EMEKA UGWUONYE AS A TRAILBLAZER

BARR EMEKA UGWUONYE AS A TRAILBLAZER.

 

Trailblazing is an art – form. It is how we find paths through what before was wilderness or desert.   With no guide but our focus, dedication and initiative,  we pushed aside branches, move through hills and valleys in pursuit of the set goals.

 

In no other person has this art eminently personified today than  in the life of Emeka Ugwuonye (Esquire)

The founder of Due Process Advocates (DPA) and President of ECULAW.

 

Before now, there was a dangerous dichotomy in our legal system. Justice for the rich was entirely different from Justice for the poor. Suddenly PDA emerged and challenged the system.  It’s aim  is to unify  the system of justice where all shall be equal before the law.

 

In Nigeria, many have been denied access to Justice simply because they cannot afford it.

 

Women have been bruised, intimidated and subdued simply because they are presumed weak by the predators and have no one to speak for them.

 

The situation must have worried Barr Emeka Ugwuonye. Emeka was trained in Harvard Law School and had spent many years in America where there is rule of law, women and children’s rights  are cherished and respected. So many things Nigerians take as normal appeared unacceptable to him. In a way to help the situation, he came up with the ideals of DPA which is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.

 

To facilitate access to justice for all, DPA through the leadership of Ugwuonye fashioned out a replica of Insurance policy  where a mutual legal – cost support program was established whereby members contribute little towards a collective costing of access to justice and legal defense aid.

 

Since its formation, DPA  has been a huge  success in Nigeria. It protects the weak and vulnerable. It has been the authentic voice for Justice, fairness, equity and right to the pursuit of happiness.

 

I respect men who picked up a cause, pursue it through thick  and thin despite the opposition till the goal is achieved without giving up. Such men are real leaders.  Barr Emeka Ugwuonye is one of such men.

 

Helen Keller Said… ” It is always painful to set one’s self against tradition, especially  against conventions and prejudices that hedge about womanhood”.  That’s  the case with Ugwuonye.  He became voice and strength to the oppressed women of Nigeria. He made women realized their rights in their matrimonial homes. His fight against Domestic violence (DV) attracted huge opposition  and condemnation. They accused him of encouraging divorce  and breaking homes.

 

His success with DPA came with heavy sacrifices. He stepped on powerful toes and went against tradition and norms but he was not deterred. A lot of forces conspired to pull him down but he resisted.

 

Some of his aggrieved former staffs and friends who were bought over by those that fight  him left with the prototype and style of DPA.  They have since established Justice Intervention Organizations after DPA but they are yet to make any impact.

 

Truly and without doubt, Barr Emeka Ugwuonye is a trailblazer. He set the pace, others follow.

 

Ifeanyi Calistus,