NBA Mourns, Promises To Build On Nwabueze, Uwechue’s Legacies
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has pledged to uphold the legacies of two legal icons, Prof. Benjamin Obi Nwabueze (SAN) and Chief George Nwokocha-Ona Uwechue (SAN).
Both legal luminaries passed away on Sunday, October 29, 2023.
In a statement, president of NBA, Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau (SAN), expressed sadness over the demise of the senior lawyers.
The statement issued by NBA Publicity Secretary, Akorede Habeeb Lawal, described passage of Nwabueze and Uwechue as a great loss to the country and the legal profession in particular,
He noted that their immense values would be sorely missed as they did not only excel as lawyers but they were leaders of thoughts and actions in Nigeria.
The NBA, therefore, promised to play its part in “ensuring that the legacies of these two legal luminaries abide as guide to legal practitioners to acknowledge and live by the the famous statement by the first Nigerian lawyer, Chief Alexander Sapara Williams that ‘a lawyer lives for the direction of his people and the advancement of the cause of his country.’”
Maikyau urged families and friends to be consoled by the irrefutable fact that Prof. Nwabueze and Chief Uwechue lived fulfilled lives, and prayed the Almighty God to grant those they left behind, the strength to bear the irreparable losses.
Prof. Nwabueze was the first academic to be conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Until his death, he was the oldest member of the inner bar. Nwabueze was also an administrator, who served the country as Minister of Education and Youth Development.
On the other hand, Uwechue who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1966 and took the silk in 1993, was reputed as a gentleman of the Bar and an exemplary legal practitioner.
He was a life member of the distinguished Body of Benchers, who served as the Chairman of the Body between 2010 and 2011. He was also a two-term member of the House of Representatives.
