Birthdays present us with an opportunity to celebrate life and deliver warm wishes to our great friends, family and relatives. Today, it gives me great pleasure to celebrate the birthday of a senior lawyer and brother, Mr. Tobenna Erojikwe (Partner at Law Crest LLP). As I spared some moments to recount the positive influence of Tobenna in the legal profession in Nigeria, the phrase, Quintessential Bar Man, naturally came to me as a fine way to describe him.

A Leader without Title

Tobenna is a charismatic leader whose philosophies are dressed in humility and impact. I personally see him as a Leader without Title. I learnt of the phrase, Leader without Title, from Prof. Pat Utomi who periodically organizes events to celebrate outstanding leaders whose achievements speak louder than their names in public—leaders who don’t care about titles. Prof. Utomi anchors these events through his organization, Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) in Lagos. Participating in such events revealed to me the through essence of leadership.

Interestingly, most of the practical values of leadership I learnt are all I have seen in Tobenna through the years. In him, I see a Leader without Title— a role model, values-driven, amiable, soft-spoken and selfless leader. Tobenna serves with great dedication and commitment to add value to the legal profession in Nigeria, his community and everyone he comes in contact with.

Aside from his giant strides in law practice as a renowned solicitor heading the Energy, Finance & Major Projects Team of his Firm, Tobenna served as the Chairman of the Continuing Professional Development Committee of the Lagos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). As a member of the Committee at the time, I can attest to his zeal to work for the professional advancement of lawyers. His love for the NBA and his sacrifices, notwithstanding the demands of law practice, is another reason I describe him as a Quintessential Bar Man.

Inspired by Tobenna’s achievements and innovative ideas, the former President of the NBA, Mr. Olumide Akpata, appointed him as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education of the NBA (NBA-ICLE) and later, as the Chairman of the Technical Committee on Conference Planning (TCCP) of the NBA Annual General Conference 2022.

Although a Leader without Title, Tobenna’s all-round achievements cannot be ignored. He is a recipient of multiple awards. Also, in 2022, Tobenna was appointed as a member of the National Judicial Council.

As he marks another year, I wish him the divine graces for greater accomplishments.

Happy Birthday Onwa!