Mr. Agoro, Shuaheeb, Olabode, the last born of five, was born on the 3rd of August 1967 to the family of late Justice Idowu Olayimika Agoro, the first Solicitor General / Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Justice and retired Justice of the Court of Appeal (one of the four musketeers, others being Adeyemi-Bero, Howson Wright, and FCO Coker) and late Alhaja Ganiat Remilekun Agoro (Nee Shitta), a Retired Civil Servant and Nurse at the General Hospital, Lagos.
He began his education at Corona Primary School, Victoria Island and proceeded to St. Gregory’s College Lagos for his O and A Levels Education.
He gained admission into Lagos State University to study Political Science but later left for Park Lane College, Leeds, England to study for the Access Course in Law. He thereafter, gained admission to Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, England where he obtained his Bachelor of Law degree (Second Class Upper Division).
He thereafter, attended the Nigerian Law School and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1996. Between September 1998 – February 2000 he attended the University of Dundee, Scotland, Centre for Energy Petroleum Mineral Law and Policy to undertake an LL.M in Petroleum Law and Policy, where he obtained Second Class Upper Division degree and a Distinction in his Thesis titled “Expanding The Nigerian Upstream Oil Industry Through
Restructuring / Privatisation”.
In May 2002, Mr. Agoro passed the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test at the BPP Law School, England, United Kingdom and was thereupon admitted to practice
as a Solicitor in England and Wales. Between 2 July and 16 August 2006, he attended John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA for an Executive Education Course on Public Private Partnership: Infrastructure in a Market Economy.
Mr. Agoro also attended University of Oxford, England, United Kingdom, in November 2022 for
an Executive Education Certificate in Real Estate.
- Prior to joining the Public Service, Mr. Agoro had a stint in the Private Sector. He worked as a Solicitor & Barrister at F.O. Akinrele & Co. (SAN) Lagos, from 1996 to 1998 and then worked at Legal Technologies Limited, London, UK as a Para Legal Officer from March 2000 to August 2000 (after his LL.M studies). He later joined Denton Wilde Sapte (Solicitors) in the United Kingdom from August 2000 to July 2003 as an Energy Lawyer. In July 2003, Mr. Agoro joined the Lagos State Government as a Senior Special Assistant to the Governor (Lands). In
October 2003 he was elevated to head the Directorate of Land Services, Lands Bureau and was later absorbed into the Mainstream Civil Service in 2007 as Director (Administration) and redeployed to Lands Bureau as Director, Land Regularization, a position he held from 2007 to 2015 before his appointment as Permanent Secretary in August 2015. He served as Permanent Secretary Lands Bureau for eight years till his appointment as the 22nd Head of Service in September, 2024. - At Lands Bureau, he supervised the successful implementation of the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Project, as well as the ongoing Digitisation and Automation Program (The Aumentum Project) which involves the scanning, indexing, data authentication and digitisation of all property folders, files and records in the entire Lands Bureau. The end product of the Aumentum Project is the full automation of all land title application processes and procedures that will enable applications for title to be made online from anywhere in the world. He was
instrumental in the creation of the Directorate of Land Regularisation in 2007 and served as its
pioneer head. He was also part of the team that spearheaded the beginning of computerisation of the Lands Bureau in furtherance of the Electronic Certificates of Occupancy Project in 2012 under the able leadership of the then Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Mr. Hakeem MuriOkunola. - Member, International Bar Association (IBA); The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); The Law Society of England and Wales; The Institute of Petroleum, United Kingdom and Honourary Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers.
- Bode is an ardent lover of sports, particularly, football. He played active football for Stationery Stores FC of Lagos from 1986 to 1989. He also had a stint at Leeds United FC in the United Kingdom. He played for the Lagos State Football Academical’s Team, 1985-1986 and also played for the Lagos State Football team in the 1986 National Sports Festival. He also captained the famous St. Gregory’s College football team.
- Bode has some publications to his name. They are as follows: (i) Impediments to Expansion: Why Nigeria’s Upstream Oil Industry is not Growing, published in the Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law in February 2001; (ii) The Nigerian Oil Industry Privatisation Process: An Alternative, published in the International Energy Law and Taxation Review in September 2000; (iii) Nigeria’s LNG Project: Developments, Prospects and Challenges. Published in International Energy Law and Taxation Review, May 2001; (iv) How Feasible is Nigeria’s Policy of Increasing Petroleum Production. Published in the Centre for Energy Petroleum Mineral Law & Policy Annual Review Journal.
- A devout Muslim, he is happily married and blessed with children.
