by crossriverwatch admin
On Saturday 22nd of February, 2013, the body of a gentleman, legal luminary and a pioneer in many respects, Justice Emmanuel Takon Ndoma Egba (OFR) would in Akparabong , Ikom in central Cross River State be laid to rest even as his spirit lives on.
Born on the 28th of August, 1928 in Akparabong, Ikom Local Government Area to Chief Ndoma –Egba, a prominent farmer and entrepreneur and his wife, Madam Ekori Obasse, Justice Ndoma Egba rose from his humble rural descent to ascend the pinnacle of the legal career by serving as judge in the High Court and in the Appeal Court of Nigeria.
Honorable Justice Emmanuel Takon Ndoma Egba (OFR) started his educational career at the Church of Scotland Mission Ikom in 1933 and passed the Standard Six in 1941 and was immediately employed as a Young Pupil Teacher the following year (1942) and served for three years where he earned the nickname, “Teacher Takon”.
After a brief stint as a teacher, in 1945 he proceeded to New Bethel College in Onitsha for his commercial and secondary school education which he completed in 1949. An invaluable period of his life which consolidated his relationship with the Igbo of Eastern Nigeria which several years later culminated in one of his sons, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba marrying Amaka from the city of Onitsha.
This educational acquisition also fortified him for the job of Correspondence Clerk in the Ikom Native Authority where he was employed after his education and soon rose to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Authority but soon returned to his first love, teaching until 1954. From teaching he was seconded to the Board of Internal Revenue, Ikom as its first staff from there he was selected Special Constabular at the Reception for the Queen of England in Enugu in 1956. He resigned in September that same year to seek for the proverbial Golden Fleece in England.
He registered at the famous Regent Street Polytechnic (now known as the city of London University) where he studied from 1956 to 1959 and obtained a B.SC in Economics. He then proceeded to Holborn College of Law where he obtained the LLB and was called to the Bar at the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple in November 1961 and promptly returned to Nigeria and enrolled as a Barrister at Law and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on 21st December, 1961.
He set up his law office in Enugu, the then capital of Eastern Nigeria under the name “Ogoja-Ejagham Chambers” which soon became busy following his brilliant performance in court. He traversed the length and breadth of Eastern and northern parts of Nigeria including the Cameroon and was fully established as a court room man.
After the Nigerian civil war, he relocated to Ogoja before moving to Ikom, his place of ancestry which had become a hub for business and growing metropolis where he continued to champion the cause of the poor, the down trodden and his “Ogoja-Ejagham” people and urging them to exert themselves to the limits of their endowments and subsequently inspired a whole new generation.
He held such positions as the Leader of the Bar in the Northern Divisions of the then South Eastern States, Member of the National Executive Committee of the Nigeria Bar Association, (1971-1974), a member of the Nigeria Bar Council, member of the Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association,, Vice Chairman of the Legal Aid Council, Member High Court Rules Committee under the chairmanship of Sir Damley Alexander who soon became the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Member of the Interim Judicial Commission of the ten south Eastern State. He served as a member of the Nigeria- Biafra Peace Committee to Addis-Ababa on the Biafra side.
He was also a member of the Investigative Committee into the Affairs of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital under the chairmanship of Alvan Ikoku. Member of the Ogoja Provincial Government under the Eastern Region, Member Students Advisory Committee, Ministry of Education, Eastern Nigeria, Member Consultative assembly Eastern Region, (leading the Ogoja delegation), Member Ikom Town Planning Authority, Member Constitution Review Committee under the chairmanship of Nebo-Graham Douglas , Member south Eastern State Economic Advisory Committee, Chairman Manila Insurance Company, Limited, Member Investment Trust Company, President Boys Brigade of Nigeria.
Justice Ndoma- Egba was an all round pioneer in this Part of the world as a teacher, civil servant, Lawyer, and judge both of the High Court and Appeal Court. He was a proud son of Ejagham heritage and was a gifted speaker of many languages.
Justice Emmanuel Ndoma Egba was a recipient of many honors and awards and was survived by Adeline his wife and comfort of several decades. Professor Rowland Ndoma Egba, Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the Obafemi Awolowo University , Ransome, a community leader, Victoria a school principal, Glory, a Court Registrar, Victor, Senate Leader of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Roy Special Adviser to Senator Liyel Imoke on International Donor Agencies, Knut and Bla, Businessmen., Mbong, a housewife, Oti and several others.
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