CHIEF Theodore Anachuna Ezeobi, a member of the Nigerian Inner Bar is a paragon of determination, hardwork and focus. His advance to the acme of his chosen career was dotted with labyrinths of disappointing circumstances, yet, he weathered the storm and emerged as one of the leading legal minds in Nigeria.Ezeobi's quest to carve a niche for himself was persistently dogged by crises but he remained resolute and had the last laugh. And today, he has made noticeable marks in law, not only by enriching the profession through advocacy but also by training all his five children to become lawyers.As an outstanding lawyer, he has shown class with his grasp of the intricacies of law. This is evidenced in some of the briefs he handled. One of such briefs was manifested when he appeared as a counsel for a Nigerian state of Taraba in an arbitration hearing held in the Peace Palace on the September 10 and 11, 1996, under the auspices of the permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.He also served as a member of the National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and was appointed a member of Council of Legal Education where he served meritoriously between 1987 and 1988. Ezeobi, is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), a member, Asia-Pacific Lawyers Association.In 1993, he was elected as the Chairman of the Lagos branch of the NBA. His tenure ended in 1995. Appointed a member of the NBA National Disciplinary Committee in 1999, he later chaired the NBA Disciplinary Committee Panel B, Lagos.Apart from serving in numerous professional associations, Ezeobi belongs to different social groups of which he was/or is still playing prominent roles. One of such was when he served as the National Legal Adviser of the University of Lagos Alumni Association between 1988 and 1992. He later served as the national trustee of the alumni association of the same university. He also was the national trustee of the alumni association of University of Lagos. Because of his leadership dexterity, he was appointed the legal adviser of the association of Anambra State Development Union, Lagos between 1992 and 1996. He later served the union as the general secretary and Patron from 1997 to 2000.Earlier in 1994, he was the chairman of distinguished Alumni Award Committee of the University of Lagos.He was born February 11, 1939 to the family of the late Chief Isaac and Margaret Ezeobi of Awgbu town, Anambra State. His father died in 1972 while his mother followed in 1989.'My father was a devout Christian and was also one of those who got early education when the white men came into our area. He attended the early school as it was offered those days. He trained as a teacher under the Catholic mission and retired into farming in early 20's. My parents were renowned community leaders. My father married in the Catholic Church and brought us up in the tradition of the church. They gave birth to five of us ' three boys and two girls, though they lost two of us early in their life. My eldest brother, Chief Christian Ezeobi was an educationist who rose to become an Inspector of Education in the then Eastern Region. He was the person who brought me up. I lived with him as his boy though we were of the same parents', he stated.He started his education at St. Michaels Primary School, Awgbu. His words: 'By 1950, I was at Nanka doing my Primary Five. I did my Primary Six at St Mary's Catholic School, Agulu. Both at Nanka and Agulu, I was living with my elder brother. He was taking me around because he wanted to monitor my development.'At the end of his Primary Six in Agulu, young Ezeobi took the Entrance Examination into the highly competitive Government College, Umuahia. He picked up a scholarship because of his performance in the Entrance Examination and was admitted in the school in 1952. He graduated from the Government College in 1957 in flying colours earning his West African School Certificate (Division 11). Consequently, he travelled to Lagos State a year later, so as to prepare for University admission to study Medicine, which was his ambition then, having been exposed to Science subjects very tremendously. On getting to Lagos, his orientation changed as he felt that it would be better to have a lawyer in the family.According to him, he sent a message to his younger brother, Charles to prepare to read law so they could have a lawyer in the family, but he declined.'I asked my immediate younger brother, Charles to work to read law so that we would have a lawyer in our family. I was influenced by the great men in Lagos then who were outstanding because of the lawyers in their families such as the Alakijas, the Rotimi Williams and others. Of course, looking back home, we had people like the late Onyeama, the Mbanefos, the Onyiukes and indeed, the influence of the Ojiakors. Orjiakor's son, Theodore was a lawyer. So, I linked all these things up and realized that they were all great families. So with those influences, I told my younger brother to read law and he said: No! I said okay, I packed my Chemistry, Physics and Biology and went into the arts in order to navigate into law', he recalled.To realize this ambition, he registered for the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level in History, Economics and British Constitution in 1962 and passed.While he was waiting for his brother, who was studying in Ghana to return so he could travel abroad for his own studies, the University of Lagos was opened and it advertised for admission in 1962. By that time, he had already acquired the mandatory subjects in advanced level certificate. He immediately applied and was admitted as one of the pioneer students of the Faculty of Law of University of Lagos now Moshood Abiola University, with scholarship support from the Bank of West Africa Limited (later Standard Bank of Nigeria). In his third year in 1965, which happened to be his last, his academic career was seriously threatened by the crisis that engulfed the University over the second term appointment of its pioneer Vice Chancellor, the late Professor Eni Njoku.'The Eni Njoku VC crisis that engulfed the university in 1965 brought the institution to its knees. The Senate insisted on re-appointing him as a vice chancellor but the council insisted on removing him. The Senate and the students, acting independently, supported his re-appointment. The bitter struggle between the contending parties became irreconcilable. The university was shut down for a while and most of the students and teachers left the university', he stated.As a result, he transferred to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka still retaining the scholarship award and completed his law degree in 1966 with a second class lower division.Ezeobi returned to Lagos in preparation for the Law School. Unfortunately, the Nigeria crisis again started budding with the killing of the Commander-in -Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Gen. Theophilus Aguiyi-Ironsi. With that military coup and the subsequent pogrom, Lagos became unsafe for Igbo's and Ezeobi returned to the East. However, on some arrangement, a Law School annex was opened for those of them who left in Enugu with the intention that the crisis would soon fizzle out so they could return to Lagos. But that never happened. It rather escalated and they completed their programme in Enugu. By the time he completed his Law School programme in 1967, Biafra had already seceded from Nigeria. He was thereafter called to the Biafran Bar together with his colleagues.To get his legal tutelage, Ezeobi joined the Chambers of Chief G.C.M. Onyuike and Company in Onitsha, Anambra State and was there between 1967 and 1970 when the war ended. Immediately after the war, he returned to Lagos to practise but the Nigerian government refused to recognize his Biafran certificate. This action turned out to become the cog in his wheel of progress. Himself and his group, including the former Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and former national chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief Edwin Umezoke was left with the option of redoing the Law School programme.He went back to the Nigerian Law School in 1970 and left in 1971 when he was called to the Nigerian Bar. As soon as he finished from the Nigerian Law School, Ezeobi returned to the chambers of his principal in Onitsha and stayed there between 1971 and 1972 before his benefactors ' the Standard Bank of Nigeria Limited (now First Bank of Nigeria), who has been responsible for his academic scholarship came to snap him up for the job of company secretary. In 1973, he was promoted to the position of Assistant Legal Adviser and served in that capacity till 1979 before returning to the chambers of G. C. M. Onyiuke as a junior partner. He was in that chamber till 1982 when he left to set up his own chamber - Ezeobi and Company.He was conferred with the Nigeria's highest legal rank of Senior Advocate in 2001 as a result of his valuable contributions to the promotion of legal development in Nigeria.He is also a member of Peoples Club of Nigeria, Otu Oka-Iwu, (association of Igbo lawyers) Lagos, executive member, Ndigbo, Lagos and a senior and active member of Rotary Club of Lagos Central. As a devout Catholic, he belongs to different splinter societies in the church either as a member or patron. He is a member and a parish Pastoral Council of the Catholic Church of Annunciation, FESTAC Town, Lagos.Ezeobi is a titled chief and enjoys the local delicacy of pounded yam and olugbu (bitter leave) soup. He has a personal love for blue colours and finds pleasure in gardening, music, photography, football and travelling.He is married to Mrs. Benedict Nwadinume (nee Oguejiofor) and the union is blessed with five children ' three girls and two boys, all of whom are lawyers.
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