Vale Grace Ogbemi, 1935-2025: tributes flow for trailblazing Nigerian lawyer

Making history as the first female lawyer from Nigeria’s midwestern region, after being called to the bar in both England and Nigeria in 1958, was merely one of countless achievements in the life of Grace Ogbemi, whose career blazed a trail for generations of female lawyers, say her family and supporters following her passing. 

Hundreds of tributes have flowed from the legal community and beyond, celebrating an extraordinary life and legacy, after Friday’s announcement that the trailblazing lawyer had passed away on 5 July, a few days before her 90th birthday.

Born on 11 July 1935 into the royal family of the Warri Kingdom, Grace was the granddaughter of Princess Alero Egbe and daughter of Chief Reece Edukugho, a successful businessman and politician, and Catherine Ajemigbitse Richards, a teacher. Her father was later an active participant in the London Constitutional Conferences throughout the 1950s that shaped Nigeria’s road to independence. 

“Her lineage and upbringing instilled in her a deep sense of duty, intellectual discipline, and public purpose that would shape the course of her life,” said her daughter Dr Anino Emuwa, a global thought leader on gender diversity in leadership, when sharing the news of her mother’s passing on social media.

Featured on the cover of Untold Histories of Nigerian Women: Emerging from the Margins, a 2023 book that showcased several change-making women who had shaped Nigeria’s history, Grace excelled at school. She reportedly won numerous prizes across many subjects, and was captain of her House in her final year at St Anne’s School, Ibadan, before travelling to the United Kingdom for university.

At a time when most men in Nigeria did not believe in higher education for girls, Grace’s father “had the foresight and belief in the value of education and development of women”, and encouraged her to study law. 

Actively involved in student affairs while in the UK, including serving as Secretary of The Nigerian Women’s League, Grace was called to the English bar in 1958 as a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. Later the same year she was enrolled as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and aged just 23 she established Ugbekoro Chambers in Warri, becoming the first female lawyer from the midwestern region (the present-day Delta and Edo States)

Prosecuting for the Crown as well as maintaining a flourishing private practice, her court appearances were reportedly quite a novelty, with crowds of people thronging the courts, especially women, to witness the appearances of the ‘women lawyer’. 

Following her marriage, Grace Ogbemi relocated to Lagos, working as a lawyer at Gerald Impey & Co, BP Nigeria, and then rising to become Managing Partner of Godfrey Amachree, Ogbemi & Co, one of the nation’s most respected firms.

She was a founding member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, and served on many multinational and public company boards, including becoming Chairman of Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc, as well as being a patron to numerous charities and community organisations. 

Grace Ogbemi was a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD) London. and a Distinguished Fellow and Life Member of the Institute of Directors Nigeria. She was honoured with a Distinguished Trailblazers Award by the Nigerian Bar Association. 

Since Grace’s passing, tributes have flowed from many of Nigeria’s most accomplished female leaders, with the likes of Senator Daisy Danjuma and former FIDA President, Chief Teresa Egbe-Ikimi describing Grace Ogbemi as a role model, mentor, and guiding light in their own successful professional journeys. 

“She was a passionate advocate for the rights of women and children,” says Dr Emuwa, the founder of 100 Women@Davos, and the African Women CEOs Network, who also noted her mother’s renown for her encyclopaedic knowledge of the law, meticulous attention to detail, and elegance of manner. “She will be remembered not only for what she achieved, but for how she lived - with elegance, loving kindness, unshakeable commitment to justice, service, and humanity.”