Former NBA President, Okey Wali SAN Celebrates 60 in Style
The birthday celebration commenced with a thanksgiving service at the River State Ecumenical Centre, Abonnema / Wharf Road, Port Harcourt, to praise the Almighty God for the life of Chief Okey Wali at his 6oth birthday anniversary.
The service which was presided over by the General Overseer, Royal House of Grace, Apostle Zilly Aggrey had in attendance the special guest of honour, Executive Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, accompanied by his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, the deputy governor, Attorney-General of the state, Honourable Judges, and top government officials.
Others are past president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN), Chief Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN), Emeka Obegolu JP, Past Secretary, Mazi Afam Osigwe and many legal personalities.
Special prayers were said for the Okey Wali family and the Rivers State Government, as songs of praises and thanksgiving were rendered by the Choir and the congregation.
The reception and book presentation which took place at Asia Town, Forces Avenue in the Old GRA, not far from the Ecumenical Centre was well decorated in golden ambience.
Newswire correspondent at the event reports that the celebrant who was looking and feeling far younger than his age was full of laughter throughout.
The chairman of the occasion, Chief Moses Wifa, SAN, said, that Okey Wali is worthy of being celebrated for his particular and extraordinary kindness to people, especially the junior lawyers.
Wifa said, “There cannot be a celebratory staleness regarding his selfless contributions to the society, for he has lived a life that touched the lives of many others. This perhaps, explains the consistent celebration by every person that has crossed the path of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Speaking during the presentation of Okey Wali’s autobiography titled: ‘A Life of Perseverance’, the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike said, Okey Wali has lived a life of service to the people of Rivers state and the country.
He said “Wali has influenced generations of Nigerians , including myself positively.
Narrating his story, Gov. Wike said “As a student of law at the River State University, I benefited from the law chamber of Okey Wali because it placed me ahead of my peers at school.”
“Okey Wali has supported me politically since 1998, he stood by me all through my political journey and never wavered at any point.”
“He is one person I can take a risk for without looking back. He is my friend and I will always stand by him at all times,” the governor said.
The Rivers State governor used the opportunity to show his displeasure at the democratic turbulence bedeviling the country.
“I am disappointed that we are still struggling to have free and fair elections. I am equally pained that the process has consistently been abused and that the current multi-party system has not worked well for the country. Rather, we are grappling with a lot of problems. One starts to wonder whether this country is being properly led.”
The governor said, “I have seen that the economic opportunity for Nigerians via good quality of life is not there. Instead, there is despondency and hopelessness. There is a great deal of uncertainty. Any reasonable and truly committed Nigerian, who is not exploitative and opportunistic, will not be happy with the present situation we are in, in the country.”
He called on progressive and legal minded young Riverians to join politics so that the decadence in the country would be corrected.
In his special message to the celebrant, Gov. Wike congratulated the former Bar President for turning 60, noting that Rivers people are proud of his achievements. “As the Rivers State government and her people celebrate you and as you get older, we wish that you continue to enjoy a very peaceful and good life.”
The former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Okechukwu Wali (SAN), told his story in a marathon, he advised young lawyers to pay their dues through hard work, rather than placing money ahead of professional competence.
He said, “Every senior members of the legal profession is concerned about developing the next generation of lawyers.”
“The hallmark of every profession is the wellbeing of its practitioners, but we are not there yet in Nigeria. I am very committed to good legal values and good education which used to be the pride of the legal profession, you don’t find that anymore. But we shall continue to educate the young ones for a better tomorrow,” Wali said.
He urged prominent Nigerians to always write their autobiographies as a way of inspiring young people to aspire to greatness.
The celebrant said, “I feel very good and I pray to God to grant me long life. But, I feel unfulfilled because what I set out to achieve by this age was to be in a great and fully democratized society that would be a pride of every citizen of Nigeria. There is still a lot of disappointment, and that’s why the country’s elders are still intervening in our democracy.”
The cutting of the birthday cake and presentation of gifts brought the wonderful celebration to a close.
Born on October 29, 1958 at Obio-Akpor Local Government Area in the metropolis of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, and attended the Port Harcourt Township School for his primary education but completed it at St. Paul’s Primary School in Diobu, Port Harcourt. He attended Baptist High School in Borokiri neighbourhood of Port Harcourt, where he obtained the West African School Certificate in 1973 and proceeded to the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom, where he received a Bachelor of Law degree in 1983. Okey Wali (SAN) was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984.
After few years of working experience, he was appointed as Secretary of Port Harcourt Branch of the NBA in 1992. He later served as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Rivers State before he was elected as the 26th president of the Nigerian Bar Association, and was succeeded by Augustine Alegeh (SAN) in 2014.
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