Posted by In memory of the late Justice Centus Nweze of the Supreme Court, the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) now hosts an annual memorial lecture.
After a brief illness, BANKPAWA reports that Nweze passed away in late July.
The ESUT Law Faculty has begun an annual memorial lecture series in memory of the late jurist as part of its efforts to perpetuate his legacy.
On Tuesday, the Justice C.C. Nweze Memorial Lecture Series committee was inaugurated by Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Simon Ortuanya, who praised the late Justice Nweze as “one of the most distinguished members of the bench.”
The committee is made up of Prof. Agu Gab Agu (Chair), Dr. Vincent Egechukwu Obetta (Vice Chair), Dr. Mrs. Joylin Nwabueze (Member), Rev. Dr. Sr. Chiegozie Onuegbunam (Member), and Dr. Chijioke Agu.
“On the 27th of August, the Board of the faculty of law approved the institution of Justice CC Nweze Annual Memorial Lecture Series for the faculty of law, ESUT,” Ortuanya added.
Remember that Justice CC Nweze of the Supreme Court left us not too long ago. He came to teach at our school as a guest professor. He was one of the most illustrious members of the Supreme Court and a man of vast knowledge.
In honor of “this very son of ours, one of us, erudite scholar,” the faculty has established a yearly memorial lecture in his name.
“It is not an easy thing to get to the Supreme Court,” he continued, “and we are privileged that our faculty has got somebody who rose to the position of Justice of the Supreme Court and he was also one of us as a visiting professor.”
The committee has been charged with a number of tasks, including but not limited to the following: planning the memorial lecture, ensuring its successful implementation, setting the date, time, and other necessary logistics, reaching out to potential lecturers and returning to the faculty board for approval of such lecturer, communicating with the family of the deceased Judge regarding plans for the lecture, and communicating with the University authority to ensure the success of the event.
The establishment of a professorial chair in international law named after Prof. Christian Nwachukwu Okeke, he stated, will also fall under the purview of the committee.
According to him, Okeke was the pioneer dean of the law school at ESUT after serving as dean of the law school at Anambra State University of Science and Technology (ASUTECH).
Prof. Agu gave an assurance on behalf of the committee members that they would complete their task.
He predicted that the bench will recognize Nweze for his diligence as a judge.
In addition to their professional friendship, the Nweze family considered Justice Centus Nweze a close personal friend. There is little doubt that Justice CC Nweze possessed a sharp mind; there is little doubt that he is a pillar of the legal community; there is little doubt that he is a jurist par excellence whose rulings are so replete with involvement that they invite the reader to imagine the scene upon which they are based; and there is little doubt that he has been widely cited in scholarly publications around the world.
Even in death, Justice Nweze is worthy of all the accolades we can give her. But we will honor his thoughts, since “ideas don’t die, there is no memorial for ideas, they are ageless,” as Agu put it. “My concern is whether he should celebrate his ideas or his death.