Inibehe Effiong has accused the NBA president, A.B
Mahmoud of acting cold to the plights of lawyers and yet being too
hyperactive about the controversial issue of Hijab. In his
statement the recent actions of the NBA leader has resulted to
losing his credibility in the Bar.
According to Inibehe “ The President of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) has brought utter shame and dishonour to the
Noble legal profession and his prestigious office by his impulsive
reaction to the arrogant behaviour of a bigoted female aspirant to
the Bar who flouted the Rule by wearing hijab to the Call to Bar
ceremony.
This is an NBA President whose voice has not been heard on
critical national issues; an NBA President that has not been able
to react swiftly and efficiently to reported cases of harassment of
Nigerian lawyers by the Nigeria Police; an NBA President that is
yet to publicly respond to the expulsion of Kayode Bello by the
authorities of the Nigerian Law School (NLS) on account of protest
against the school over sundry issues.
A. B. Mahmoud SAN is just another example that we are in trouble
in this country. He conveniently cited the admission of his
daughter into the New York Bar with her hijab on but was not
sincere enough to inform his audience that there is a wall of
difference between the American Legal System and the Nigerian Legal
System in all material respects.
First, America is a Civil Law Jurisdiction with an inquisitorial
system while Nigeria is a Common law Jurisdiction with an
adversarial system of justice.
Second, wigs and gowns are not part of the American system.
Lawyers over there do not wear wigs and gowns like we do here, in
Nigeria. Therefore, the issue of his daughter wearing hijab does
not arise. It is Non Sequitur.
Third, the United States of America has a totally different mode
of admission into their Bar. The American system is decentralised.
That is, each State has its own Bar with differing criteria and
procedure for admission. The NBA President stated that his daughter
was admitted into the New York Bar, not American Bar per se. In the
State of New York, Call to Bar is done in a simplistic manner
devoid of drama and officialdom. It is a very ‘stressless’ exercise
with no stric official dress code.
The opposite is the case in Nigeria. Here, we have a centralised
system of admission into the Bar. None of the 36 States in Nigeria
have a Bar of its own. We only have one Nigerian Bar. We do not
even have a Northern nor Southern Bar here. We do not have a Muslim
nor Christian Bar. We have only one secular Nigerian Bar. Our Call
to Bar ceremony is more or less a spiritual, ritualistic, official
and corporate exercise with a very strict dress code. Here, you
cannot just wear any suit that looks like black. It must be black
and not just black but solemn black.
Hijab is not ordinarily permissible during our call to Bar. If
you must wear one, ALL YOUR FACIAL FEATURES MUST BE EXPOSED FOR
SIGHTING.The deviant lady in question from photos circulated on the
internet had her ears covered. Even if the court were to rule that
female aspirants to the Bar have the right to wear hijab, this lady
will still fail because the manner in which she wore her’s was
offensive and unlawful. No right is absolute. Period.
Fourth, the NBA President should be bold enough to tell us the
actual motivation for his sudden, eccentric and rather divisive
activism. If he wants to reform the dress code for the Call to Bar
and the Bar generally, let him come out plain and say so rather
than stocking religious tension in the Nigerian Bar with his
untenable utterances. He promised us a Brave New Bar. Today, we can
all see that there is neither brevity nor newness in the A. B.
Mahmoud-led NBA. If he wants the legal profession to abolish wig
and gown, he should say so unambiguously.
I believe that the NBA President has lost credibility to lead
the Bar with his annoying, polarizing and misconceived tweets in
favour of the hijab wearing aspirant to the Bar. Nobody, no lawyer,
will be intimidated by the personal opinion of the NBA President. I
do not know when the National Executive Committee of the NBA sat to
take a position on this matter.
Lastly, if Mr. Mahmoud SAN wanted us to know that he has a
daughter who studied abroad, well, we have heard him. We are not
surprised. He is one of the elites who do not have faith in our
educational system.
Inibehe Effiong has accused the NBA president, A.B
Mahmoud of acting cold to the plights of lawyers and yet being too
hyperactive about the controversial issue of Hijab. In his
statement the recent actions of the NBA leader has resulted to
losing his credibility in the Bar.
According to Inibehe “ The President of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) has brought utter shame and dishonour to the
Noble legal profession and his prestigious office by his impulsive
reaction to the arrogant behaviour of a bigoted female aspirant to
the Bar who flouted the Rule by wearing hijab to the Call to Bar
ceremony.
This is an NBA President whose voice has not been heard on
critical national issues; an NBA President that has not been able
to react swiftly and efficiently to reported cases of harassment of
Nigerian lawyers by the Nigeria Police; an NBA President that is
yet to publicly respond to the expulsion of Kayode Bello by the
authorities of the Nigerian Law School (NLS) on account of protest
against the school over sundry issues.
A. B. Mahmoud SAN is just another example that we are in trouble
in this country. He conveniently cited the admission of his
daughter into the New York Bar with her hijab on but was not
sincere enough to inform his audience that there is a wall of
difference between the American Legal System and the Nigerian Legal
System in all material respects.
First, America is a Civil Law Jurisdiction with an inquisitorial
system while Nigeria is a Common law Jurisdiction with an
adversarial system of justice.
Second, wigs and gowns are not part of the American system.
Lawyers over there do not wear wigs and gowns like we do here, in
Nigeria. Therefore, the issue of his daughter wearing hijab does
not arise. It is Non Sequitur.
Third, the United States of America has a totally different mode
of admission into their Bar. The American system is decentralised.
That is, each State has its own Bar with differing criteria and
procedure for admission. The NBA President stated that his daughter
was admitted into the New York Bar, not American Bar per se. In the
State of New York, Call to Bar is done in a simplistic manner
devoid of drama and officialdom. It is a very ‘stressless’ exercise
with no stric official dress code.
The opposite is the case in Nigeria. Here, we have a centralised
system of admission into the Bar. None of the 36 States in Nigeria
have a Bar of its own. We only have one Nigerian Bar. We do not
even have a Northern nor Southern Bar here. We do not have a Muslim
nor Christian Bar. We have only one secular Nigerian Bar. Our Call
to Bar ceremony is more or less a spiritual, ritualistic, official
and corporate exercise with a very strict dress code. Here, you
cannot just wear any suit that looks like black. It must be black
and not just black but solemn black.
Hijab is not ordinarily permissible during our call to Bar. If
you must wear one, ALL YOUR FACIAL FEATURES MUST BE EXPOSED FOR
SIGHTING.The deviant lady in question from photos circulated on the
internet had her ears covered. Even if the court were to rule that
female aspirants to the Bar have the right to wear hijab, this lady
will still fail because the manner in which she wore her’s was
offensive and unlawful. No right is absolute. Period.
Fourth, the NBA President should be bold enough to tell us the
actual motivation for his sudden, eccentric and rather divisive
activism. If he wants to reform the dress code for the Call to Bar
and the Bar generally, let him come out plain and say so rather
than stocking religious tension in the Nigerian Bar with his
untenable utterances. He promised us a Brave New Bar. Today, we can
all see that there is neither brevity nor newness in the A. B.
Mahmoud-led NBA. If he wants the legal profession to abolish wig
and gown, he should say so unambiguously.
I believe that the NBA President has lost credibility to lead
the Bar with his annoying, polarizing and misconceived tweets in
favour of the hijab wearing aspirant to the Bar. Nobody, no lawyer,
will be intimidated by the personal opinion of the NBA President. I
do not know when the National Executive Committee of the NBA sat to
take a position on this matter.
Lastly, if Mr. Mahmoud SAN wanted us to know that he has a
daughter who studied abroad, well, we have heard him. We are not
surprised. He is one of the elites who do not have faith in our
educational system.