BY ISAN CARLOS
Mr. Chiedu Ebie, Chairman, Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has hailed His Royal Majesty, Obi (Prof) Epiphany Azinge, SAN, on his emergence as the Asagba of Asaba-designate, praying that Asaba kingdom will experience more peace and development under his reign .
Ebie’s message came via a personal statement made available to Newsmen in Agbor, Delta State. He expressed optimism that his selection for the throne will bring good tidings to Asaba which doubles as a kingdom and capital of the Delta State.
According to him, Obi (Prof) Epiphany Azinge, SAN, OON, is an accomplished legal partitioner who got to the pinnacle of academia pursuit and legal practice. Ebie said “as a legal luminary, his achievements are both towering and legendary. He is among the very well-respected senior lawyers that many of us looked up during our formative years in legal practice. His legal treatise and dissertations on contemporary legal issues served as a formidable learning instrument readily available for law students and emerging lawyers to draw from his wealth of knowledge and experience”.
The former Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education and later, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), specifically stated that His Royal Majesty, Obi (Prof) Epiphany Azinge, SAN, was his lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Benin, Benin-City, Edo State.
He stressed that as a lecturer, (Prof) Epiphany Azinge was reputed for being scholarly in the lecture halls, erudite in presentation and strategic in thinking. As Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), and later elected member that represented Nigeria and Africa at the Commonwealth Arbitral Tribunal in London, he left a bold public leadership footprint in the sand of history.
While noting that his ascension to this revered traditional position will be of great benefit to the state and the nation as a whole, Ebie encouraged the Asagba-designate to bring his wealth of leadership experience accumulated over the years to action in the present position as the 14th Asagba of Asaba.
He finally prayed that God will bless him with wisdom and perfect health needed for the day-to-day administration of Asaba Kingdom
