1st RepublicMinister of Justice (AGF)· 1960 — 1966; 1966 — 1972
Dr. Taslim Olawale Elias
First Nigerian Attorney-General. Chief Justice of Nigeria 1972–75. President of the ICJ 1982–85.
The record
Taslim Olawale Elias (1914–1991) was Nigeria's first indigenous Attorney-General and the first Nigerian to hold a chair in law (Manchester, 1960). He drafted substantial parts of the 1960 Independence Constitution.
Reappointed by Gen. Gowon after the 1966 coup, he served continuously until his elevation to Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1972. He was removed by the Murtala regime in 1975 in the purge that followed the July coup.
Elected to the International Court of Justice in 1976, he served as its President from 1982 to 1985 — the first African to hold that office. He died in Lagos on 14 August 1991.
Sources
- ICJ — Past Members (icj-cij.org)
- Elias, Nigeria: The Development of Its Laws and Constitution (Stevens, 1967)
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.