Tribute to Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku I
By SANI IBN SALIHU
*Introduction: 13th June 2026 – was the day Law Met Custom* in the history of Eggon land.
Saturday, 13th June 2026 will be entered in Eggon history with the same ink used for 1982. Forty-three years ago, the Staff of Office was presented to the late The late Dr Bala Angbazo, and Eggon land stepped into a new era of dignity and restraint. Today, that same staff, heavier with time and memory, is placed in the hands of Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku I as the new Aren Eggon.
But this is not repetition. It is resonance. For the man ascending the throne is not a stranger to power, nor a novice to counsel. He is the first person in Nasarawa State to wear three robes before one crown: the black robe of a judge, the flowing robe of a _Waziri_, and now the royal robe of an Aren Eggon_. This essay is a tribute to that convergence — a man formed at the intersection of the bench, the council chamber, and the palace.
*1. The Jurist: A Chief Justice Who Left the Bench Stronger Than He Met It*
Before he was _Your Royal Highness_, he was _My Lord_. Justice Ahmad Ubangari when he served as Chief Justice of Nasarawa State, the highest judicial office in the state. In Nigeria’s turbulent democratic space, few public officers retire with their reputation intact. He did.
*a. Institutional Integrity Over Personal Glory*
His tenure at the High Court of Justice, Lafia, was marked by quiet reform:
1. *Clearing the Backlog*: He prioritised case management. Files that had slept for years were assigned, tracked, and disposed of deligently.He believed a delayed judgment was a denied right.
2. *Judicial Independence*: During election petition seasons, when governors and courts are often pressured, his court maintained the temperament of the law. His rulings were short, precise, and rooted in precedent, not sentiment.
3. *Mentorship*: Young magistrates who served under him speak of one lesson above all: _“The law is not power. The law is service.”_ He retired not as a celebrity judge, but as a teacher of judges.
*b. Why a Retired CJ Makes a Different Kind of King*
Traditional rulership in Nigeria is often caught between two failures: rulers ignorant of constitutional limits, and politicians who turn palaces into campaign grounds. Justice Ubangari breaks that cycle.
1. *He knows Section 5, 315, and the Chieftaincy Law of Nasarawa State by heart*. He does not need a commissioner to explain the legal limits of a stool because he has written many judgments interpreting them.
2. *He understands evidence*. Land disputes, boundary claims, inheritance cases — issues that fracture communities — will meet a king who knows the difference between possession and title.
3. *He values records*. A man who spent decades signing court orders will not run a palace on rumors. He will run it on minutes, registers, and due process.
His coronation is therefore not just cultural. It is institutional. The judiciary is, symbolically, ascending the throne of Eggon.
*2. The Waziri: Four Decades of Apprenticeship Inside the Council*
Titles among the Eggon are not honorary. They are curriculum. The title _Waziri of Eggon_ — the Prime Minister, the Chief Counsellor, the Keeper of Precedent — is the second highest in the hierarchy after the Aren Eggon . Justice Ubangari held that title for decades while still serving as a judge. That fact is historic.
*a. What the Council Taught the Judge*
Law school teaches statutes. The _Waziri’s_ stool teaches people.
1. *Customary Law as Life, Not Footnote*: In court, customary law must be “proved by evidence”. In council, it is lived daily. As Waziri, he presided over _koso_ mediations, family settlements, and clan reconciliations. He learned when the strict letter of law must yield to the spirit of peace.
2. *Consensus as Governance*: Eggon councils do not vote. They listen until the last elder speaks, then the Waziri distills the collective will. That is training in patience no Nigerian Law School offers.
3. *The Memory of the People*: While CJ ,Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku applied the Evidence Act, Waziri Alaku kept the oral archive. He knows which clan swore an oath in 1963, which boundary was settled by _kolanuts_, and which wound must not be reopened.
He did not come to the throne to “learn Eggon culture”. He came to continue what he had been practicing for 40 years.
*b. The Power of Being an Insider*
Nigeria’s chieftaincy crises often begin with a ruler who is “brought from outside” — absent from funerals, unfamiliar with taboos, disconnected from the youth. Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku I is the opposite.
1. *Legitimacy*: The kingmakers know him. The priests know him. The market women know him. He buried elders, welcomed newborns, and settled quarrels long before the Staff of Office was discussed.
2. *Continuity with 1982*: He served under the shadow of the late Aren Eggon Bala Angbazo. He knows which of Bala Angbazo’s projects were unfinished, which alliances were strong, and which mistakes must not be repeated. He is not starting a new book. He is writing the next chapter.
3. *Dual Fluency*: He speaks the language of the Court in the judiciary and the language of the village square in Nassarawa Eggon Palace with equal fluency. That is rare currency in modern Nigeria.
*3. The Unique Position: Where the Gavel Meets the Staff of Office*
History is drawn to rare combinations. Oba Akenzua of Benin was a colonial officer-king. Emir Muhammad Sanusi was a banker-emir. In Nasarawa, Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku I is the first Chief Justice-king,though present Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Babe Muhammad is six years earlier on the throne as a Justice of the Supreme Court.That intersection gives him a political chemistry no predecessor has ever had in Eggon history.
**Dimension** **As Chief Justice** **As Waziri of Eggon** **As Aren Eggon Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku I**
**Authority derived from Constitution derived from Ancestral Precedent Merges both for legitimacy
**Decision Style** Judgment after hearing all sides Counsel after hearing all elders Rule by “judicial consensus”
**Relationship to State** Separate arm of government Partner to government in peacebuilding Bridge between Lafia and the villages
**Legacy Tool** Law reports Oral history Palace archive + court registry model
This is his unique position: He is a living bridge. Between the written law and the unwritten custom. Between the government that allocates budgets and the people who allocate trust. Bridges do not make noise. They carry weight. That has been his life’s work.
*4. The Burden of June 13, 2026 and the Opportunity It Carries*
The staff he receives Saturday 13th June 2026 is the same staff Late Bala Angbazo received in 1982. But the world is not the same. Eggon land in 2026 faces lithium exploration, youth migration to Abuja, farmer-herder pressures, and the challenge of making culture relevant to a TikTok generation.
*His Burden as Aren Eggon:*
1. *Land and Minerals*: As a former CJ, he must protect communal land from exploitation while still attracting investment. His courtroom training is his shield.
2. *Unity in Diversity*: Eggon sub-clans must see one crown. The Waziri who unified councils must now unify a people.
3. *Modern Relevance*: The palace must not be a museum only .Youths must see it as a center for mediation, education, and enterprise.
*His Opportunity:*
1. *A “Courtroom Palace”*: He can introduce documentation, transparent accounting, and due process into chieftaincy administration. That alone would be a revolution.
2. *National Voice*: Few traditional rulers can write a position paper for the National Assembly and also interpret an ancestral oath. He can do both.
3. *Completing the 1982 Dream*: The late Bala Angbazo was remembered for dignity.
4. Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku I can be remembered for dignity plus institutions. A reign that leaves behind buildings, yes, but also leaves behind systems.
*Conclusion: A Crown Tested Twice, A People Served Twice*
When the white horse moves through Nasarawa Eggon today and the Staff of Office is handed over, two ceremonies happen at once:
1. The Eggon people coronate their Waziri as the new Aren Eggon.
2. The Nigerian judiciary watches one of its own become a custodian of culture.
Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku I is not a judge who became king by accident. He is a judge who was king in counsel for 40 years, and is now king in title.
He ascends the throne with two instruments: the gavel of restraint that taught him not to rush judgment, and the listening ear of a Waziri that taught him not to despise the voice of the last elder. With those, he can rule without bitterness, govern without noise, and unite without erasing identity.
Forty-three years after Bala Angbazo, history has not only been repeated, It has actually matured. In 1982, Eggon land received a dignified king. In 2026, Eggon land receives a dignified king who also knows the law.
May the reign of His Royal Highness Justice Ahmad Ubangari Alaku I be long, peaceful, and wise. May his palace be a court of equity, and may his name be written among those who proved that tradition and the constitution can sit on the same throne.
