Renowned constitutional lawyer and Professor of Law, Ben Nwabueze, is dead. He died at the age of 94.
Nwabueze, a native of Atani in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was born in 1931.
The spokesperson for the family, Eni Nwabueze, in a statement on Monday, confirmed that he died on Sunday evening in his home.
With great sadness, we announce the passing on to celestial glory of our patriarch, Professor B. O. Nwabueze, pioneer Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Oduah Afo-na-isagba of Atani, Anambra State, on Sunday, October 29, 2023, aged 94.
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“He lived an exemplary life of consequence. Burial arrangements will be announced in due course,” said the statement.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu described the death of the foremost constitutional lawyer as a profound loss.
The president, in a statement on Monday by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said Professor Nwabueze’s knowledge of the law was outstanding, and asked his family, the good people of Anambra State, and Nigerians, in general, to take solace in the worthy legacy that the deceased left behind.
Nwabueze was a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He was considered one of the leading experts on constitutional law in Africa.
Nwabueze studied in London and became a lecturer in 1962, first at the University of Lagos and later at the University of Nigeria.
Nwabueze was also involved in drafting Nigeria’s 1979 constitution. The following year, he received the Nigerian National Merit Award.
In the 1990s, he supported Ibrahim Babangida and was Minister of Education in his interim government in 1993.
In 2010, he made headlines when he declared that the Nigerian state had failed because of corruption and described revolution as the only way out.
From Adelanwa Bamgboye (Lagos) & Muideen Olaniyi (Abuja)