Men You Should Know: Ernest Ojukwu

Jeremiah Aluwong

3 years ago

Professor Ernest Maduabuchi Ojukwu, who was born on the 23rd of September 1960, is a partner at the Law firm of Ojukwu Faotu & Yusuf (OFY-lawyers). He has deep experience in litigation practice, including finance law, energy law, tax law, access to justice, risk and compliance, and mediational and international commercial arbitration. He was Deputy Director-General and Head of Campus of the Nigerian Law School, Augustine Nnamani Campus, Agbani Enugu (February 2001 – March 2013). Before his appointment, he was Associate Professor(1998) and Dean Faculty of Law, Abia State University, Uturu from 1995-2001.

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Background

Ernest Ojukwu hails from Ahaba Imenyi in Isuikwuato Local Government of Abia State in southeast Nigeria. He attended the Methodist College Uzuakoli and Government College Umuahia. Professor Ojukwu is a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife where he received the Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws Degrees in 1983 and 1987 respectively.

Career and Bar Involvements

Ernest Ojukwu began his career in 1985 when he simultaneously joined the services of Abia State University as an Assistant Lecturer and began to practice Law in the chambers of Chief G. N. Atulomah. In 1988, he left to establish with his friends, a Law firm named Eleuthera Chambers. He rose to the position of Dean of the Faculty of Law at Abia State University where he served from 1995-2001. Ernest Ojukwu has also been a very active member of the Nigerian Bar Association, with a tremendous record of service at the local, regional and national levels, and has at one time or the other held the following positions:

Secretary, NBA Aba Branch (1992-1993);
Chairman, NBA Aba Branch (1997-1999);
Sole Member NBA Sub Committee to Investigate Complaints Against Legal Practitioners, 1999;
Chairman, NBA Law Reform Committee (2002-2004);
Founder, President, NBA Eastern Bar Forum (2004-2011);
Chairman, NBA Legal Education Committee (2006-2008);
Co-Chair, NBA Editorial Committee (2002-2004);
Chairman NBA Editorial Committee (2006-2008);
Chairman, NBA Academic Forum (2003-2004; 2006-2008 & 2012-2014);
Co-Chairman, NBA Conference Planning Committee 2003;
Alternative Chairman, NBA Summit on the Future of Legal Education in Nigeria 2006;
Chairman NBA Strategic Plan Working Group 2012.

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He has also been a member of many other NBA Committees since 1999 and in the various positions he held and committees he served, he has exciting achievements to present. As Chairman of the NBA Law Reform Committee, he produced a new Legal Practitioners Act in 2004 under President Wole Olanipekun, SAN. In 2006, the NBA under President Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) requested an amendment in place of a completely new Act and Ernest Ojukwu submitted an amended Legal Practitioners Act which then was submitted to the National Assembly. In 2011, the NBA under President Daudu (SAN) set up a new committee to draft a new Legal Practitioners Act. Ojukwu produced a new draft for the Committee and that draft is currently pending before the National Assembly today. In addition to the Legal Practitioners Act, Ojukwu also submitted to the Bar draft bills on Legal Education and Legal Services Commission. This is also presently before the National Assembly.

Publications: Books and Journals

Ernest Ojukwu has published extensively. He is:

Co-author of “Introduction to Civil Procedure”, quality and leading material on Civil Litigation for Law School Students in Nigeria as well Legal Practitioners.
Editor-in-Chief of the African Journal of Clinical Legal Education and Access to Justice, the Abia State University Law Journal (1995-2000), the Nigerian Law and Practice Journal (2006-2013).
Editor-In-Chief the Nigerian Bar Journal (2002-2004 & 2006-2008).
Principal Co-Author of the following clinical Legal Education books: Clinical Legal Education: Curriculum Lessons & Materials; Handbook on Prison Pre-Trial Detainee Law Clinic; Manual on Prison Pre-Trial Detainee Law Clinic; Impact Assessment of Clinical Legal Education in Nigeria; Externship Students Handbook; and Externship Handbook for Supervisors.

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Ojukwu is also a contributor to the following International books on clinical legal education:

David McQuoid-Mason, Ernest Ojukwu, and George Mukundi Wachira, “Clinical Legal Education in Africa: Legal Education and Community Service”, in Bloch Frank (ed), The Global Clinical Movement: Educating Lawyers for Social Justice, Chapter 2, New York, Oxford University Press, 2011;
“Making a real change; legal Education in Nigeria- partly re-imagined, Grimes, R, ed, Rethinking Legal Education Under the Civil and Common Law: A Road Map for Constructive Change, Routledge, pages 192-201.

He is the National Representative of Nigeria in the Brown-Morsten International Client Consultation Competition. He is also a leading vanguard in pioneering the development of clinical legal education in Nigeria and is the President of the Network of University Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI Nigeria), the platform through which he has continued to achieve his dreams of promoting clinical legal, justice education and reform of legal education in Nigeria. Ernest Ojukwu was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the highest title available for legal practitioners in Nigeria in September 2014. Ernest Ojukwu was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He was appointed Professor of Law at Madonna University in 2014, and Baze University in 2016. Ojukwu teaches as an Adjunct at Nasarawa State University LLM International Commercial Arbitration and was External Examiner Kenyatta University Nairobi 2013-2017.

Reference

Wikipedia.org www.ofy-lawyers.com. Featured Image Source: Prof Ernest Ojukwu, SAN

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