The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been pushing from behind the development of law education in the Niger Delta.
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been pushing from behind the development of law education in the Niger Delta.
Samuel Ogbuku, the Managing Director, says this is due to his conviction that legal advocacy on issues affecting the region is essential for driving its development.
Ogbuku made this known while opening this year’s NDDC MOOT and Mock Trial Competition in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He reminded the participants that the Commission was interested in the growth of the youths of the Niger Delta region.
Ogbuku, who was represented by Boma Iyaye, the Executive Director of Finance and Administration, stated that the Commission would continue to support the growth of education in the region.
Ogbuku noted that the NDDC had distributed educational materials and built hostels in various universities and polytechnics in the Niger Delta region.
Earlier in his welcome address, Victor Arenyeka, the NDDC Acting Director of Legal Services, expressed joy that last year’s moot competition was impactful and was considered one of the best in the country by stakeholders.
He noted that NDDC designed the competition to prepare students from the region on issues affecting Niger Delta region, such as Environmental Law, Oil and Gas Law, and Sustainable Development.
In a keynote Address, Zaccheus Adango, the former Chief Justice of Rivers State, explained that the legal profession had remained noble, honourable, and learned.
Read also: NDDC at 25: Strategic steps from transaction to transformation
He challenged the students to maintain integrity in their journey in the legal practice.
The legal luminary told the participants that people bring their issues to the court to get justice, and as such, lawyers should be persons of good character with trustworthy attributes.
While thanking NDDC for sponsoring the competition, he advised students to be open to learning and ideas, considering that the legal profession demanded sound knowledge in various areas.
He insisted that, honestly, integrity and character were essential virtues needed by every legal practitioner.
Adango maintained that lawyers should invest in knowledge as ministers in the temple of Justice, urging legal practitioners to always buy both soft and hard copies of books.
Adango emphasised the importance of moving with new trends and following all the changes in the legal profession.
Gabriel Kio, a judge of the Rivers State High Court who was chairman on the occasion, acknowledged that NDDC, led by Ogbuku, had made a significant and positive difference in the region’s development.
According to him, the ‘Moot and Mock Trial’ competition, supported by the NDDC, would be a good platform for regional students to become successful legal practitioners.
On his own, Emeka Onyeka, chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK, Port Harcourt branch, described the sponsorship of the competition by NDDC as one of the best investments made by the Commission.
He encouraged students to use the knowledge judiciously, saying they needed to think globally.
About twenty law Faculties from Universities in the Niger Delta region participated in the competition and were given the latest edition of the Nigerian weekly law reports.
