Foremost corporate and commercial law firm, Banwo & Ighodalo, has announced the admission of Mr. Olamide Oshikoya and Mr. Tunji Adeyemi to the firm’s partnership, with effect from October 1, 2024. Their elevation further enhances the firm’s capability to continually provide excellent legal services and consolidates its position as a market leader across its various practice areas. The admission of the two new partners expands the firm to a 17-man partnership.
Drawn from the Corporate, Securities & Finance (CSF) and Shipping, Aviation & International Trade (SAIT) Practice Groups respectively, Olamide and Tunji both exhibit what the firm proudly refers to as the ‘B&I DNA’, having joined the firm as young fledgling lawyers and grown over the years to leading positions in their respective teams, coordinating some of the firm’s complex, groundbreaking and multijurisdictional transactions, as well as intricate domestic and cross-border commercial arrangements. The firm is confident that their entry will enhance delivery of quality services and improve client satisfaction.
Olamide Oshikoya
Olamide was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2009 after completing his Bar Qualifying Exams at the Nigerian Law School. He immediately joined the firm in December 2009 for the one (1) year compulsory National Youth Service and was retained as a Junior Associate afterwards. He has since risen through the ranks to become a key member of the firm’s CSF Practice Group.
Olamide plays a key role in the firm’s corporate and commercial practice, and he has primary responsibility for leading the firm’s Real Estate team. He has garnered significant experience in his areas of practice, which include Corporate & Commercial Law, Real Estate and Infrastructure, Administration of Estates Law, Project Finance, and Immigration Law. Olamide has advised numerous local and foreign clients on various multimillion dollar flagship transactions, some of which are groundbreaking and “first of its kind” in Nigeria.
An intelligent and dynamic lawyer, Olamide comes with an LL.B from the Olabisi Onabanjo University (2008) and an LL.M from The University of Manchester, United Kingdom (2013). He is a member of the Real Estate Lawyers Association of Nigeria (RELAN), Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). He has consistently been ranked by several international legal directories, the latest being in 2023 as a “Rising Star” in Project Development by IFLR 1000 and in 2024 as a “Rising Star” in Real Estate and Construction by The Legal 500. He was described in the IFLR1000 Review to be “professional, personal touch, reliable, quick to provide solutions and very deep legal knowledge”.
He has written a number of articles including one on Real Estate Investment Trusts published by Lexology. As captain of the firm’s soccer team, Olamide loves to play and watch football in his spare time. He also loves to travel and spend time with his family.
Tunji Adeyemi
Tunji is an astute and seasoned transportation lawyer with expertise in a broad spectrum of shipping and aviation practice. He has advised on leading market transactions for more than a decade, resulting in the ranking of the firm as Tier 1 Shipping and Transport Firm in the Legal 500 EMEA rankings for more than six (6) consecutive years.
He has extensive experience advising on many market pioneering and defining shipping transactions and related matters, including two of the top three greenfield port development projects in Nigeria. He also advised on legal and regulatory issues arising from multiple charterparty contracts for the international shipment of equipment deployed in the multi-billion-dollar oil refinery recently commissioned in Nigeria, reputed to be the largest oil refinery in Africa and the biggest single-train refinery facility in the world. He was also part of the Team that advised the World Bank Group on trade policies in Nigeria, with specific focus on the distributional and revenue impacting implications of import restrictions, tariff increases, foreign exchange restrictions and border closures.
An accomplished legal expert and thought leader, Tunji has facilitated many seminars and workshops on the transport sector in Nigeria and in many countries of the world. Some of his professional affiliations, accolades, and experiences include: Dabelstein & Passehl Scholar, Germany 2012; Arnecke Sibeth Passehl Academic Reunion Program Germany 2019; International Trade Council Conference Washington, USA 2019; AIJA/International Bar Association Transport Law Commission Valencia, Spain, 2022; AIJA Transport Law Commission Athens, Greece 2023; and AIJA Half Year Conference Mexico 2024.
Called to the Nigerian Bar in 2008 after attending the Nigerian Law School for the Bar Qualifying Exams, Tunji graduated with an LLB (Bachelor of Laws) in 2007 and LLM (Master of Laws) in 2022, both from the University of Lagos. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), and the Nigerian Maritime Law Association (NMLA), among others.
A versatile and highly sought-after lawyer, Tunji joined the firm in October 2011 and is a pioneer member of the SAIT Team. He continues to advise leading local and international shipping companies, shipping lines, offshore service operators, P&I Clubs, insurance companies, commodity traders, airlines, financial institutions, government agencies and parastatals in the transport sector.
