The immediate past Principal Counsel of Gani Fawehinmi Chambers of Justice, University of Calabar Chinyeaka Ikenna Echewodo has charged members of the chambers to ensure that in their pursuit of success they do not limit themselves.
Chinyeaka stated this in a valedictory address at the inauguration of the 2018/2019 executive board of the chamber.
Read the valedictory speech:
TO MY FIRST AND LAST BIG FAMILY IN THE FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR
For me, yesterday is only gone as a matter of time but will remain alive as a matter of consequence and relevance.
Never before have I been at the heart of such an effusive display of emotions that are true, unrefined and positively evocative. If you saw tears yesterday, they were from a heart that found it very difficult and yet unavoidable a task to let go; If you saw a generally composed person stutter and fidget, it was because the most important decisions of our lives, the ones about giving up the things we cherish and being separated from our families for the greater good are also the most destabilizing and conflicting decisions anyone could ever make and yeah; If you saw a little too much excitement from someone who before he was returned to the position of a Congressman, had always been known to not enjoy a lot of Congress drama when he was sitting on the bench, it was because he had missed and almost forgotten what it felt like to be part of the most powerful decision making body in the Chamber’s quasi-legislative structure. Everything you saw was an indication of love and an unquenchable flame of passion for a house that has given and keeps giving me so much to be happy and concerned about.
I’d like to say an unreserved thank you to the members of the Executive Board and all Congressmen who worked with me to keep the fire of the Chamber burning and to bring us to where we are today. To all of you, may you never lack people willing to work with you when you nurture a laudable vision and are afforded the platform to see it through.
To the third year class who I must not fail to make special mention of, I want to say that you didn’t need an award I do not even think I deserve to prove your love for me because it has never been in doubt. For me, if I were asked to name my immediate constituency in Gani and probably in the Faculty of Law on a purely meritorious basis, I wouldn’t think even once before I say 300 level. You have all been an incredible support system and an exceptional breed of good people and it is my wish that goodness, love and kindness immeasurable will continually follow all of you.
To my predecessors in the line of leadership in ascending order of seniority; Ex-Partner Uloakan Davis, Ex-Partner Barr. Owoche Antai , Ex-Partner Barr. Ntami Eborty and Ex-Partner Barr. Kofi Apori, thank you for all the times you stepped up for and supported me. My time is now at an end and I hope I have been deemed worthy by all of you and those before you to join an ancestral line of very prestigious repute.
Massive congratulations to all the newly elected officers of the Chamber. It is with joy that the 2017/2018 executive board hands over the mantle of power to you because you are all great ambassadors of Gani and fine “gentlemen” in your own right; people of purpose, passion and precision who we believe can effectively steer the ship of this chamber to greater heights and help us maintain the enviable position of superiority we have always enjoyed over the years. I gave a lot of advice yesterday which I hope will not be taken for granted but the one thing I didn’t say was for you to be limitless. Well, I am saying it now and it’s better late than never; please be limitless because it is only those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world that do. There is one thing I can promise you as incumbent leaders of the Chamber with all sense of certainty and it is that I and other members of the alumni will never abandon you. We will support you with all that is at our disposal to ensure that your spirits are not weakened at any step of the road and that your mandate is judiciously executed.
Today, I bow out of the stage happily not because the ovation is at its loudest but because it is time for another generation to step in and try to get the loudest ovation. Once again, thank you all for making my life easier and for teaching me some very great and important lessons about life and leadership. I promise to be a better leader and person when given the opportunity to in future and to not waste all the lessons you have taught me.
May the force be with you all.
Viva G. F. C. J – U. C. C!!!!
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