Obla Fulfils Promise, Pays £33,000 Tuition, N25m Upkeep for Idoma First-Class Law Graduate

Less than a year after making the promise in Otukpo, Chief Godwin Obla, SAN, has fulfilled his pledge to sponsor the first female of Idoma extraction to graduate with a first class from the Nigerian Law School for postgraduate studies abroad.

Through the Godwin Obla Foundation, Obla has paid the full £33,000 tuition for Ochanya, who has been admitted to Queen Mary University of London for an LLM in Artificial Intelligence and the Law.

The tuition was paid directly to the university, while another ₦25 million has been paid into Ochanya’s personal account for her upkeep during her studies in the United Kingdom. The dummy cheques presented to her at a ceremony in Abuja were therefore symbolic of payments already made.

Obla had made the promise at a reception organised in Otukpo by the Association of Idoma Lawyers for newly elevated Senior Advocates of Nigeria of Idoma extraction, where he pledged to mentor and sponsor the first Idoma female to make a first class at the Nigerian Law School for postgraduate studies in any institution in the world.

“Today marks a fulfilment of that promise,” Obla told guests at the Abuja event.

He said: “I can confirm today that her school fees of £33,000 and her upkeep of ₦25 million have been fully paid. The tuition was paid directly to the school’s account and the upkeep to Ochanya’s personal account.”

Obla said the scholarship went beyond rewarding academic excellence and reflected a conviction that Idoma people must deliberately create opportunities for one another.

“As a minority that is overwhelmed by the tyranny of the majority, we must be our brother’s keeper and helper at all times,” he said.

Turning to Ochanya, he added: “This scholarship is a challenge and a call for you to commit to the ideals of carrying others as you have been carried.

“I expect you to be a future burden bearer for our people and to live this ideal all your life.”

Obla said she would also be introduced to members of the Idoma community in the United Kingdom who would provide guidance and support during her stay.

Among those at the presentation were the President General of Ochetoha K’Idoma Forum Worldwide, Professor Yakubu Ochefu; representatives of the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Otukpo; senior members of the Association of Idoma Lawyers, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria; Moses Onyiloko; as well as Tanya and Sandra, whom Obla welcomed as scholars of the Foundation.

Ochefu commended the Foundation for interventions he said had largely been carried out without much publicity and urged Ochanya to make the most of the opportunity.

He particularly challenged her to pay attention to AI ethics and algorithmic bias from an African perspective, noting the need for Africans to become more involved in shaping the legal and ethical standards governing emerging technologies.

He also assured her that members of the Idoma community in the United Kingdom would be available to support her.

The Foundation’s intervention in Ochanya’s education follows several projects in health and education, including the Judith Ogwa Obla Memorial Kidney Centre at the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Otukpo, equipped with six dialysis machines and other medical facilities; an ongoing 23-bed VIP and amenity ward at the hospital; a ₦40 million endowment for outstanding medical students at the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo; internet connectivity for the university; and the renovation and equipping of science laboratories and other facilities at St. Francis College, Otukpo. A skills acquisition facility estimated at about ₦1 billion is also being planned.

A Senior Advocate who spoke at the ceremony described Obla’s leadership style as one built around creating opportunities for others rather than seeking accolades, recalling his role in encouraging the emergence of more Senior Advocates of Nigeria from Idoma land.

The gathering also remembered a late female colleague whom members of the Association of Idoma Lawyers had hoped would someday attain the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Obla commended the leadership of the association and acknowledged the designation of its Vice-President, Moses Onyiloko, for elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2026.

For Ochanya, studying for a master’s degree abroad was an opportunity she admitted she had never imagined.

She recalled receiving a telephone call from Obla asking about her plans after the Nigerian Law School, only for the conversation to end with an offer to fund her postgraduate studies.

Expressing gratitude to Obla and the Foundation, she said the opportunity had changed the direction of her immediate future.

The message from those at the gathering was, however, consistent: her first class was a beginning, not a destination. She was urged to work hard, remain focused and remember to extend to others the opportunity she had received.

Obla disclosed that the Foundation was already considering where its next scholarship intervention might go, this time outside the legal profession.

“Our next scholar may be in the area of aeronautics,” he said.

“Possibly, we are looking at sponsoring a young Idoma girl as a pilot. Fingers crossed as we work on this.”