The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education, Barrister Tokunbo Wahab is a year older today.
Tokunbo Wahab is an astute barrister, a refined politician, and philanthropist who does not just give to the needy and helpless but also mentors several people on how to achieve financial freedom,
TW, as he’s fondly called in the social circle, is a strong advocate of equity and justice and a passionate believer in the dictum that everyone deserves equal opportunities regardless of class or strata which has led him to provide countless pro-bono legal services to the poor and underprivileged even as far back as his post-law school days.
A service he has faithfully prosecuted even to date and earned his firm a Lagos State recognition award presented by His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) during the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP) in April 2014.
Born on the 17th day of May 1972 to the family of late Mr. & Mrs. Olugbenga Wahab of the Otuwunmi Ateshinmara Royal Dynasty of Ketu in Epe Local Government area of Lagos State, Tokunbo learnt the basics of leadership from his late parents at a very young age.
His father Mr. Olugbenga Wahab popularly referred to, as Dodo was a well-known Community Leader in Ketu, Epe who died in 1998. His mother, Mrs. Muyi Wahab (Nee Sosanya Aberuagba) was a prominent Women Political Leader both in Epe and Sagamu. She was a dogged grassroots mobilizer (a positive trait that Tokunbo has grown up to emulate,) this she did tirelessly for the Late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola – MKO who was the Presidential Flagbearer under the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the June 12, 1993 elections. She died on the same day of the election, a few hours after casting her vote for MKO. From this point onwards, the mantle of home leadership fell upon Tokunbo and has hitherto since then nurtured and catered for his 6 younger siblings and his maternal grandmother (Mama Onipanla of Sagamu) who recently passed on to glory at the ripe age of 93 in July 2012.
A man of very humble beginnings, Tokunbo had his primary and secondary school education in Epe. He attended the Army High School Epe. Whilst in Secondary School, he represented the Epe Division in Debates even up to the State Level, and in his final year at the Army High School, Tokunbo was the Senior Prefect again demonstrating leadership at a tender young age. Tokunbo went on to study Mass Communications at the Ogun State Polytechnic and proceeded after concluding his Ordinary National Diploma (OND) to the University of Benin (Great UNIBEN) to Study Law. He is a graduate of Law from the University of Benin where he obtained an LL.B and was a Student Union Leader as well as President of the Law Students Association. In the heat of the June 12 Democracy Struggle, Tokunbo as the UNIBEN Student Union Leader-led numerous anti-military Government protests fighting to reclaim the MKO Abiola Hope-93 mandate. This brought him in a serious confrontation with the Abacha Military Government, was physically assaulted in April 1994, and was thrown into detention for weeks and months. This almost cost him his graduation from UNIBEN.
At the age of 48, Tokunbo Wahab, is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and the International Bar Association, he is also an Alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Wharton University of Pennsylvania.
A versatile and incisive legal practitioner, Tokunbo is a Partner at Wall and Ace where he anchors the Vision, Mission, and Values of the firm. He is a thorough breed lawyer with extensive experience crossing all borders of the Legal Practice.
Prior to envisioning Wall & Ace LP, Tokunbo has garnered wide experience, exposure and expertise handling high profile assignments across different sectors and industries, locally and globally both at Paul Usoro (SAN) & Co where he spent several practice years and Aluko & Oyebode, Lagos Nigeria (one of Nigeria’s leading law firms).
He was a member of the team that drafted the Nigerian Communications law and the Enforcement regulation. He was also a member of the Presidential Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) Strategic Action Plan committee for the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). He has handled the documentation and perfection of mortgages across Nigeria on behalf of several Commercial Banks. He has vast experience in the documentation and perfection of titles for numerous properties across Nigeria and has provided Legal Counsel to several clients on legal regulatory and contractual issues relating to telecommunications, litigation, mining, and real estate transactions.
Just like his mother, Tokunbo is an effective mobilizer of people and resources. A strong Grass root mobilizer, Tokunbo is a registered member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ward Q1 from the Lagos East Senatorial District. He leaves his footprints in the sands of time where ever he has been privileged to associate, from his Epe homestead to Alimosho (his residency constituency of many years) and now in Ikeja.
At Ketu, he has participated actively in his Gbobaniyi Age-Group since his teenage years and is currently the Grand Patron. He is an illustrious member of the Epe Club and a committed active member of the prominent F’s Club, Lagos. He is also an active member of the Lagos Country Club.
Tokunbo Wahab is a listener, a deep thinker, a role model, an ardent performer, a change agent who is passionate about any course he pioneers. He is a philanthropist who is committed to the course of the less privileged, thus has built and supported Orphanages providing scholarships to indigent children. An ardent believer in the Christian faith and God’s Covenanted promises, Tokunbo has single-handedly supported several missions and church building projects.
He is married to Oluwatosin (nee Eso) and are together blessed with two (2) lovely children, Omosijuade and Omofaderera.
