Onimim Ernestina Jacks (née Briggs) is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

serving since June 2015 as the Rivers State Commissioner of Agriculture in Nigeria. She is a member of the

Rivers State People's Democratic Party The Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party, also referred to as Rivers PDP, is the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is currently chaired by businessman and Philanthropist Felix Obuah. Prominent public ...

Early life and education

Jacks was born on 4 December 1961 in

Buguma Buguma City is a larger town in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is the headquarters of the Asari-Toru Local Government Area and base of the Kalabari Kingdom, a Nigerian traditional state. The town has an official Post Office and a big set of commercia ...

Asari-Toru Asari-Toru is a Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria. General Information Asari-Toru Local Government Area was created out of the old Degema Local Government Area on May 16, 1989, under the Hon. Eziwoke Wokoma. The inhabitants are of a c ...

local government area of

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa Ib ...

. She attended Federal Government College, Port Harcourt for her secondary school education and studied law at the University of Lagos receiving her Bachelor of Laws degree in 1983. She also obtained a Masters in Law (LL.M) in 1991 and was called to the

Nigerian Bar The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. T ...

in 1984 enrolling as a Barrister and Solicitor of the

Supreme Court of Nigeria The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...

. In 1987, she became an Attorney and Counselor of the Law of the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Career and politics

Jacks had a short Legal Practice in the United States of America between 1986 and 1987 as a Volunteer Attorney in the Civil Division of the New York City Legal Aid Society in Chelsea, New York. In 1989 she returned to Nigeria and set up a private Legal Practice in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

and Port Harcourt under the name Onimim Briggs & Co. with specialized practice in the sectors of Banking and Oil & Gas. From 1998 to 2008, she was a lecturer at the

Nigerian Law School The Nigerian Law School is an educational institution set up by the Government of Nigeria in 1962 to provide a Nigerian legal education to foreign-trained lawyers, and to provide practical training for aspiring Legal Practitioners in Nigeria. ...

Abuja. After which she became the Executive Director of the Legal Research Institute, Abuja. In 2001, She served as Chief Legislative officer in the office of Senator Ibiapuye Martins-Yellowe. In 2009, she was appointed by Governor Nysesom Wike as Sole Administrator of the Rivers State Library Board and subsequently the Rivers State Commissioner of Agriculture in June 2015.

Honors and awards

*Member, Governing Council of the Federal Government College, Port Harcourt *Fellow,

FIDA ''Fida'' (translation: ''Infatuated'') is a 2004 Indian romantic thriller film released on 20 August 2004. The film is directed by Ken Ghosh and stars Fardeen Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor. The film was a box office bomb. Plot Someb ...

*Fellow, Ashoka

Publications

Works published by Jacks include; *''Using ADR in resolving maritime disputes: a Nigerian perspective'', Volume 1, Number 1, Port Harcourt Bar Journal, December 2004 *''Women’s Rights under the Nigerian Criminal Law'', a monograph. 2003 *''Genderizing the 1999 Constitution'', accepted for publication, Journal of Public Law, RSUST Vol. 2 2003 *''Case Review; State vs. Cornelius Obasi (1998) 9 NWLR'', (part 567) 686, the Nigerian Law and Practice Journal of the Council of Legal Education, *''The Problems of the Niger Delta as a Human Rights Issue'', a paper presented at the conference on the Niger Delta at Port Harcourt, 6–9 December 2000. *''The Legal Regime of the Local Government System in Nigeria'', University of Calabar Law Journal, 2001.

References

External links