Onoriode Reginald Aziza was born in Warri, Delta State of Nigeria. The last child of a retired Civil Servant father, and University Professor mother. He had his secondary education at the Kings College, Lagos. He then proceeded to study Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife at the tender age of 15.
His studying law was not Premeditated rather a decision made incidentally. In his words at several interviews:
"To be frank, my decision to study law was an act of rebellion against my Dad. My early goal was to be a neurosurgeon. I flirted with the idea for a number of years until I was 12 when I took my JSCE examinations. The grades came out exceptionally well, and my Dad told me he wanted me in medicine and went on to name the subjects I will take in my SSCE examinations. The rebel in me sprang up and I resisted (although it was what I wanted). It appeared that the thought of someone naming my subjects for me irked me because if given the choice myself, I would have picked the exact courses my Dad selected! I still remember the exact words I used in my declaration of rebellion: ‘In fact, I want to study law."
He then went on to graduate as the best graduating student with at First Class degree at the Faculty of Law, OAU in 2012.
He also obtained a First Class at the Nigerian Law School, Yenagoa in 2013 and received the Mohammed Bello Prize for the second best graduating student amongst all the students in the Nigerian Law Campus in Nigeria. After his Youth service program he was selected amongst 23 students in the world to participate in the Masters of Corporate Law Program in the University of Cambridge. While in Cambridge, he obtained his third First Class degree and was awarded the prestigious Jennings Prize for a starred First Class in a Cambridge law examination.
He has over 25 academic awards.
He is currently undergoing his DPhil in African Securities Law at the University of Oxford which he is expected to finish by 2021.
He currently serves as an attorney at Chevron Nigeria Limited and has worked in Olaniwun Ajayi LP in Lagos, the London office of Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and the Paris office of Shearman and Sterling LLP.
He doesn't believe himself a genius as he once said in an interview,
"...As I have said and will always say, I am no genius and I certainly do not consider myself as naturally gifted or smart. I believe I have only been thirstier than most in pursuing excellence. I believe, as did Aristotle, that excellence is not an act but a habit. The pursuit of this habit of excellence has thus been my driving force.”
As a way of giving back to the society and also “an impactful way to shape the Nigerian society by grooming the next generation of thought-leaders in the legal profession” he commenced a scholarship award named Reginald Aziza Leadership in Law Scholarship Award in October 2017 toll date.
Indeed, Nigeria does have great people
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