Tribute to ‘My Chairman’
His Beginning
Emma, who I fondly called my Chairman, was noble in all his ways. Having carved out nobility early in life as his way of life, he decided to settle for the noble profession and by all accounts, he made a success of it. He was born on the 21st day of April, 1961 to the family of Chief and Mrs. Emmanuel Aguma of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and was of Ikwerre extraction.
His Journey
He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1988, and founded his Chambers, Aguma & Co on 26/2/1996. The Chambers has grown in leaps and bounds, and has as its Managing Solicitor, his wife Mrs. Inime Ifeyinwa Aguma (National President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers FIDA). His son Chima Aguma, is also one of the Associates in the Firm.
Emma was a true Bar man, who had served as Secretary and Chairman of Port Harcourt Branch of the NBA, between 2000 – 2002 and 2006 – 2008 respectively. He has also served as a Prosecutor, with the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee. He was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria with me and a few others, by the grace of God, on 21/9/2015.
The Professional and Politician
As a Professional, Emma was consummate. He loved Practice and brought a lot of respect and panache to it. He was dignifying, and never cut corners. Hard work and excellence, marked his attitude to work. (No wonder he was sworn in as the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice Rivers State in 2015 by Mr. Projects, the indefatigable Governor of Rivers State, even before the Governor constituted his cabinet).
Together with the Governor, Emma took governance of Rivers State to an unprecedented height, with the result that the blind sees and attests to the projects and quality of projects executed by the Government.
One may ask, why Emma is associated with developmental projects in Rivers State. My answer is that his ability to put in check, all distractions, impediments and traps set by adversaries of the Government, gave the Governor the clear head to do his work. Alluding to Emma’s abilities, the Governor, His Excellency,
Nyesom Wike (a learned friend), observed that he has lost a loyal, hardworking, intelligent, dedicated friend and Attorney-General.
Emma was a Politician, and a long standing member of the Peoples Democratic Party. He was a consistent and principled party man. He never let political differences mar his relationship with his brother of the All Progressives Congress, and friends of other political leaning. He believed that, everybody does not have to be in the same political party.
As a colleague and one of the Counsel to Rivers State Government, I worked closely with Emma. He would not farm out a brief, and go to sleep. He would arm you with the facts, documents and authorities. He was a master of procedure. He discussed the briefs handled by every external Counsel with the Counsel before they were filed. He had his style. The Friend As a friend who sticks closer than a brother, he was true, humane, sometimes brutally frank and above all, responsible. He was a relationship driven person, and my family, the late B.M.C Etiaba family, will miss him. It is noteworthy that, my parents and his, were friends as far back as the 60s when my late father was a Magistrate in Port Harcourt, and his father, a seasoned Administrator.
The last celebration in Emma’s immediate family, was the 25th anniversary of his marriage, where we all made merry and gave glory to God for their fruitful marriage and lives, unknown to us that Emma’s end was near.
As we mourn the demise of a good man, a man of excellence and a committed Anglican, we pray that the Almighty God will give Inime, the children, Emma’s mother, siblings, the rest of the family, His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Wike and his family, and the Government and people of Rivers State, the fortitude to bear the loss.
It is well. Good night, my Chairman.
Emeka Etiaba, SAN, FCIArb