There is an African Proverb that says, ‘You should not lose focus of the gazelle simply because you have seen a dashing squirrel. I relate to this saying as this is the cost of being distracted for the publication of this tribute last year on the 70th birthday celebration of Nne Bishop, Nwabueze Jaja Wachuku Nwokolo. The story about my ministry and the development of the Nigeria Methodist Mission (NMM), UK and Europe, is not complete without the impactful patroonship and leadership influence of Nne Bishop Nwabueze. I call her Nne Bishop, meaning mother of Bishop based on her love and support for my ministry and my election in 2022 at Methodist Church Nigeria 48th/13th Biennial Conference at Abuja. Nne Bishop Nwabueze is well-known and admired in her local community in Solihull, United Kingdom, and Methodist Church in Britain. She is known for her authenticity, humility, generosity, respect for self and others, and integrity.

Nne Bishop Nwabueze is a mission enabler full of godly wisdom. She was swift to recognise and identify with my calling and ministry. 2014, she called me and said, “Ayo, well done. Thank you for making us proud in the United Kingdom. Your writings are very inspirational. Please make sure you develop a blog for your writing. Many people are following you on Facebook. Get your blog for better storage.” As of today, there are over 600 Christian articles on my blog. Despite Nne Bishop Nwabueze’s legal and church tight schedules, she agreed to be a patron of the NMM, and she remains a source of inspiration and counsellor, especially in church polity, leadership, legal education advocacy, and against racism.

Nne Bishop Nwabueze continues to be an unwavering, excellent, innovative advocate for the affordability of legal education in the United Kingdom. Her vision is to reduce university education costs to remove financial hindrances to aspiring black lawyers. She is a clear voice on the need for mentorship programmes and strategies of encouragement for young people interested in studying law.’ She said, “The solicitors’ profession continues to attract BME student lawyers despite the high cost of the academic, conversion and practice aspects of training to be a solicitor. It was easier in the past when grants were available from one’s local authority, even for the post-university stage. The law is an extremely competitive profession, as was emphasized by all our panelists. To succeed, you do not necessarily need a first from Oxbridge. What is required is a belief in yourself, passion, integrity, honesty, persistence and a capacity for hard work. You need as many mentors as you can muster, and all our panelists have made themselves available to aspiring lawyers in need of help in this regard. A law degree continues to be highly sought after and valued by employers. Young lawyers should, therefore, be ready to be innovative and creative in using their valuable training as legal professionals.”

Nne Bishop Nwabueze, a royal princess of Ngwaland, was born on 11 December 1954 to Rhoda and Jaja Wachuku of blessed memory. Her father, Jaja Nwachuku, was Nigeria’s first Speaker of the House of Representatives, the first Nigerian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and the first Nigerian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations. She is the granddaughter of King Josiah Ndubuisi Wachuku.

Nne Bishop Nwabueze attended Queen’s School, Enugu and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UKK) from 1973 to 1977. She graduated with an LL. B, Bachelor of Laws – including law, civil and criminal procedure. She was called to the Nigerian Bar as BL, Barrister at Law 1978. She did her National Youth Service Corps programme in 1978. At the University of Nigeria, she was hall chair, ‘as well as a member of the badminton and swimming teams, including being a member of Kandel Klub-show the Light.’ She was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria 1978.

Nne Bishop Nwabueze is married to Chuka Uchemefuna Nwokolo, a medical doctor and Emeritus professor of gastroenterology and nutrition at the University of Warwick and Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). Their marriage is blessed with two daughters: Munachiso and Idu.

 As a committed Methodist, Nne Bishop Nwabueze did representative and racial justice work for the Methodist Church of Great Britain. She was a director, trustee and governor at Queen’s Foundation, Edgbaston, Birmingham. Nne Bishop Nwabueze founded All Issues Mediation Service (AIMs), which deals with conflict and dispute resolution in families and communities. She does numerous voluntary and nonprofit services to humankind through RIOJAWACH: Rhoda Idu Onumonu Jaja Wachuku, an NGO: Non-governmental organisation she set up in abiding memory of her parents, Rhoda and Jaja Wachuku.

In 1990, Nne Bishop Nwabueze studied further by passing Nottingham Trent University’s CPE: Common Professional Examination (PE) for law discipline practitioners in the United Kingdom. Nne Bishop Nwabueze advanced in her legal studies by graduating from the College of Law Chester with LSF. In 1999, she did PDT Family Mediation Training in the UK. In 2000, Nne Bishop Nwabueze qualified for CeMAP: Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice, and in 2004, she got a Diploma in Mortgage Lending. In 1995, she enrolled as a Solicitor at Her Majesty’s Courts of Justice of England and Wales or the Supreme Court of England and Wales, now called the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Nne Bishop Nwabueze was a council member of the Law Society responsible for Minority Ethnic Concerns. She was chair of the Black Solicitors Network (BSN) organisation in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. She represented BSN on the External Implementation Group (EIG) set up by the Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA, ‘in response to findings of adverse and disproportionate regulation of black and ethnic minority solicitors.’ As BSN chair, Nne Bishop Nwabueze significantly contributed to the Judicial Appointments Process in the House of Lord’s Constitution Committee in November 2011.

Nne Bishop Nwabueze is a humanitarian, multicultural and better family plus social justice advocate and a mediation, philanthropy, nonprofit, servant leadership, community development, peacebuilding, equality, tolerance, inclusion and diversity expert. In May 2013, Nne Bishop Nwabueze was listed as a role model in Great Britain by BRM-UK: Black Role Models United Kingdom organisation headquartered in London. She was a director of the Black Solicitors Network (BSN). She was elected as BSN national chair in October 2010. She led the Midlands chapter and was responsible for pastoral care based on her longstanding experience as a family lawyer, ecumenical trustee and empathic mediator. As Black Solicitors Network chair, Nne Bishop Nwabueze has been working smart to make sure that the general UK disappointment at the low rate in the number of lawyers of Black and African descent in the legal profession is improved for good in the interest of the country; in terms of better minority inclusion and worthy diversity.’

Nne Bishop Nwabueze continues to ‘advocate and campaign for the elimination of any form of discrimination and unfair treatment of people in the United Kingdom, Nigeria and across countries of the world, and she affirms that “there is much work to be done” by all humankind in the years ahead. She said: “We must lead the charge and not follow in the wake of others who are not as well equipped as solicitors to provide and deliver legal services” for improved human rights, political freedom and survival of black and minority ethnic (BME) practices in the United Kingdom and globally.

Representing women, disadvantaged people and ethnic minorities in November 2011 at the House of Lord Constitution Committee, in her service as Black Solicitors Network Chair, Nne Bishop Nwabueze favoured the renowned “plateau of merit” reality concerning the process of appointing Judges in the United Kingdom. She affirmed: “We do not want a judiciary that is not meritorious … [but] you may be leaving out many people who would benefit society as a whole.” With the plateau of merit, “you look at society as a whole and accept merit exists in many different places and identify merit where you would not normally look.”

At the House of Lords, Nne Bishop Nwabueze is an acclaimed champion of human welfare, valuable servant leadership vision, enduring tolerance, intercultural communication, learning to live together, empathic knowledge transfer and making sure that appropriate training is given to those involved in the judicial appointments procedure. She is known to have stated that: “There is a need to expand the thinking around judicial appointments, including giving equality and diversity training to the people who make recommendations for appointments.”

For 16 consecutive years, Nne Bishop Nwabueze was a council member of the Law Society of England and Wales (2005-2021) and served on various committees and boards including National Executive: the Young Solicitors Group: 1999–2003, Equality and Diversity Committee of the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulatory Authority-SRA :2003-2005, 2005-2007, Chair 2007–2010, Chair 2007–2010, Legal Affairs and Policy Board and Co-chair of the Minority Lawyers Conference: 2011. Also, she was a member of the following relevant United Kingdom professional groups: Resolution (Solicitors Family Law Association) SRA: Solicitors Regulation Authority External Implementation Group: Association of Women Solicitors-1995 to date and Lawyers with Disability: 2005 to date.

She is no longer a financial member of the RESOLUTION and working parties and groups of Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA). She remains on the Roll with a current practicing certificate as a solicitor of England and Wales regulated by the SRA.

Happy renewing 70th birthday, dear Nne Bishop Nwabueze.