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Taslim Olawale Elias

Posted by Webby on 3/11/2001 6:44:20 AM


Taslim Olawale Elias

Professor Taslim Olawale Elias was the first African judge to be appointed president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He was a legal giant in Nigeria and the world, having been the longest-serving judge at the ICJ.

Born is 1914, he was a renowned academic, administrator, legal luminary and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (1972-75). He was vice president of the ICJ from 1979-82 and later became its president from 1982-83. He was a respected jurist worldwide and was member of several African and United Nations legal bodies.

Admired and respected for his authorship of a body of legal works, he taught law at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, where he was a professor and dean of faculty of law.

He became governor of the Institute of Oriental and African Studies, University of London from 1957-60.

He was awarded the NNOM in 1979.