As the popular saying goes, ‘There is something in a name,’ and for Robert Nii Arday Clegg, who is a multiple award-winning lawyer and media personality, his name has obviously brought ‘something good’ to him and the Ghanaian media space.
For close to a decade-and-a-half, Robert has hosted multiple prize-winning shows and it appears that whatever he touches turns to gold - and why not? His name, Robert, according to Wikipedia, means ‘bright with glory’.
Other sources also say the name is of German origin and it stands for ‘fame’ and ‘shining’. His surname, Clegg, is also said to be the name of a hill in Lancashire, England, originally known as Clague.
Hills point to the top and it is not surprising that Clegg has been rising to the top ever since he appeared on the Ghanaian media scene in the late 1990s.
Interestingly, his middle name Nii, is a Ga title that connects with royalty and elegance. Meet the man in person and all one will see is overflowing confidence and classiness.
These and other qualities are what Robert brings to Starr 103.5 FM, as the host of the station’s flagship programme, the “Morning Starr,” which hits the airwaves from 5:55am to 10:00am Monday to Friday.
Multimedia era
There is no doubt that Robert knows his craft as a broadcaster and a pin-sharp interviewer. While he worked with the Multimedia Group as a presenter of PM Express on Multi TV between 2010 and 2012, he was adjudged the Television Current Affairs Show Host of the Year 2012 by the Radio and Television Personalities (RTP) Awards in Ghana.
This was for the dexterity with which he moderated discussions of national and international importance with former Presidents, including John Kufuor (Ghana), Sam Nujoma (Namibia), as well as Anas Aremeyaw Anas, international award-winning journalist, Jareth Merz of the Hollywood production, “Passion of the Christ” fame, Azumah Nelson (member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and World Boxing Hall of Fame), among many other top personalities.
Again, as production owner and presenter of ‘Inside Out With Nii Arday Clegg’ on GTV between 2006 and 2010, the show was nominated by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (C.I.M.G.) for Programme of the Year 2009 and 2010 for his excellent interviews with prominent personalities, including Prof. Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative in Liberia and Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, former Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
Robert appeared on the media scene in the late ‘90s, when he worked at Radio Univers, the University of Ghana campus radio. Even as an up-and-coming broadcaster at Radio Gold, Network Broadcasting Company Limited, Accra between 2000 and 2006, Robert was nominated for the Radio Presenter of the Year 2002 Award, having gained national prominence for interviewing former President Jerry John Rawlings, then Vice-President Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills (the late former President of Ghana), then Member of Parliament John Mahama (current President of Ghana), Emmanuel Bob-Akitani, the main opposition candidate in the Togolese presidential elections of 2003 and 2005.
The eloquent broadcaster has on numerous occasions made guest appearances on radio and television, where he shared his perspectives on the review of Ghana’s constitution, issues of criminal justice and the activities and conduct of statutory bodies.
Sportsman
In sports, he was a part of the Metro TV Ghana panel that analysed the Africa Cup of Nations of 2008, the UEFA Champions League Grand Finale of the 2008/9 season and the FIFA World Cup Finals 2010 held in South Africa live on television and was part of the live Multi TV panel for the UEFA Champions League Grand Finale of the 2010/11 season.
Listening to Robert interview guests on ‘Morning Starr’, one gets the feel of a true lawyer as he literally cuts open some of the evasive interviewees with razor-sharp questions that keep them locked on the path that he wants the interview to take.
It appears that law and media are in his blood and indeed, Robert has been successful in both fields. Presently, he is a Managing Partner at Clegg & Everett, Accra, Ghana, a business law firm that offers legal services mainly in corporate, commercial, transactional, property and litigation cases.
From 2008 to 2014, he worked as the Founder & Head of Clegg & Associates, Accra, Ghana. Before that he had distinguished himself as a Pupil/Associate at Reindorf Chambers in Accra, where he conducted research for Ghana’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) under the auspices of the German Technical Assistance (GTZ); he was part of a team that advised the Government of Liberia on a steel agreement, drafted court processes, appeared in court, wrote legal opinions in banking, mining, agro-processing and real estate matters and undertook due diligence activities.
Robert has also worked at the Institute of Economic Affairs, (IEA) as a Research Assistant / Programmes Officer. His leadership skills were on full display when he moderated the European Union Day in Ghana in 2012 at which the then Vice-President of Ghana (now President) delivered the keynote address.
He has also delivered public lectures on various issues and served as a judge for two consecutive years of the Jessup Moot Court, Washington D.C., U.S.A. and on one occasion was peer-nominated as the president.
Writer
Robert is not only a good speaker but an excellent writer too. While serving as the Ghana Supreme Court correspondent for “Top Court Talk”, an Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada project on happenings in the highest courts in countries around the world, he wrote articles in governance journals and national newspapers and assisted in administering questionnaires on legal and governance issues.
He was also an accomplished personal research assistant to the executive director of the Ghana Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-Ghana) and a participant in many research field trips under the auspices of international organizations such as USAID, and a Teaching Assistant in Political Thought and Public Administration at the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, Legon.
In 2013, he wrote and self-published a book, ‘10 Strategies for Making Top Grades at the University,’ to help students to adopt strategic approaches to learning.
Robert’s achievements are backed by solid formal education, part of which was at the prestigious Harvard Law School, where he studied and obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in Corporate Law, Finance & Governance.
In September 2006, he qualified from the Ghana School of Law, with a Qualifying Certificate in Law (Q.C.L.) (Professional Law) to qualify as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana, winning the Prof. Akua Kuenyehia Prize for the Best Student in Industrial Law, the S.Y. Bimpong-Buta Prize for the Best Student in the Law of Interpretation of Deeds and Statutes, A.D. Yakubu Prize For the Best Male Student in the Law of Interpretation of Deeds and Statutes and the S.K.A. Kodjovie Memorial Prize for the Best Student in the Law of Taxation.
Legon
At the University of Ghana, Legon, where he studied and obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in June 2004, he won the Bentsi-Enchill Prize for the Best Graduating Student in Law.
Before that he had acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with Philosophy, from the same university, where he graduated with 1st Class Honours and was among the top 1% of a class of 400 students.
Indeed, he made the Vice-Chancellor’s Honours List for attaining a Grade Point Average of 3.96/4.00 in one semester.
In Achimota School, where he got his General Certificate of Education (GCE) O’ and A’ Levels in 1993 & 1995 respectively, he won the Ayi Kwei Armah Prize for Prose, Literature-in-English (1995, Upper Six).
Robert is a solid sportsman with some enviable achievements in hockey, including Captain, Achimota School Hockey Team (1994-95, Sixth Form), Goal King, Inter-Schools Zonal Hockey Competition with 4 goals in 3 matches (1995, Upper Six), the Most Outstanding Hockey Player Award, (1994-95 Academic Year, Sixth Form) and twice selected as a member of the Greater Accra Regional Hockey Team (1993 & 1995).
In the tracks, Robert was also a good runner, winning the Inter-Houses 4x100-metre finals (1995, Upper Six).
The effable and brilliant lawyer and broadcaster is a loving family man, married to beautiful Mabel with whom he has two sons, David and Samuel.
He enjoys informally teaching students of law. He says jollof rice with fried plantain and chicken will get him excited any day, any time; and if you wish to buy him an apparel as a present, ask him about the colour to choose, “because I don’t have a favourite colour – it depends on my mood and what item we are dealing with”.
No comments:
Post a Comment