) Degree from the Universities of Benin and Lagos respectively. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2003.
Adebola Olarotimi Lema was born in Okitipupa, Ondo State in 1973 to the family of Late Esrom Ogundeji Lema and Mrs. Omoyiwola Lema. He grew up in Okitipupa even though his ancestral home is the neighboring town of Ilutitun-Osooro. He was at St. Mary RCM Primary School, Okitipupa from 1979 to 1985. He proceeded to Methodist High School at Okitipupa and while he was in Class 2, the newly upgraded Unity Secondary School, Ode Aye commenced operation and our Adebola Lema and his classmates thus became the first set of students of the school and completed their secondary school in 1991 and obtained their West African Examination Council’s School Leaving Certificate (WAEC) in 1991
He was admitted to study Law at the great research University of Benin where he was from 1995 to the year 2000 when he obtained his L.LB degree on schedule. He and members of his graduating class of 2000 had to undertake the compulsory National Youth Service between the year 2001 and 2002 before proceeding to the Nigerian Law School later in 2002 as a result of the limited spaces at the Law School and the unavailability of forms in the year 2000 as a result of the backlog of Law graduates that were already waiting to attend the Law School the year before.
He served with Kazaure Local Government in Kazaure, Jigawa State and then proceeded to the Abuja Campus of the Nigerian Law School where he met the requisite requirements and having been found fit and proper in learning and in character, he was duly called to the Nigerian Bar by the Council of Legal Education and the Body of Benchers in a ceremony at the Abuja Headquarters of the Nigerian Law School in July, 2003.
In the latter part of the year 2003, he proceeded to the University of Lagos for his Master of Laws degree (L.LM). As usual he worked very hard and diligently at the task so that by the end of that academic session he obtained the prestigious L.LM degree of the revered University of Lagos.
He has since been in active legal practice. He joined T.B. Akinyeye & Co. in October, 2003 where he immersed himself in commercial law practice, advocacy, civil and commercial litigation both at the courts of first instance and the appellate courts. He rose to become head of chambers in 2004 and he remained in that position until he eventually left the firm in July 2006.
He has unalloyed flair for advocacy and this explains his elevation to the position of head of chambers in the firm of T.B. Akinyeye & Co. within one year of joining the firm. He has undertaken an extensive study and commentary on the Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 and has obtained favourable judgments in many landmark cases.
At T.B, Akinyeye & Co. he was exposed to a large tract of practice areas by his equally very experienced principal and a very senior member of the bar who was one time Secretary of the NBA, Lagos Branch, Chief Timothy Boluwaji Akinyeye whose varied practice included Maritime with wide experience in arrest of ships, release, and provision of bank guarantee, bond, Charterparties, Sales and Mortgage of Ships, and sundry maritime matters. He has wide experience in receivership matters having participated actively in the case involving the revocation of the appointment of the receiver/liquidator of Prudential Union Assurance Co Ltd by the National Insurance Commission. He has been involved in matters concerning IPWA Plc., Rida National Plastics Limited, Haffar Industrial Nigeria Limited, Agro- Allied Nigeria Limited, Skysat Nigeria Ltd, Prudential Union Assurance Company Limited, Regency (Overseas) Nigeria Limited, West Coast Fisheries Limited and many other Companies all ion his time with his erstwhile principal.
In the year 2006 he branched out with two of his friends, Stephen Onimisi Obajaja and Rotimi Edu, mni to start the Lagos Law Firm of Fountain Court Partners (FCP) when he was pioneer Managing Partner and he continues to manage the firm today. It is further credit to him that he continues to manage the array and of diverse clients of FCP (Nigerian and foreign) ranging from multinational companies, banks and financial institutions, insurance companies, communication and telecommunication companies, medical and health services companies and trading and manufacturing companies.
In his capacity as Managing Partner of FCP he has negotiated and settled commercial claims in and out of court and has in the process recovered vast sums of money for clients including Access Bank Plc, Sea Petroleum & Gas Limited, Linkage Assurance Plc, Quicklink Insurance Brokers Limited, the Korean National Insurance Corporation and many more. He did many of these at the Court of first instance, the Appellate Courts and the Apex Court in Abuja.
He was Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch from 2014 to 2015. He was a member of the critically acclaimed Technical Committee on Conference Planning of the NBA in 2017 led by the very Reverend, Professor Koyinsola Ajayi, SAN.he was and continues to be very active in the NBA whether in and out of office. He has been honored by the Okitipupa and Akure branches of the NBA for his service to the bar.
As the former Secretary of the Lagos Branch of the NBA, he appreciates the need for continuous learning about today’s fast-paced industries and about our world and it’s ever changing dynamics. He has been involved in efforts to congregate fellow colleagues of our noble profession of law on insight seeking programmes and events in the past, including as recently as 16th March, 2023 when he coordinated a well attended public lecture on reflections on the 45-year history of the Land Use Act and thoughts for better and more efficient land administration in Nigeria. The lecture was held in honour of Alhaji Femi Okunnu, SAN, CON’s 90th birthday under the Chairmanship of Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, CON, SAN, the immediate past Minister for Works and Housing and former Governor of Lagos State.
Similarly, on the 26th January, 2018, I organized a well attended mediation seminar in conjunction with the Lagos State Multi-Door Court House (LMDC) which was attended by over a hundred and fifty (150) lawyers. Also in 2018, he organized a public lecture to celebrate a nonagenarian and public spirited lawyer, Pa Tunji Gomez, at his 90th birthday. It was also well attended by several lawyers, just to mention a few of my previous efforts and track record in making efforts to deepen both professional and social impact insights within the esteemed legal community I proudly belong to.
He is reputed to have consistently interacted and contributed to the activities and growth of various professional layers within and outside the NBA, to wit; FIDA, and AWLA. His records of contributions and genuine interests are known not to be merely seasonal or linked to election periods as his consistency to Bar causes over the years have become self evident. He is also well known to support and participate in activities of diverse groups of lawyers whether within or outside of the NBA Lagos Branch. Such bodies include the Apapa Lawyers Forum, Surulere Lawyers Forum, Eti-Osa Lawyers Forum and so on. He maintains membership of the Egbe Amofin Ni Eko as well as a long time interaction and relationship with the Otu Oka Iwu (Body of lawyers of Igbo extraction) among many other layers of professional contributions and camaraderie he cultivates and nurtures across board, and to date.
Adebola O. Lema is committed to the good and growth of the profession and that informs his active participation at bar activities both at the branch and national level.
Adebola O. Lema firmly believes as President Theodore Roosevelt aptly puts it, “Everyman owes some of his time to the upbuilding of the profession to which he belongs.”
This is his creed and his charter, “to build this profession of ours” with abiding faith that it can be done.