For Anita, it’s Mission Accomplished!
Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, the first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet.
In the words of the late great leader, icon and statesman, Nelson Mandela: “Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and vision with action can change the world.”
The power of vision is vital to having a roadmap to success. Evidently, young Anita Kaduru seemed to have followed the inspirational words of Mandela when almost 26 years ago, she told me in the Kaduru family residence in Sugar Land, Texas, in the company of her parents that she would like to become a lawyer! My brief chat with their young daughter on her aspiration was published at the time in the USAfricaCLASS magazine.
Her parents, Chief Blaize Kaduru and Countess Justina Kaduru, like many immigrant parents of Nigerian descent, would nudge and indicate a familiar preference for the medical profession. They did….
As Anita graduated from high school and got her first degree, her words in response to my informal conversation have come alive to the emergence of the young, diligent and resilient young lawyer!
She was born on June 8, 1994.
She graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in 2019, earning her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. During her time at UIW, she was a dedicated two-sport athlete on the women’s basketball and fencing teams.
Anita believes her “passion for equity, justice, and policy was ignited through my involvement in various campus clubs and societies. This drive led me to change my major from Biology to Political Science. Also, after being elected as a student senator, I found it more aligned with my strengths and passions.”
After graduation, Anita worked on the campaign to reelect City of Houston Mayor (at the time) Sylvester Turner.
She supported campaigns, later, in the City of Sugarland. Those experiences contributed to her earlier “motivation to become a lawyer.”
She applied to the law school at the University of North Dakota (UND). Anita informed USAfricaLive.com that she “concentrated on Business Law, Oil and Gas Law, and Bankruptcy Law. My favorite courses included Business Associations, Secured Transactions, Consumer Protection, and Bankruptcy.”
She spent the summer as a law clerk at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of North Dakota — under the Hon. Chief Judge Shon Hastings.
Anita graduated from UND on May 4, 2024, and has since accepted a prestigious federal clerkship at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania — under the Hon. Chief Judge Gregory Taddonio.
Looking ahead, she “hopes to work on large corporate restructuring cases at a top 25 law firm and is open to a career on the bench.”
Anita informed USAfrica that she is grateful for the support of her family in all that she does and credits them for “serving as examples of hard work and resilience.”
She informed USAfricaLive.com that “I’m lucky to have the best brothers, Bill and Charles Kaduru. I strive to serve as a worthy example to them.”
If she had to offer any words of inspiration, it would be, “Quitters never win and winners never quit! Don’t stop chasing your dreams.”
Congratulations to the determined, focused and achieving doctor of jurisprudence, Anita Eberechukwu Kaduru!
By Chido Nwangwu, author of the forthcoming 2024 book, MLK, Mandela & Achebe: Power, Leadership and Identity, is the Founder of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com. He has appeared as an analyst on CNN, ALJazeera, and SKYnews. Follow him on X (Twitter) @Chido247
