Abai Ikwechegh

Justice Abai Ikwechegh OFR (7 September 1923 – 12 October 2020) was a Nigerian jurist.

Life

Ikwechegh was born on 7 December 1923 to Ogbonnaya Ikwechegh, a warrant chief and a merchant, and Oyiri Ikwechegh of Igbere in Eastern Nigeria (now Abia State). He had his primary education in Igbere and further went to the Hope Waddell Training Institute in Calabar.

Career

Ikwechegh began teaching at Abiriba, Ututu, Benin, Oka, as well as Enitona College in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. In October 1951, aged 28, Ikwechegh sailed from Apapa to Liverpool, England, to study law.

Ikwechegh was admitted into the Kensington University. In America, he sang in choir at the Methodist Church in West Hampstead. In 1952, Ikwechegh lost his sponsorship and the Home Office in London decided to deport him. After his friend who had returned from Dublin rallied support in Nigeria until funds were raised for Ikwechegh. Though he has settled for his stay abroad, Ikwechegh still faced difficulty that he had to start working in Lyon’s Tea Shop, and later as a conductor under the London Transport Service at Hendon, and as a clerk in the London Postal Services. He completed his studies, and was called to the English Bar in 1955, into the Lincoln’s Inn, Barrister at Law. On August 23, 1956, he moved back to Lagos, Nigeria, where he practiced law in Nigeria and Cameroon.

In 1960, Ikwechegh was appointed a magistrate and later served as a Judge of the East Central States until 1976 before he was transferred to the High Court of Imo State. In December 1977 he acted as the Chief Judge of that State and would do same in subsequent years. Ikwechegh was appointed as the Justice of the state's Court of Appeal in 1982, though he declined the appointment and would work voluntarily until 1988.

Appointments and final years

Ikwechegh was recognised in various ways in Nigeria. In January 1976, the East Central State Government appointed him as the head of the Administrative Tribunal to investigate to the issue which led to the Execution of Contracts for Data Processing Equipment. In 1978, he was appointed as one of the Chairmen in the Land Acquisition Control Tribunal which was as a fall out of the Land Use Act. Ikwechegh died on 12 October 2020 at the age of 97.