Former Governor of Imo State, Dr Ikedi Ohakim, has advised the Supreme Court of Nigeria to reach out and tap from Prof Osy Nwebo’s Intellect. He said that doing so would help enrich the public and international community’s perceptions of the workings of the apex court .
Ohakim described Nwebo as “a global scholar and a professor of public law and international constitutionalism. He is “a supranational, constitutionalist,a quintessential academic,and a beacon of integrity.”
Ohakim spoke in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Tuesday, December 23,2025, as Chairman while unveiling the book “A Liber of A Supranational Constitutionalist and Quintessential Academic: Prof Osy Ezechukwunyere Nwebo.” He opined that “I would recommend that Professor Nwebo be taken straight from here to the Supreme Court of Nigeria where his encyclopedic mind and iron-cast reasoning will add the needed value to the apex court. His depth of knowledge, clarity of thought, and unwavering commitment to justice will be brought to bear in the apex court so that a section of the international community will stop thinking that it is only in Nigeria that the Supreme Court will deliver judgment and instead of one party rejoicing, both parties will be rejoicing.”
The former governor described Nwebo as “an elephant, who has seen, conquered and is still striving. Nwebo always stands for truth,” positing that as a global scholar,Nwebo’s contributions to scholarship has incontestably established “a prima facie evidence of his unwavering commitment to academic excellence and legal jurisprudence.”
In Ohakim’s words: “I recall a quote from Nelson Mandela that resonates deeply with Prof Nwebo’s ethos that – “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Osy wielded this weapon with precision, shaping minds of Deans of law,restoring the dignity of Imo State University as Vice Chancellor, and advocating justice as a legal luminary.”
Dr Ohakim,recalling Prof Nwebo’s humble beginning, averred that “adversity is the furnace that refines greatness,” averred that despite this setback in life, “Nwebo’s contributions to academic growth and development are profound and his expertise, for example, shaped Kenya’s constitution, transitioning it to a multiparty democracy.” He hinted that soon,he will endow a professional chair for Nwebo at IMSU, insisting that Nwebo’s academic legacies ought to be sustained for the benefit of the younger generation of legal practitioners.
The book reviewer, Prof M.O.Unegbu from Abia State University, Uturu, described Nwebo as a legal philosopher, mentor of mentors, and a legal masquerade. He stated that “everything about the book is great,” explaining that the book has 55 chapters divided into volumes one and two.
Unegbu asserted that “the book would be a spectacular acquisition for all law libraries in Nigeria,” hinting that most contributors to the book in honour of Prof Osy Nwebo are Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) and prominent legal practitioners in Nigeria.
In his vote of thanks, Prof Nwebo,who described Ohakim as “my overall boss,” stated that “I am overwhelmed by the outpour of love and testaments made in my honour by so many people that I neither remember or recognize. I am humbled and it can only be God, who made everything possible.”
He thanked former Governor Ikedi Ohakim for promising to institute a professional chair for him at Imo State University and said “may God bless the Ohakim family for me.”
