Fabian Ikenna Ajogwu | |
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| Born | Fabian Ikenna Ajogwu 23 June 1970 |
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| Occupation(s) | Lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Author |
| Spouse | Audrey Ifeoma Ajogwu |
Fabian Ikenna Ajogwu, OFR, SAN (born June 1970), is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,[1] legal author, and governance advisor. He is Nigeria's first professor of corporate governance and holds a full professorship with the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, where he has taught continuously since 2000.[2][3]
Fabian Ikenna Ajogwu, OFR, SAN, FCArb was born on 23 June 1970, at the end of the Civil War, to Dr. Michael Ajogwu, SAN, and Mrs. Caroline Ajogwu. His father, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (K.C. Equivalent), served as the Attorney General of Enugu State; and his mother retired as a School Principal in Enugu. Ajogwu had his formative education at the University of Nigeria Primary School, St. Louis School, Kano, and Federal Government College, Kano. An Alumnus of the Lagos Business School and Said Business School of Oxford University, Professor Ajogwu holds a Ph.D. in Law (corporate governance) from the Taylor School of Law, University of Aberdeen, Scotland; an MBA from the IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona; and Law degrees from the University of Nigeria and the University of Lagos.
Ajogwu worked at Kenna Partners, a firm he founded on 28 May 1993, and took Silk at age 39. His contributions to legal jurisprudence include having the courts hold that divestment of oil and gas interests, being interests in natural and collective resources, required the consent of the minister of petroleum resources. He also advocated preserving the rights of persons to challenge inconsistent customs trade tariffs in court and had the court strike down the unfair and unconstitutional provisions of the Nigerian Customs & Excise Act.; and a reinforcement of the rights of the maritime regulator to detain ships for non-seaworthiness.[4][5] He has served as Honorary Counsel to the State of Israel in Nigeria and the Republic of South Africa in Nigeria.
In 2005, Ajogwu founded the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, a registered not-for-profit organisation committed to the development of corporate governance and ethical culture in Africa.[3] In 2015, he founded the AIFA Reading Society, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting reading culture, and the Society for Art Collection, with an emphasis on supporting the art and art collection. In 2021, he was elected President of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators and is a Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative West Africa; Henry Crown Global Leadership, Aspen Institute; and the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators.[6][7]
Ajogwu serves on the boards of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc (member of Standard Bank Group) and Guinness Nigeria Plc (Diageo) and was appointed by the Government of Nigeria to serve as the Distinguished Legal Author on the Council of Legal Education (Nigerian Law School) for two terms consecutively between 2010 and 2018.[8] He served as a member of the General Council of the Bar, responsible for the Nigeria Bar Association. He assisted the Securities & Exchange Commission in drafting Nigeria's pioneer Code of Corporate Governance in 2003; chaired the Nigerian Communications Commission Committee on the Corporate Governance Code for the telecommunications industry 2013; and served on the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria's Committee on the National Code of Corporate Governance, 2018.
Ajogwu served on the Governing Council of Pan-Atlantic University, chaired Leap Africa, NES Global, ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund (Nigeria's pioneer infrastructure fund), chairs Novare Malls Group, chaired the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria Continuing Legal Education Committee, and serves on the Body's Ethics Committee.[citation needed]