Bayo Oyagbola’s Life in Law and Quest for Meaning
After more than four decades in law, Bayo Oyagbola has published his first poetry collection, exploring life, mortality and the search for meaning. Vanessa Obioha speaks with him about his literary journey.
Bayo Oyagbola, a lawyer with over four decades of experience, has published his first poetry collection titled "The Sky's Forgotten Prayer: Echoes of River, Drum and Heaven." Despite his successful legal career, Oyagbola's passion for the creative arts has remained consistent. He studied sciences throughout his secondary school education, but found the pure sciences less interesting than the abstractions of mathematics and physics.
However, his parents encouraged him to pursue a legal career, as it was a more practical path. Oyagbola obtained his law degrees from University College London and established Oyagbola Chambers in 1987. He has been involved in drafting laws for Ogun State, serving on the state's Judicial Service Commission, and lecturing internationally on copyright and confidential information.
In addition to his professional work, Oyagbola has continued to write poetry, which he draws inspiration from oral traditions, experiences, and encounters. His first poetry collection explores themes such as memory, mortality, spirituality, Yoruba culture, and the human search for meaning. Oyagbola believes that both legal drafting and poetry demand precision, an appreciation of language, and careful consideration of meaning.
His engagement with literature and culture has deepened his connection to Yoruba, as he taught himself to read the language after leaving school to better understand the 'Ifa corpus.' Oyagbola emphasizes the importance of preserving Yoruba cultural memory through performance and the spoken word, allowing these works to be communicated in the language of the present.
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