By Ngwu Nweze
As the search for a replacement for Senator Okey Ezea, the deceased Senator of Enugu North Senatorial zone gets underway, all eyes are on Dr. (Bar.) Vincent Egechukwu Obetta; an effervescent, brilliant and inspiring lawyer who hails from the same Igbo-Eze South LGA (Udeze development center) as Senator Ezea. Most people in the Nsukka cultural zone (Enugu North Senatorial zone), see Dr. Obetta as a natural replacement for obvious reasons. He towers over his closest rivals.
The ebullient, youthful and charismatic lawyer has carved his name in gold in a brilliant career in law, advocacy, the environmental management and public office. Ege, as he is fondly called, had always seemed destined for great things. Fearless and self-driven, he crept into public consciousness when he accepted to be Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer ten years ago. He is a hardcore professional whose commitment to legal practice is total. And once he accepts a brief, he never looks back. Bringing his inborn doggedness to bear on the brief, he quickly secured bail twice for Mazi Kanu; first from the Magistrate Court and next from the Federal High Court Abuja in 2018. His relentless push ensured that the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered for Mazi’s unconditional release.
Barely resting from the success of securing an unconditional release for Kanu, Dr. Obetta reacted swiftly to halt the impending onslaught on Igbos living in the North who had been issued an ultimatum to vacate the region before 1st October, 2016 by the Arewa Youth Organization. Demonstrating a deep understanding of the peculiar blindness of the law, Dr. Obetta resorted to a court of law bringing an action under ‘Mandamus,’ mandating the Federal Government to commence criminal proceedings against the leaders of Arewa Youth Organization and cancel out their threat against the Igbos. This suit drew the attention of the then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo who settled the dispute by alternative means. Indeed, Dr. Obetta is a study in courage and intrepidity. He is a leader who leads from the front; an equivalent of what is called “Okaa oburu uzo” in Igbo. With him, you always know where you stand. It was this same firm believe in public good that made him accept to represent one of the most emotionally charged cases in Nigeria’s legal history; the brazen beheading of Mrs. Bridget Agbahime, for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Mohammed. Not many lawyers would be willing to have a look at such a case. But Ege did. But perhaps, the most daring act of his career as a lawyer was his decision to defend late Okorie Nwa Aneke who was gruesomely murdered by some officers of the Nigerian police at a checkpoint at Emene in Enugu. In this particular instance, Dr. Obetta recorded a historic victory. The errant police officers were court martialed, found guilty, dismissed and quickly slammed in Awaiting Trial. He has also defended and secured the freedom of many students in different criminal trials. The fascinating thing about Dr. Egechukwu’s advocacy is that most of the cases he took up were at no cost to the parties involved. He is primarily driven by a compassionate obsession to lift up the downtrodden, to live out the creed of the brotherhood of man and to lend a healing hand to humanity. As if in obedience to the injunction of legendary Wole Soyinka that “the man dies in any man who keeps silent in the face of tyranny,” Dr. Obetta is uncomfortable in the face of injustice; he is bound to act!
Interestingly, Ege has also shown a remarkable inclination to service. His first interest in organized leadership showed when he was elected as the President of the Federated Association of Nsukka Students at the University of Calabar where he studied law. He carried himself like the quintessential leader, listening attentively to his fellow students from Nsukka cultural zone in the university and working assiduously for their welfare. As it turned out, that experience opened his eyes to the allure of authority and responsibility. He learnt, in one fell swoop, that power was like a smoldering fire, tamed only by responsibility.
Ege’s interest in leadership went a notch higher when he was appointed as the Supervisor for Works and shortly after, the Supervisor for Finance at Udeze Development Center. Those appointments prepared him for a rapid elevation to a Senior Special Assistant to the Governor from where he was appointed as the Project Coordinator of NEWMAP in Enugu State. That appointment was a defining moment for him. For the first time in his career, Dr. Obetta found himself entrusted with an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people in a more compelling way. No wonder then that after five years on the saddle, Obetta left quite a remarkable legacy. He successfully reconstructed and rejuvenated 8 massive erosion sites across the state, left two on-going project sites and 6 projects at the engineering drawing approval stage. He ended his career in NEWMAP on a high note; his office was awarded the Best Agency of the project by the World Bank. A rare achievement on a grand national scale! Dr. Obetta has since consolidated his expertise by molding himself into a Consultant on Project Management. Perhaps one of the most important things about Obetta’s stint at NEWMAP was that the job directly exposed him to the Needs Assessment of the ordinary people whose lives had been uprooted by natural forces – the helplessness of man against fate! He understood their heartbeat; their defeats and victories. All that have become useful now. None of his rivals in the ensuing contest has this deep understanding of the needs of Enugu North senatorial district. None also has the rare advantage of a close interaction with the 112 political wards of Enugu North which he had in his position as the Director General of former governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Senatorial Campaign Organization in 2022. All these are enormous advantages going into an electoral contest. They weigh heavily in his favour.
Expectedly, his skin deep understanding of the heartbeat of the people informed his decision to set up Rural-Child Education International; a Non-profit organization, with the clear goal of helping children born in rural areas access education that compares fairly with the quality of education received by their peers in the urban areas. This interventionist initiative has benefitted over 125 rural children already and many more are in line to access it. It was formed by the same impulse that inspired the formation of Street Law Africa Inc. another non-profit organization whose mission is to make legal education available on the streets and other unconventional spaces where ordinary people can access the knowledge of the law.
It has to be said that Dr. Vincent Egechukwu Obetta was built for this moment. With a Distinction in International Law and Criminal Justice from the prestigious University of East London in the UK, Dr. Obetta has the brain power needed for critical decision-making in leadership. He is not your regular career politician whose biggest dream is to occupy spaces. Igbo Eze South has its fair share of such politicians who have been representing it at different levels for decades without results. While it is the constitutional right of everyone to aspire to offer leadership, it is important to state that Igbo Eze South has come of age. Politics of self-importance and unearned privileges has ended long ago. There are elements who act as though it is their birthright to represent ndi Igbo Eze South. Yet they have no scorecard from the opportunities given them to represent us in the past. Dr. Obetta stands in the interstices between that vacuous past and a glorious future…a season of growth for a people long traumatized by appalling representation at all levels.
Happily, the ordinary people who know and appreciate their leaders had begun to endorse Dr. Obetta even before the electoral season came upon us. The good people of Ibagwa-Aka, the headquarters of Igbo Eze South LGA have since honoured him with the revered title of Aka Ekpuchi Onwa – Eze Chi Turugo of Ibagwa-Aka. The people of Obaka-Egu Chiefdom quickly followed suit with the title “Okakwu Onyimonyi n’Ugwuogene. His own hometown of Alor-Agu honoured him in January this year with the title of the Ambassador of the community.
All things considered, Dr. Vincent Anamegechukwu Obetta is the best man to continue where the late Okey Ezea stopped. He is self-possessed, competent, educated and charismatic. Ege is not blighted by the entitlement mentality of some aspirants who consider elective positions in the constituency as their patrimony. He is here to serve!
