Immediate past representative of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has declared that leadership without sacrifice is meaningless.
Abe disclosed this in Port Harcourt while speaking at a luncheon, which he hosted in honour of ‘Class 87’ of the Nigerian Law School.
He said, what made the ‘Class 87’ of the Nigerian Law School unique is the practice of annual thanksgiving which the class initiated and has continued to uphold, and described this year’s thanksgiving to celebrate thirty-three years of call to the Nigerian Bar as special indeed.
The Senator said: “This occasion is not only symbolic but very important. At the core of what makes us unique is our ability to come together thirty-three years after our call to bar.
We must thank and commend the able leadership of our class monitor, Barrister Chris Itamunola, because it is the dedication and commitment of people like him and Dr. Chukwuma Chinwo that has made the class different.
“If we didn’t have these people who are forever calling us and trying to make sure that we remember where we are coming from and what we are all about, we wouldn’t have been as formidable as we have been. It is their help that has kept us together and we should commend them.”
Abe appealed to his colleagues to use the occasion to reminiscent and remember old times that they shared together and friends that were no more.
He stated that 33 years after graduation from the Nigerian Law School was enough time to impact the world because it is not in the size or quantum of the quality of what is done but in the connection and time that is being invested.
The senator said: “The foundation of our commitment is to the profession that gave us the opportunity because, whether you are in politics, business or the academia, if you were not a lawyer, you wouldn’t have been any of those things.
“We should look back 33 years down the road, particularly those of us from UST and ask ourselves, what contributions are we able to make to the quality and continuity not just of what we learned but what we represent.
I invited the current Executives of the Law Students Association of the Rivers State University, not just to come and see what we are doing but to learn from it and also to remind us that we should look back to where we are coming from and lend a hand however small”.
He called on his colleagues to always endeavour to attend the yearly thanksgiving and luncheon of the ‘Class 87’ and to upgrade the group to a higher notch.
In his vote of thanks on behalf of the group, the Nzeobi of Egbema, Eze Goodhead Okuchukwu Ariaga, thanked all members for their attendance and said that the discipline and training they acquired as lawyers were responsible for the success of members in their various fields of endeavour as they have become Judges, Professors, successful Politicians, and eminent Jurists and Lawyers.
He particularly thanked Senator Abe and his wife for hosting in year 2020, declaring that he has been very exemplary of Class 87 and urged him to remain resolute and committed in his chosen career.
