Eno-obong Bassey Okon, a law graduate of the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), has emerged victorious against his alma mater and its top legal scholars at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Okon, who graduated from UNIUYO Faculty of Law in 2012, revealed in a statement that his academic journey was nearly derailed by a group of professors and senior legal figures who allegedly vowed he would never obtain his law degree.
Despite their resistance, he graduated and proceeded to seek legal redress for the injustices he claimed to have suffered.
“Today I won the University of Uyo at the Supreme Court of Nigeria,” Okon wrote. “In 2012 I graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University and some certain Professors and Senior Advocates said I would never obtain my law degree. I got it anyway.”
He sued the university at the Federal High Court in Uyo and won, with the court awarding him over ₦5 million in damages.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, the university appealed the decision, but the Court of Appeal upheld Okon’s victory.
“They took the matter to the Supreme Court only to realize it would be too hard to beat me in court,” he continued. “They resorted to using the police to harass, intimidate, and arrest me. That gave me a fresh course of action and I sued them again, winning over ₦22 million. They filed multiple appeals and I won them in all.”
With the Supreme Court now rejecting the university’s final appeal, Okon described the outcome as a triumph of perseverance and the power of knowledge over intimidation.
“It’s been by God’s strength that I have shown them that there is no luck in knowledge. To my legal friends who fought this fight with me—Daniel G. Daniel Esq., John James Esq., and Wisdom Chukwumere Esq.—I thank you for the effort and time. I showed them that intelligence is not in big names and titles.”
The case was brought to public attention by Akanubong Alexander.
