Legend of the Gladiator: Tribute to Austus Ceasar Ekeoba (1994 – 2014)
It is rare for one individual to be blessed with a plethora of skills. Such person is often the cynosure of attention, which may turn out to be the undoing of the maestro. This was the case of Austus Ceasar Ekeoba (ACE), the upcoming guru who was certified as one of Nigeria’s best orators in several moot court competitions around the country and even outside the shores of Africa before the cold hands of death snatched him away.
You need not be seated in a moot court to appreciate the depth of Ceasar’s oratorical eloquence. Merely listening to him give a precise and in-depth elucidation and analysis of a national dispute was akin to listening to a combination of the duo of Martin Luther King Jnr. and Abraham Lincoln with his electrifying voice and attention-commanding pose. Hence he was nicknamed “the Gladiator” by his classmates at the University of Benin, Nigeria. His stance at the moot court and his eloquence at clarifying a legal issue was so exhilarating that one could not but unburden ones’ mind with preoccupation to listen to him speak.
Ceasar (as he was fondly called by his peers at the University of Benin) was born as the older of two twin brothers on the 23rd of August, 1994 in the Netherlands to Mr. Christopher Ekeoba, a business consultant, and Mrs Esther O. Ekeoba, a marketing consultant. Ceasar was the eldest of three children born to the parents. His younger brother who is his twin brother is Austin Ekeoba. His sister, the youngest of the lot is Jessica Osemudiamen Ekeoba. Ceasar attended the Prins Johan Frisso in the Netherlands from 1998-2002, and proceeded to to Baliz Creche Nursery and Primary School from 2002 – 2004. He returned to his parents’ country of origin, Nigeria, in 2004. He attended the Federal Government College, Minna, Niger State from 2004 – 2010. He excelled in almost every subject that he was taught. Ceasar’s oratory skills was noticed at Secondary School where he was a member of the School debate team that won several competitions.
Ceasar commenced his study of Bachelor of Laws at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) in October 2010. According to his family, Ceasar had always loved this course and always wanted to be a lawyer as a child. His oratory skills was immediately noticed at the University of Benin, and he his thrilling personality made him easily clinch the position of the Class Representative. He participated in almost every Moot and Mock competition organized by the faculty of Law of the University of Benin for which he was eligible and was often on the winning team. He also clinched the award for the Best Counsel on several occasions even while contesting within a class that had other talented mooting stars.
In 2013, Ceasar and alongside his third-year classmates Chibueze Maduka, Frederick “Spenser” Anthony Okagua and Ruth Ikhaobomhe (now Ruth Ojeamiran) represented the University of Benin at the Wole Olanipekun National Moot and Mock Competition in Lagos. It was here that Ceasar’s oratory skills received national acclamation as he was crowned as the Best Orator of the competition while his University of Benin Team went on to win the national moot competition.
In April 2014, Austus Ceasar, again with his fourth-year classmates Chibueze Maduka, Frederick Spenser Okagua, and their fifth-year senior colleague Sebastine Odiata Odiamosen combined to form a Jessup Dream Team under the coordination of Prince Ulame Urese. The Dream Team defeated other Nigerian universities at the Nigerian National Rounds and proceeded to represent the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the International Rounds of the 2014 Philip C Jessup International Moot Court Competition in Washington DC, USA where his Team 137 (Team UNIBEN) emerged as one of the best schools from Africa at the competition. Here, Austus Ceasar Ekeoba caught the attention of the panel of judges as one of the best and ambidextrous orators of the competition with an amazing mastery of the Law of the Sea and Salvage.
The sun however begun to set at the dawn of the life of this shooting star after Team UNIBEN’s return from the Jessup Competition to the shores of Africa. Ceasar immediately after his return from Washington D.C. paid a courtesy visit to his hometown and returned back to school barely a week after. However, it was not as a conquering champion that Ceasar returned to school, but as a mere mortal subject to the fatalities of life. He mysteriously took ill immediately upon his return to the school campus and he was diagnosed of “Cerebral Abscess” at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.
In the early hours of 6th May 2014, the light of this Gladiator was extinguished as Ceasar breathed his last on his sickbed. It was so hard for his peers and colleagues to comprehend how a young talented star like Ceasar could be taken out of this world so quickly. The situation was akin to that of the poem, “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman.
The news of his death spread like forest fire all over the country and threw the University of Benin into grief, mourning and sorrow. Till date, almost nine years after his untimely death, the tale of the Gladiator is still whispered with awe all over Nigeria. The Jural Court of the Faculty of Law of the University of Benin was renamed to the “ACE Court’” in honour of the late Ceasar in 2015. The Nigerian National Rounds of the Jessup Cup was also renamed to Ceasar’s Cup in his honour. After his death, the University of Benin has featured only once at the International Rounds of the Jessup Cup in 2016 (with Victor Ojeah, Tami Koroye, Nonso Anyasi, Success Osatohumbhan, and Divine Atsegbua representing the country). The University of Benin finally returns to Washington DC as the team representing Nigeria at the 2023 Edition of the Jessup Cup. The Faculty of Law of the University of Benin is constantly reminded of the unsavory events which led to his untimely death during the preparations for every edition of the Jessup Cup.
All hope is not lost, because the Gladiator although dead, still lives on. He still lives on in the hearts of the students, staff and alumni of the Faculty of Law of the University of Benin. He still lives on in the hearts of Nigerian students and young lawyers. He still lives on anywhere and everywhere people are interested in advocacy.
Ceasar was destined to be a fine lawyer. He was destined to be a fine statesman with international relevance. Gift Keke Kgomstho, a South African student who was one of Ceasar’s adversary at the 2014 Jessup Cup aptly described the late Ceasar as a “True African Changer”. We were denied the manifestation of this destiny by the cold hands of death.
The ACE Foundation was set up by Ceasar’s friends and colleagues who walked with him through the moot courts of Benin, Lagos, and Washington DC and who have now gone on to become lawyers in different jurisdictions to immortalize his legacies. The ACE Foundation is supported by the Ekeoba Family, led by the Late Ceasar’s twin brother, Dr Austin Ekeoba.
Ceasar’s most favourite quote was of Martin Luther King Jnr., where he said: “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and delivery.”
Continue to rest in Peace, Austus Ceasar Ekeoba. You have stood your ground in the most challenging times and we are grateful for that.
This article was initially written by Nonso Anyasi at the University of Benin in 2015 on the first year anniversary of Ceasar’s death and has been revised in 2023 at the ILSA-ALSA Jessup Connect in Washington DC.