OBII PAX- HARRY
I Studied Law Thinking I Would be Defending Everybody
Background and Early Education…
Igrew up partly in Enugu and Benin. I went to secondary school in Benin. I was not just in school but I made lasting friends there. Benin became like a place of my youth. I was born to an educationist father, the late Nathan Okeoma Ejiogu, of the famous Ejiogu family of Egbu in Owerri, Imo State, and an industrialist mother, the late Esther Ejiogu. I went to all Saints primary school Enugu. My secondary education was at Premier Girls School, Idia College in Benin City. From there I proceeded to England to study for my A’Levels at Fernhill Manor School New Milton, Hampshire. I studied Law at University of London and from there I went on to do my Master degree at Birmingham University. I studied for my solicitor’s finals at College of Law, Guildford.
Growing Up and Indelible Memories
I grew up in Enugu. Enugu is like a city with many families yet it was like a city with one family and how God was able to build a strong community of love. We have what we call the Enugu people and how civilised the people are. Enugu is an experience that is etched in my memory. All that we were privileged to have, be it in recreation, relationships, community building, it was a city with values.
I grew up in a polygamous family. I had a remarkable father who was a mother and father and the centre of our lives. He made growing up fun. We had a lot of structures in the family: story time, bed time, meal time and everybody was equal. We did not have servants as people have them now and treated differently from their children. My father’s drivers were our best friends. It was a very happy family. He taught us how to tell ourselves truth that would not be told outside. We were taught how to criticise one another in love and also to consider others. He brought out our uniforms and made sure it was ironed. He had 22 children and I do not know how he did it. He was involved in schools. He was not the kind of father that you would expect to contact someone so that you could get into the university. One of the biggest things I learnt from my father was community service when we would go to the village after Sunday service to visit families. That was really remarkable because he was involved with his community and loved his people. He role-modeled the values he wanted us to grow up with. That left a mark in me today. I had a remarkable mother too. My mother was an extraordinary entrepreneur and she broke barriers. Mama Esther, as she was fondly called, was involved in kinds of business men did. She was a genius and involved in road construction, catering, housing development. She was the first female distributor for Nigerian Breweries in the South-east and had large supermarket and even ventured into night club with my brother. One thing I really thank my mother for is that she never told me any bad stories of anybody. I grew up thinking the world was perfect. She loved information and worked with information. She was very connected with her surroundings, passionate about family because she was an only child and her mother was also born into a polygamous family. It was amazing that when she passed on, house helps from different parts of Nigeria over 5000 people came. But what drew my attention was the house helps, domestic staffs from years past, all these people gathered amongst the rich and famous. From that day, I made up my mind that I would mind how I live my life because how you live your life is going to impact on how your life will be celebrated at the end. I know everybody says their parents are wonderful. I would say that I had wonderful biological parents. My father had a steward that has worked with us for 55 years. Well he became my father’s first son and part of the family. For me, in terms of Nigeria’s society today, service providers and people that we have as domestic staffs, he is a picture of what Nigeria was like; a reflection about family because if we were bad, he would not be there. But after 55 years, I am now driven by passion to honour him and I am not alone in the passion. I am together with my siblings and I have a wish which I believe God has granted and the rest is history.
Growing up Fantasies...
I wanted to be a hair dresser and wanting to be an actress but that was nailed because the Lux advert just came out. From there, I wanted to study Child Psychology. All I wanted to do was to work with children and own a school. My interest was always the formative years. But Law interested me because in my natural makeup: I hate injustice and I watched two hearings that led to my decision to study law. One was a village hearing in my village at the village square in Egbu Owerri, Imo state. I watched what they called the Oha-in-council as the Igbos have it. It was so fascinating and I