Solomon Adun Asemota

Solomon Adun Asemota SAN (born December 8, 1938) is a Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist. He is the founder and principal partner of the law firm of Solomon Asemota & Co. He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 1986.

Early life and education
Solomon Adun Asemota was born on December 8, 1938, in Benin City, the capital of Edo State, Southern Nigeria. His early formal education began in 1945 at St. Luke School, Jos, before he completed his secondary school education in 1948 at Immaculate Conception College, Benin City. He attended Southern Police College, Ikeja, Lagos (1959–1960) (Cadet Sub-Inspectors’ Course) before going to Wakefield Police College, Yorkshire, England, in 1962 for Advanced Police Training and Scottish Police College, Kincardine, Scotland, in 1969 for Senior Officers Training in organisation and management.

He attended the University of Lagos between 1964 and 1969, where he obtained his Bachelor of Law (Honours) degree in 1969. In 1970, he was called to bar and became a barrister at Law after completing his studies at the Nigerian Law School.

Career
The Nigerian Police Force

He was enlisted in the Nigerian Police Force as a Cadet Sub-Inspector: (course no. 6) in 1959. After training, he was posted to Ikeja Province where he served first as a prosecutor at the Chief Magistrate's Court, Ikeja, in Chief Magistrate Mason Begho's Court. Later, he was a course officer at Man O’ War Bay in Victoria Cameroons, 1961. He then became a prosecutor, Chief Magistrate's Court Sapele in Chief Magistrates Olayinka Odumosu and Sikiru Abina Courts, as they then were, in 1961, before becoming Inspector, Administration, then Second-in-Command Traffic Division, and later Crime Branch at the Ikeja Provincial Police Department, also in 1961.

In 1962, he was promoted to the rank of an Assistant Superintendent of Police, and designated Chief Officer Local Government Police Ondo North (Comprising, Ekiti, Akoko, and Owo Divisions, which now constitute about half of Ondo State), where he performed duties of Divisional Police Officer, in charge of 800 L.S. policemen and 26 police stations. He was seconded (for 6 months in 1963) to the United Nations Operation (ONUC) in the Congo, now Zaire. He served in Leopoldville now Kinshasa, and later as Second-in-Command (Police) at Luluaburg now Katanga.

He became the Aide-de-Camp to the First Governor of the Midwest Region, Chief Jereton Mariere 1963 to 1964. Later, she left for the Southern Police College in Ikeja and became the Course Officer, cadet sub-inspector, and Sergeants promotion courses at the Advanced Training Wing. 1964–1966 One of his students, Ibrahim Coomassie later became the Inspector General of Police, while five others got to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGs).

He was the Second-in-Command 1966–1968 at the National Bureau of the Interpol, Central C.I.D. Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos, and was, at one time, the Investigator attached to Tribunals of Inquiry into E.C.N. and the Ports Authority. He was promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and was a member of the Nigeria Police Officers Delegation to the Interpol Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1967. He was later transferred to the Crime Division as second-in-command.

In 1969, he was promoted to the rank of Superintendent and was appointed Officer-in Charge, Detective Training School, Ikoyi, Lagos.

He resigned from the Nigeria Police Force in October 1970 to practice law.

Law

He was appointed Secretary to the Nigerian Bar Association, Benin Branch, 1974–1978. He became the National Treasurer of the Nigerian Bar Association. 1978–1980, then Secretary, Finance Committee, Sixth Commonwealth Law Conference, 1980. He was a member of the General Council of the Bar 1978 to 1984. He became a Visiting Lecturer for Courses in Civil Procedure at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in 1985.

Then he was a member of the Council of Legal Education 1979 to 1985. He became a Member, Disciplinary Committee, of the General Council of the Bar, 1990 to 1995 and a Member, Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee from 1991 to 1993 (the committee that confers the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria on Lawyers).

He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 1986.

At various points in his career, he represented Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd., Dumez Nigeria Ltd., Elf Oil Nig. Ltd., Bight Engineering Ltd., Life Flour Mill Ltd., Sapele, Nigeria Police Force, State Security Services, University of Benin, Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC).

He was also the personal lawyer of General Yakubu Gowon, whom he still represents to date. Other notable mentions include Hon. Anthony Aniagolu, retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, former President of Nigeria; Justice Ovie-Whiskey, 1983 Chairman, FEDECO; and Sunday Adewusi, former Inspector-General of Police at the Judicial Inquiry into the activities of the defunct FEDECO. Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, former Governor of Kano State, and Chief Jim Nwobodo former Governor of Anambra State, were released from prison in 1986.

He is the founder and principal partner of the law firm Solomon Asemota & Co. (since 1970), Barristers and Solicitors, with offices in Benin City, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja and London.

Recognition

 * Independence Medal, 1960
 * ONUC Medal (Congo), 1962
 * Republican Medal, 1963
 * Civil War Medal, 1970

Honours
 * Jubilee Alumnus Award, Law Faculty, University of Lagos, for outstanding achievement in society in 1987.
 * Distinguished Merit Award, Edo State University, Ekpoma 1996
 * CAN Merit Award, November 1999

Publications
of Nigeria at the meeting of the Representatives of the Laity, Archdiocese of Lagos at IWOPIN on Friday, July 14, 2006;
 * “Nigerian's Securities and Exchange Commission Act 1979” (In the International Business Lawyer, Journal of the Section on Business Law of the International Bar Association, October 1981, Vol. 9)
 * “Free and Fair Election: Key to stability of party government in Nigeria” 4 and 5 above are published in “Current State of Affairs,” an International Features Magazine, June and October 1992.
 * A Chapter in the Book: Policing Nigeria's Past, Present, and Future Policing under Civilian and Military Administrations 1993;
 * The struggle for Justice, 2001 publication;
 * Ojukwu and the Ethnic Nationalities Movement of Nigeria by Solomon Asemota, SAN, November 28, 2011
 * Constitutional Development Options for Sustainable Development in Nigeria, January 2017;