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By Enyeribe Ejiogu
Associate Professor and Director, Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Dr Sam Amadi, has been announced as the keynote speaker at the colloquium being organized by the Old Student s Association of Owerri Grammar School, Imerienwe, Imo State, in honour of late statesman, Dr Basil Nnanna Ukegbu, who will be buried on December 30, 2025, at his country home, Imerienwe. The colloquium will be held on December 29, 2025 at the school.
Ukegbu, who was a foremost parliamentarian in the First Republic, established the school in 1958, when he was 28 years. He went on to establish the Imo Technical University, Nigeria’s first private university in 1983, after winning a long legal battle against the Imo State government at the Supreme Court. However, the university was abolished by the military regime of Major General Muhammadu Buhari in 1984. Undeterred by that setback, he established TEDEM College for boys and Dorothy College for girls.
The Colloquium Planning Committee in a statement said: “Dr. Ukegbu’s life definition runs the gamut: an enigma, a mystique, a political prophet, a great teacher, a fighter for the underdog, a moulder of character, a revolutionary, a statesman, a founding father. But which is he?
“The core purpose of this colloquium therefore is to distill and capture the very essence of the man and his legacy and to situate it commandingly in the annals of history for posterity. There’s no appropriate location to anchor this epic event than the place where it all began – on the hallowed grounds of Owerri Grammar School in Imerienwe, and where the seed of his vision was first planted. It’s only befitting to do so.
“We are grateful to God for the role Dr Nnanna Ukegbu and Owerri Grammar School played to shape our lives and destinies. At this time, we believe there is no better honour, respect, or gratitude than to show appreciation by remembering, cherishing, documenting, and publishing the impact this great and rare gem, the legendary educationalist, entrepreneur, frontline political leader, community builder of record, and a mentor to thousands, has made to our lives, our communities, our state, our nation, and the world at large.”
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On the choice of Dr. Amadi as keynote speaker, the committee explained that his solid intellectual pedigree, which is widely acknowledged and respected, as well as his track record in public sector institutional governance naturally stand him out to headline the colloquium.
Amadi is a Visiting Professor at the Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State. He was Associate Professor and head of Department of International Law and Jurisprudence at Baze University, Abuja until June 2021. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies from 2016-2018. He was the pioneer chairman and chief executive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) 2010-2015.
Amadi is a lawyer, who holds a research doctorate degree (SJD) in Law from Harvard University, a Master of Public Administration (MPA), and a Master’s degree in Law (LL.M) from the same institution. He had also been a Special Adviser to the President of the Senate of Nigeria, Director of the Centre for Public Policy and Research, and Senior Legal Officer at The Human Rights Law Service.
The committee further stated that the public presentation of a 200-page book on Ukegbu would be held during the colloquium.
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