Aniefiok Christopher
A retired Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Ita Mbaba, has recounted harrowing experiences punctuated by suffering and hardship after losing his parents as a teenager.
Mbaba who retired from Asaba Judicial Division of the court after attaining the mandatory 70 years retirement age at the Bench recalled that the loss of his parents almost deprived him of having a formal education at the formative age.
Apart from becoming a Lawyer and climbing the rung of legal profession to become a State High Judge and Court of Appeal Judge, Mbaba has written 20 books and many poems.
He hails from Obio Etoi in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
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Expressing gratitude to God, the retired Justice, who spoke at Qua Iboe Church, Obio Etoi on Sunday, said he lost his parents before his 13th birthday, a situation that threw him and his family members into hardship and suffering and which threatened his primary education.
According to him, he completed his primary school through the help of a kind relative and thereafter was enrolled into St. Mary’s Teachers’ Training College, Abak where he later completed with a Teachers’ Grade 11 Certificate and General Certificate of Education in 1979.
‘‘Attending the Teachers’ Training College Education was a miracle,’’ he recounted in his autobiography, A Man Made by God, Moulded by Suffering and Grit.
He was later employed as a classroom teacher in 1979 until 1981 when he left the teaching job to study Law in the University of Calabar.
“It was a harrowing and challenging experience for him as he was self sponsored and had to rely on extra grace of God to complete his Law programme. He proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos where he obtained his Barrister at Law Certificate in 1986” his profile had stated.
Mbaba had private legal for 14 years before he joined the Akwa Ibom State High Court Bench in 2000. He was elevated to the Court of Appeal on 2010, where he has served dutifully, traversing the nation for the past 15 years, serving in seven Divisions, some of which he served as the Presiding Judge. He had written more than 650 leading judgements, with landmark legal pronouncements.
Delivering his goodwill message, Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno expressed gratitude to God for granting the celebrant a successful judicial career throughout his service period.
The Governor who spoke through the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Enobong Uwah, said Justice Ita Mbaba’s achievements in life, inspite of his humble beginning, remain an inspiration to many who are suffering today, assuring that with God, there is a hope of better tomorrow.
He congratulated the celebrator for marking his 70th birthday in strength and sound health, as he wished him well in his future endeavours post retirement.
Speaking on the importance of thanksgiving, the General Superintendent of Qua Iboe Church, Rev. Ekpedeme Effanga admonished leaders in position of authority to be circumspect of their actions while on earth or be ready to give account of their stewardship before God.
The clergyman who read from 2 Samuel 12: 7-9, likened retired Justice Ita Mbaba to the 10th Leper in the Bible, by returning to thank God for His benevolence, protection and sound health all through his 25-year-period in public service.
Commenting on his achievements, Justice Ntong Ntong of the Appeal Court described him a outstanding personality, who besides his achievements in the legal profession, has shone like a star being a writer, poet and novelist.
The highpoint of the event was the presentation of his autobiography, A Man Made by God and two other books: Stewardship on the Bench and Treaties on Adjudication, Law and Contemporary Issues written in his honour.
At the church service were eminent personalities from all walks of life including the President of the Court of Appeal and other Court Judges who eulogised Justice Ita Mbaba for his stewardship at the Bench.
UBC celebrates Mbaba at retirement
Justice Mbaba urged the judiciary including Judges and magistrates to restore the confidence of the citizens in the judicial system which, he said, was fast waning.
Speaking in Uyo on Saturday at a Special Book Reading session, entitled The Burden of A Judge in commemoration of his retirement organized by the Uyo Book Club, Justice Mbaba encouraged the judicial officers to put themselves in the shoes of litigants seeking justice, equity and fairness in court urging them not to dash the hope of a common man.
He warned against unnecessary delays of cases or adjourning of a matter for personal convenience, adding that such attitude most times had made litigants to regret coming to court in the first place.
The retired Justice recalled how he organized a programme for Akwa Ibom State Judiciary as a newly sworn-in judge to bring to their consciousness that a Judge is judging for God and must be accountable for his actions.
According to him, “Every judicial officer, Lawyers, Magistrates and Judges are working on the temple of Justice and they are there to account for whatever they are doing. Each time I had a matter to preside in court, I imagined the problems the litigants had before coming to court. They came to court as a last resort instead of taking up fights and killing themselves.
”They had a lot of hope and confidence in the judiciary; the judges and magistrates should not take this for granted. They should do all they can to restore the confidence of the citizens in the judicial system- that’s part of the burden of a Judge to make sure that he doesn’t dash the hopes of the people.”
Answering questions from the readers at the book club, he identified corruption, lies, and other misconduct by many professionals in their careers as human frailties not only prevalent in the judiciary.
Mbaba, whose book was read at the weekend by Uyo Book Club to mark his retirement from the Court of Appeal in Delta State, explained that he wrote the book when he was a law student at the University of Calabar.
The retired judge stated that he had no premonition that he would become a judge but craved to examine the challenges faced by judges daily in the course of dispensing justice to the people.
“Today, I am that God has answered that prayer. The present Godswill Akpabio’s International Stadium is built on that land.
“It now becomes a place where an international edifice is built for nations to play instead of fighting and unending litigation in the past.”
“When I became a Judge, I tried to organized a programme for Akwa Ibom State Judiciary trying to bring to the awareness or re emphasized the awareness that a Judge is judging for God.
In his goodwill message, the patron of the Book Club and Senator representing Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District, Senator Ekong Sampson noted that Mbaba’s contributions to Law, Jurisprudence and Literature were enormous.
While congratulating Mbaba on his meritorious service in the judiciary, the Senator described him as a huge asset to Akwa Ibom State and to Nigeria.
Reviewing the book, Dr Iboro Nelson said, The Burden of a Judge was written when the author was largely a law student. She said the book is a fictional prose of 164 pages written between 13th September, 1984, completed in 3rd November of the same year and updated in November 2003.
She said the book centers on the judge and the onerous responsibility his ethics of profession places on his shoulder to dispense justice that is “manifestly clear, fair and just, meeting the demands and expectations of the contending parties and relieving the weights on their back having been driven to the court for this very purpose.”
She added, “In a democracy which we progress to practice, the role of the judiciary cum the judge is of absolute importance as the final arbiter and mediator between the legislature and the executive especially when the lines of decency and decorum have been blurred owing to greed and avarice of politics and power-grab.”
Earlier, the founder of Uyo Book Club, Dr. Udeme Nana had informed readers that the club was founded 10 years ago with the objective to reawaken the reading culture of the people as many people do not have time to read books anymore after graduation.
Nana encouraged students to write books despite the challenges facing them in school.
