A navigation through the conspectus of Alphonsus Ogar Eba’s profile, also known as Okadigbo, as many prefer to call him, reveals a personage with uncommon blend of varied superlative qualities, seasoned with wide range of exposures which is way too seismic to be rivaled.
Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba , an indigene of Imaje Community in Yala Local Government Area, was born on the 8th day of June, 1975. He attended the Army Children’s Primary School, Imaje, Yala, Cross River State and obtained his First School Leaving Certificate at merit level in 1985.
After his primary education in 1985, he attended Igbeku Comprehensive Secondary School, Imaje, Yala Local Government Area and later proceeded to the prestigious Mary Knoll College in Okuku, Yala of Cross River State. He completed his secondary education in Adzer Beke College, Korinya in Benue State where he obtained his Senior Secondary Certificate (SSCE) in 1993.
His aspiration and quest for higher education led him to pursue a Diploma in Law at the University of Abuja where he obtained a Diploma in Law in 1997. He, later, proceeded to the University of Maiduguri where he obtained a Bachelor of Law ( LLB) Honours and became a full-blown minister in the temple of Justice in 2006.
He, immediately, proceeded to Law School, Lagos Campus and was called to Bar as Barrister at Law and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the following year, being 2007. Barrister Alphonsus Ogar Eba is currently running a Master programme in Law (LLM) at the University of Calabar.
Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba started his law practice as a Counsel with Erokoro & Co, Abuja in 2008 after completing his one year compulsory National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) where he served in Maiyama Local Government of Kebbi State in 2007.
To further broaden the horizon of his experience, he became a Principal Partner with A. O. Eba and Co, Abuja in 2011 where he practiced until he assumed an executive responsibility as MD / CEO of Owoche and Owogbalor Ltd, MD / CEO of OwoAda Farms Ltd.
In 2015, he acquiesced to the call of state’s service and served in the capacity of Legal Consultant to the Cross River state Government. Later that year, he was appointed as the Director General of Due Process and Price Intelligence Bureau under Governor’s Office, Cross River State, a position he held for 4 years and was re-appointed in 2019 as Acting DG. Within one month in Acting capacity and after an impressive appearance before the Cross River State House of Assembly, he was confirmed as Substantive DG for a second term in office.
Without a trip into his political exploration, this conspectus would be incomplete. Alphonsus started his active political journey in 1991 as an ardent political follower of Senator Greg Ngaji and rose to seek his first political aspiration to the office of Cross River State House of Assembly in 2010 under the platform of PDP but, after he was denied the opportunity to contest, he protested his ill treatment and ran under the platform of ANPP. After being appealed to, because of his large followership in Yala under the umbrella of his political structure (Okadigbo Vanguard), Alphonsus Ogar Eba Esq returned officially to PDP in Feb. 2012 and in 2014, he was made the Echumofana Ward Coordinator of PDP, an assignment he undertook with his personal resources and ensured satisfactory victory for the PDP.
Since the reward for hard work had always been more work, the horizon of his leadership responsibility was widen to cover the entire Northern Senatorial Zone where he was made the Chairman of Mobilization Committee of the Maiden Northern Festival Celebration of Cultural and Agricultural Harvest (Northfest) in 2017.
In 2018, he was made the Co-coordinator of PDP Northern Senatorial District Think-Tank Committee for Zoning of Election Offices. Still in that year, the ante of his political responsibility was scaled-up and was made Member of PDP Appeal Committee Screening Panel for National Assembly Candidates, Bayelsa State.
In 2019, he was made Team Leader of the Governor’s Special Facts Finding on Oba/Itega Okpame-Yala Local Area crises. In that same year, he was made Leader of Governor’s Task Team on Land Acquisition in Cross River North for the Implementation of Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme, APPEALS and YETA.
Available records in research are quite consistent with the assumption that campus politics is the cradle of circular politics. The validity of this assumption is further strengthened by the structural similitude between the campus and the larger society, just that the campus structure is society in miniature. What this infers is that, one’s success in circular politics and leadership is the derivatives of his success in Campus politics and leadership.
To lend credence to this assumption, let us reset our compass into the campus political leadership of Alphonsus to see how successful he was: in 2006, he was a Member of Students’ Representative Council of Nigerian Law School, Lagos.
In 2005, he emerged as the National Mobilization Officer of the National Nigerian Students (NANS). He also, in that year 2005, became the Principal Counsel of J. K. Gadzima Chambers, Faculty of Law, University of Maiduguri.
Other positions he had held while on campus are as follows: Adviser on Legal and Constitutional Matters to the Students’ Union Government (SUG), University of Maiduguri in 2003; Secretary-General, National Association of Cross River State Students (NACRISS) University of Maiduguri Chapter in 2002.
Member, Students’ Representative Assembly (SRA), University of Maiduguri, 2001; President, National Association of Yala Local Government Students( NAYLOGS), University of Maiduguri Chapter in 2000; Coordinator of Cross River North Youth Electoral College (CRONORTH YEC) in 2000.
Secretary of Independent Students’ Committee (ISEC) of National Association of Yala Local Government Students (NAYLOGS), World Wide in 1996; President, Fidelity Promotions Club, Okuku, Yala from 1992 to 1993; Secretary General of Fidelity Promotions Club, Yala, from 1991 to 1992; Coordinator, Hope Assess Foundation, XCORE, United States of America.
The award he has received includes: Senior Advocate of University of Maiduguri in 2005; Most Committed NARCRITE, National Association of Cross River Students in 2005; Distinguished Award of Exemplary Leadership, Christian Law Students’ Fellowship (CLASSFON), University of Maiduguri Chapter in 2005; Ochaguba 1 of Idoma (Chieftaincy Award), National Association of Idoma Students, University of Maiduguri Chapter in 2005;
Best Dressed Law Student, University of Maiduguri, 2005; Most popular Law student, University of Maiduguri, 2003 and Most Articulate Student Activist, University of Maiduguri in 2003.
On June 5, 2021 Barr. Eba took the bold step to leave his former party, PDP where he was a leading candidate of the State Chairman to the ruling All Progressives Congress in order to be with his boss, Prof. Ben Ayade, the Executive Governor of Cross River State.
Alphonsus Ogar Eba’s aspiration for the office of State Chairman in Cross River State was unanimously endorsed by the State Caucus of the party because of his humble, honest, hardworking, matured and sound intellectual ability, capacity, competence and capability in the management of affairs, organization, and people. He is a man of stable character, highly respectful, loyal and a man of peace and is believed to be the foremost party man at the moment that possesses the needed attributes to position the party and strengthen the party on the path of Peace, Love, Unity and Growth ( PLUG ) after emerging as the Cross River State APC Chairman.
Congratulations!
