The History Book of the Branch Published and Launched in 2016.

On the 23rd of April, 1925, history was made in Warri when Asifo Egbe, Esq., was enrolled at the Supreme Court in Lagos, as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He was the first person from the defunct Mid-west Region to qualify as a lawyer. He was a son of the soil, as his father hailed from Ugbuwangue Town where part of the Warri Port is situate. His mother hailed from Aladja where the Delta Steel Company is situate.

Upon his enrolment as stated above, Asifo Egbe commenced private legal practice in Warri. This act alone placed Warri in the same league with Lagos, and Calabar. These were the only towns in Nigeria in the 1920s which had resident legal practitioners. Asifo Egbe Esq. practiced law in Warri as the sole practitioner for many years after his enrolment. However, his achievement and the commercial nature of the city started to attract new legal practitioners to the town and the population of lawyers in Warri began to increase gradually.

The other legal practitioners who settled in Warri after Asifo Egbe, between 1938 and 1958 wer; T. E. Nelson Williams, Esq., Arthur E. Prest, Esq.,(later appointed a Judge of the High Court), Chike Idigbe, Esq.,(later appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court), Edward B. Edun Fregene, Esq., Michael E. R. Okorodudu, Esq., QC, J. H. E. Nelson Williams, Esq., Mciver J. Ogboko Edewor, Esq., M. A. Aghoghovia, Esq. (later appointed a Judge of the High Court), Webber G. Egbe, Esq., QC, SAN (the son of Asifo Egbe), Ayo Gabriel Irikefe, Esq., (later became the Chief Justice of Nigeria), Victor E. Ovie-Whiskey, Esq (later became the Chief Judge of Bendel State and the Chairman of FEDECO), Julius E. Odiete, Esq., Iroliki Okandeji, Esq., Rufus Agbebighoma Ijemine Ogbobine, Esq., O. N. Rewane, Esq., W. D. O. Agbahowe, Esq., Macaulay O. Akpofure, Esq., SAN (father of Chief E. L. Akpofure, SAN), Clement A. Ikomi, Esq., N. E. Akporiaye, Esq., E. K. Iseru, Esq., and Miss Grace E. Edukugho (Now known as Mrs. Grace E. Ogbemi, the first female lawyer produced in Warri)

By 1957, lawyers in Warri were already meeting informally to discuss matters of mutual concern and the issues pertaining to the administration of justice generally. In 1959, the lawyers started holding formal meetings and the Nigerian Bar Association in Warri was born. Coincidentally, in 1959, the lawyers in Lagos who had been meeting for many years decided to enlarge the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Bar Association to everywhere in Nigeria where lawyers were organized. Thus when the Nigeria Bar Association was formed in 1959, as a conglomeration of twelve Bar Associations in Nigeria, the Nigerian Bar Association in Warri was one of the twelve Bar Associations that came together to form the NBA as it is known today. The other eleven Bar Associations were; NBA Lagos, NBA Ibadan, NBA Enugu, NBA Benin City, NBA Onitsha, NBA Aba, NBA Port Harcourt, NBA Calabar, NBA Kano, NBA Jos and NBA Sapele. THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL BRANCHES OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION.

The early leaders of lawyers in Warri were always the most senior member of the Bar at that time. There were no elections or tenure. This is similar to what transpired in Lagos too. When the NBA Warri Branch was properly organized in 1959, the Chairman was still chosen on the basis of seniority at the Bar without a defined tenure. Thus Webber G. Egbe, Esq., QC, SAN became the first Chairman of the Association after it was properly organized. The first Honorary Secretary of the Branch was Hon. Justice Francis Awogu, JCA (Rtd). After some years, Ayo Gabriel Irikefe, Esq., (who later became the Chief Justice of Nigeria) took over from Webber G. Egbe, Esq., QC, SAN as Chairman with Hon. Justice Francis Awogu, JCA (Rtd) continuing as Secretary.

After some years, the younger members of the Branch advocated for a system of electing leaders rather than selecting them on the basis of seniority at the Bar. On the basis of this agitation, elections were held in the Branch for the first time in February, 1966 and Rufus Agbebighoma Ijemine Ogbobine, Esq., emerged as the first elected Chairman of the Branch, while Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark became the first elected Secretary of the Branch.

The original jurisdiction of the Branch included places like Kwale, Patani, Oleh, Ozoro, Bomadi, Ughelli, Orerokpe, Udu, Effurun and towns surrounding these areas. With the creation of more branches of the NBA, the territorial jurisdiction of the Branch has reduced greatly but its influence and commitment to the enthronement of the rule of law has not waned.

PAST CHAIRMEN AND SECRETARIES OF THE BRANCH

For more details on the history of the Branch, please read “THE HISTORY OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, WARRI BRANCH”