Innovation Minister Udeh and Justice Nnamani Lead Law Awareness Initiative in Enugu

Legal luminaries gathered in Enugu on Wednesday, where they championed discussions on making existing laws more accessible to the people of the state.

Our correspondent reports that the event was under the auspices of the Enugu State Government’s newly launched Law Enlightenment Project, known as LEPENS (Nkowa Iwu), an initiative aimed at improving legal awareness and making the law more accessible.

Speaking at the launch held at the Hon. Justice Umezulike Auditorium of the Enugu State High Court, former Attorney-General, Dr Kingsley Udeh, SAN, now Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, said the initiative represents “the birth of a legacy — a legacy of accessibility, empowerment, and justice rooted in awareness”.

Udeh, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the event, traced the origins of the project, crediting the Project Director, Barr Ikechukwu Maximus Ugwuoke, for initiating it and acknowledging the contributions of other team members, including Oluchukwu Nwakor and Oluwaseyi.

“LEPENS answers a fundamental question: How can citizens obey laws they do not understand?” he said, adding: “In a democracy, laws must live in the daily consciousness of the people.”

Udeh described LEPENS as “a social justice infrastructure, a public enlightenment tool, and a development catalyst,” pledging continued support despite his new federal responsibilities.

“Wherever I am called upon to support or strengthen LEPENS — especially through technology-driven public enlightenment — I will gladly do so,” he said.

Delivering the keynote address, the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice George Chibueze Nnamani, underscored the urgency of public legal awareness, criticising the age-old principle that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

“In a nation of largely uneducated and uninformed people, the doctrine can be oppressive,” he said.

Using hypothetical scenarios and historical references, he argued that citizens often fall victim to laws they have no realistic means of knowing.

“Many laws are unknown. How will citizens know a law has come into force if it is passed and left to gather dust in the government gazette?” He queried.

Justice Nnamani commended the LEPENS initiative for “supplying the missing link between existing laws and mass knowledge thereof,” adding that the project’s outreach to markets, schools, town halls, radio stations and mobile platforms represents “a sublime intervention at the right time”.

He called for broad collaboration to ensure the project’s success. “It is a hand-in-hand, no-mountain-we-cannot-climb effort,” he said. “The journey is not a lone-ranger one.”

On his part, the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Ikechukwu Ezenwukwa, said the project marks “a visionary step towards making the law understandable, accessible, and truly meaningful to every citizen”.

He noted that LEPENS originated under the leadership of the former Attorney-General, Udeh, SAN.

“We remain proud of the firm foundation he laid, and we are determined to carry this vision to full maturity,” he said.

Ezenwukwa added that the initiative would employ digital tools, radio programming, simplified legal guides and community outreach to bring legal knowledge closer to the people.

The Project Director, Ugwuoke, described the initiative as “a defining milestone in our collective commitment to building a legally enlightened and empowered society”.

He said LEPENS was conceived after observing how many citizens struggled with basic understanding of the laws governing them.

“For years, I saw citizens misinformed, unaware of their rights, unsure of their obligations, and often disadvantaged simply because the law felt distant or inaccessible.

“I knew something had to change, and so I conceived LEPENS to simplify and demystify the law for every citizen of Enugu State,” he said.

Ugwuoke praised Dr Udeh for expanding and institutionalising the concept when he served as Attorney-General.

“He recognised the power and necessity of this idea. Not only did he embrace it, he expanded its scope and secured its approval by the Governor,” he said.

The Governor of Enugu State approved the LEPENS project during Dr Udeh’s tenure as Attorney-General.

The initiative will deliver weekly legal education videos, radio programmes, digital content and community engagements aimed at building an informed and responsible citizenry.