Below, is the moving speech by Chief Uba Anene signing off as the Governor of Eastern Bar Forum, at the Forum’s Quarterly Meeting, held at Justice Mary Odili Judicial Institute, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
A TIME FOR EVERYTHING.
The good book tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”. For us, who have been on the saddle for about two years, now is the time for bowing out.
On a day like this on the hillocks of Enugu the Coal City some two years ago, we gathered as we do today, to usher in an administration led by me and my colleagues in the Governing Council of the Eastern Bar Forum (EBF). Time, that implacably restless concept, has run its course and here we are, in Port-Harcourt the Garden City, gathered again with my team to bid farewell and to enthrone another set of overseers of the fortunes of the EBF.
Leadership is both a privilege and a burden.
We were burdened by the weight of the expectations of our members and our own fears of failure. The burden of organising meetings every quarter when materials and resources for them are not readily available weighed heavily on us. The burden of attending sundry Bar activities and events across an increasingly dangerous and far flung terrain stressed us to no end. 
I must commend all the members of my team, particularly those whose States have had the arduous task of hosting the EBF Quarterly General Meetings for their selfless sacrifices in time and materials to ensure that the ship of our EBF remained in an even keel in spite of all the turbulence around us.
Hosting the EBF is no longer a walk in the park. By accident rather than design, our meetings is no longer a one day affair. All hosting States have a duty to provide accommodation for two nights for statutory delegates and special guests, and three for Governing Council members and support staff. It started in Obeledu, Anambra State where Chief Emeka Obegolu, SAN single-handedly undertook the hosting of the EBF’s first Quarterly meeting of our era, and rounded it off with an after meeting dinner party.
That precedence continued throughout our time; making our gatherings a more relaxing affair than the rush-dash of the times past. It was both fortuitous and prescient.
For of a truth, traveling has become ever more hazardous in our country, and so it is now virtually impossible to dash in and dash out of meetings as we used to do.
This point was brought home to me quite poignantly by the then Calabar Branch Chairman Attah Ochinke, who insisted, in spite of the obvious difficulties they faced in securing funding from their State Government, that it was unfair to have people travel long distances for an event and then dash off home again on the perilous roads. In spite of its difficulties, Cross River gave us a fantastic two day hosting.
Ebonyi followed suit, with the dogged resourcefulness of Fidelis Iteshi former Chairman of Onueke Branch and the EBF Treasurer representing Ebonyi State in the Governing Council. Akwa Ibom struggled with a strange atmosphere in which there was a hardly disguised boycott of our event by the political establishment in the State, which unfortunately and surprisingly included even the judiciary and the Attorney-General, the supposed leader of the Bar in Akwa-Ibom State.
The bottom line is that, with the exception of a few really big and vibrant branches, the task of hosting an EBF meeting at this time must of necessity be jointly shouldered by all the branches in the state with the support of critical stakeholders.
Permit me at this juncture to appreciate those who helped us to weather the tempests along the way. I had earlier mentioned Chief Emeka Obegolu, SAN but I need to mention him again.
He took off our shoulders the burden of hosting our first EBF meeting and made it look easy. Only later did we begin to appreciate the enormity of what he had done when we started to struggle with all our subsequent hostings, with the exception of Ebonyi State.
Mazi Afam Osigwe was always there for us right from the start to the end. When we had some issues with extra accommodation in Anaocha someone reached out to him and he quickly came to our rescue. He did so again in Cross River State, the EBF Night Out in Lagos, and in Akwa Ibom State.
Also Chukwuka Ikwuazom, SAN equally helped out in Akwa-Ibom State and with the EBF Night Out in Lagos.
Chief Mba Ukwenu, SAN, largely deployed his personal resources to ensure that we were not lacking in any of the famed Calabar hospitality and also helped galvanise resources for the settlement of outstanding hotel bills during the difficult Calabar outing.
To these gentlemen and all others too numerous to mention one by one for want of time I am deeply, deeply grateful.
At the end of it all here we are. Our EBF is still standing united, strong, healthy and stable. Through the thicket of one of the most divisive political campaigns and elections in our nation’s history, the EBF made its voice heard loud and clear on critical issues affecting our nation, our profession and our democracy.
Some of our respected leaders expressed reservations about what they considered to be a slide into partisan politics. I would share those concerns as well if indeed that was the case. But it was not.
We spoke to critical, topical, political issues of our current democratic experience. We had to. Because we are involved. This is our country after all. Its wellbeing, its leadership, its direction should be everybody’s business.
And let me be clear about this. Our country is on the precipice. The Nigerian people have moved on and away from our current set of political leaders. A new, autonomous, self-driven, grassroots political movement has taken roots in this country. It is an implacably determined political current sweeping across our landscape, hungry for the positive change which Nigerians have long pined for, but which a political leadership, consumed by greed and selfishness, have often promised but always failed to deliver.
Nigerians have risen above tribe and tongue and taken their destiny in their own hands. No one will stop them! Let us not mistake the current silence for acquiescence. They are waiting on the Judiciary to do their bit. Thereafter, depending on whether the judiciary demonstrates its place as an important, unfettered, independent and dependable arm of the government or, as most fear, a toothless, servile, captive, puny arm of the oppressive political class, the voice of the people of Nigeria will be heard quite loudly, and the change they have long yearned for will come.
Let me turn to some other little things we have been up to in the course of our administration. In line with the promise contained in my inaugural address, the EBF under my watch, with your approval has effected a change of our constitution to do away with the requirement for physical individual membership registration. This is designed to enable our colleagues from the EBF area practising outside the zone to be able to register online upon payment of EBF annual dues and levies, renewable annually.
A website for that purpose is close to completion. It is my expectation that it would enable us to harness the limitless opportunities of the social media age to bring all our colleagues under one canopy, and so improve our financial situation and increase our competitive advantage in the NBA family.
We have also tried to make our electoral process more open and transparent. In consequence, the appointment of a truly independent EBF electoral committee headed by Steve Ononye, SAN and former Chairman of Onitsha Branch was proposed and ratified at the General meeting in Uyo. I believe that all of us are witnesses to the fact that their activities so far have been open and transparent and with no glitches of any sort.
On the flip side, one of our most painful disappointments was the inability to get the EBF national secretariat project off the ground as we planned.
All our efforts and those of the Land Committee to sort out the land allocation problem in Enugu proved futile.
It is our hope that the new administration in Enugu State, led by one of us, will be more cooperative in helping us to cross that bridge and turn that dream into a reality.
Of course, the work of government never finishes. Life goes on. Our new leaders will continue from where we stopped. Where we did not do well, they will improve. Where we did well they can make better.
At the end of the day what is important is that we are handing over to them a strong, stable and united EBF. If they do their best and do the same in two years’ time, our EBF will only continue to grow from strength to strength.
I urge you all to extend to our successors the same level of support and encouragement you gave to us.
Nigeria, our beloved nation is troubled. Its potentials and destiny is weighed down and throttled by an unyielding attitude of ethnic and religious hatred and suspicion across our numerous ethnic and religious fault lines.
One must confess that at this time, it is impossible to see any way to the promised land unless something gives. Nevertheless, one must keep hope alive.
Let us therefore continue to strive for a better Nigeria, a better NBA and a better EBF.
Long live the EBF!
Long live Rivers State!!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Thank you.
Chief Uba Anene.
Governor, Eastern Bar Forum.
