The two year term of Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud-led national
leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association ends this August. Ahead
of the handover ceremonies, lawyers who meet the minimum
requirements will vote to elect a new leadership for the
association. Already, at least four individuals have expressed
interest in succeeding Mr. Mahmoud.
As important as it is to know the credentials and pedigree of
the candidates vying for the office of President, it is equally
important to know the candidates for other offices as well as what
they have to offer the association. However, it is early days as
the ban on campaigns has yet to be lifted but candidates have been
reaching out by varying means to their audiences. This writer is
not as concerned about the horse trading that is ongoing as he is
about interrogating what candidates bring to the table – and
getting elected officers to account for their mandates during and
after their terms.
The election season presents an opportunity not only to
interrogate what candidates have to offer but also to demand
accountability of the outgoing leadership. Obviously, the standard
should be the promises they made before assuming office and the
expectations they created in the execution of their mandates. I
leave that exercise to colleagues who might be interested in
exploring that strand. I focus the remaining part of this piece on
my expectations of the new leadership of the bar particularly in
the context of our fast-changing socio-political and economic
environment.
One of the most existential challenges to the non-profit
movement in Nigeria in 2017 was the NGO Regulatory Bill. Happily,
the NGO community was able to rally and defeat the bill…at least
for now. Regrettably, the NBA was conspicuously absent in the
advocacy against this bill although it will, almost certainly, be
affected by the bill if it were to become law. I imagine there was
a strategic reason for this stance and hope that the reason was
well-considered. The new leadership of the bar must take more
seriously existential issues.
Long-term planning is crucial for any organization that wishes
to remain relevant into the future. Within the limits of its
present experience, the bar association ought to think carefully
about planning long-term and seeing through on the implementation
of these plans. The practice of developing short term strategic
plans that do not transcend one term of two years – although the
plans often have more years than two – does not augur well for the
association. I would like to hope the new leadership will address
this challenge in a sustainable manner.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a sizeable proportion
of lawyers who would rather not participate in the activities of
the NBA because they think the association does not serve their
interests as well as it should. They may well have good reasons to
think so. The new leadership must seek to engage this group. As I
argued in a previous article on the 2017 conference of the NBA,
“opening up the space and scope for
engagement…might increase the possibility that expectations will be
met…” One way to do this is by finding out what exactly people
expect of their association. This is not time for
“government-style” project planning that assumes what people need
and then executes it regardless of utility to the people.
One more government-style idea that we need to dispense with is
staying in touch with the people as long as it takes to get their
votes and then withdrawing upon assuming office. There is no point
bombarding people’s inboxes and text message portals with seasonal
greetings and campaign materials if you are not prepared to keep
these platforms open to continuing engagement throughout your
term.
Most thriving bar associations around the world are
programmatically driven primarily by their secretariats. The NBA
ought not to be an exception. Whilst our current realities demand
that the national officers lead on policy and planning, I would
like to think that the secretariat ought to lead on programmes and
implementation – not just because it encourages professionalism but
also because it strengthens the arm of partners who wish to engage
with the association on a medium to long term basis. In its 2013
report, The Chidi Odinkalu Committee on the Professionalization of
the NBA identified some challenges with respect to the secretariat,
including absence of a clear role for the secretariat; no current
scope for professionalism; and unsatisfactory division of labour
between officers, committees and secretariat. The Committee also
made far-reaching recommendations. I understand that steps have
been taken to implement a few of the recommendations but there is
room for much more. I hope the new leadership will fully implement
the recommendations that are still relevant.
As Nigeria transitions to election year 2019, the NBA deserves a
leadership that will be a stronger voice in the march towards
consolidating our nascent democracy. The association’s 2018
elections offer the best chance to make that happen. I hope members
will think long term and the best interest of the organization and
our country in the choice of the next generation of leaders.
Culled: thesheet.ng
The two year term of Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud-led national
leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association ends this August. Ahead
of the handover ceremonies, lawyers who meet the minimum
requirements will vote to elect a new leadership for the
association. Already, at least four individuals have expressed
interest in succeeding Mr. Mahmoud.
As important as it is to know the credentials and pedigree of
the candidates vying for the office of President, it is equally
important to know the candidates for other offices as well as what
they have to offer the association. However, it is early days as
the ban on campaigns has yet to be lifted but candidates have been
reaching out by varying means to their audiences. This writer is
not as concerned about the horse trading that is ongoing as he is
about interrogating what candidates bring to the table – and
getting elected officers to account for their mandates during and
after their terms.
The election season presents an opportunity not only to
interrogate what candidates have to offer but also to demand
accountability of the outgoing leadership. Obviously, the standard
should be the promises they made before assuming office and the
expectations they created in the execution of their mandates. I
leave that exercise to colleagues who might be interested in
exploring that strand. I focus the remaining part of this piece on
my expectations of the new leadership of the bar particularly in
the context of our fast-changing socio-political and economic
environment.
One of the most existential challenges to the non-profit
movement in Nigeria in 2017 was the NGO Regulatory Bill. Happily,
the NGO community was able to rally and defeat the bill…at least
for now. Regrettably, the NBA was conspicuously absent in the
advocacy against this bill although it will, almost certainly, be
affected by the bill if it were to become law. I imagine there was
a strategic reason for this stance and hope that the reason was
well-considered. The new leadership of the bar must take more
seriously existential issues.
Long-term planning is crucial for any organization that wishes
to remain relevant into the future. Within the limits of its
present experience, the bar association ought to think carefully
about planning long-term and seeing through on the implementation
of these plans. The practice of developing short term strategic
plans that do not transcend one term of two years – although the
plans often have more years than two – does not augur well for the
association. I would like to hope the new leadership will address
this challenge in a sustainable manner.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a sizeable proportion
of lawyers who would rather not participate in the activities of
the NBA because they think the association does not serve their
interests as well as it should. They may well have good reasons to
think so. The new leadership must seek to engage this group. As I
argued in a previous article on the 2017 conference of the NBA,
“opening up the space and scope for
engagement…might increase the possibility that expectations will be
met…” One way to do this is by finding out what exactly people
expect of their association. This is not time for
“government-style” project planning that assumes what people need
and then executes it regardless of utility to the people.
One more government-style idea that we need to dispense with is
staying in touch with the people as long as it takes to get their
votes and then withdrawing upon assuming office. There is no point
bombarding people’s inboxes and text message portals with seasonal
greetings and campaign materials if you are not prepared to keep
these platforms open to continuing engagement throughout your
term.
Most thriving bar associations around the world are
programmatically driven primarily by their secretariats. The NBA
ought not to be an exception. Whilst our current realities demand
that the national officers lead on policy and planning, I would
like to think that the secretariat ought to lead on programmes and
implementation – not just because it encourages professionalism but
also because it strengthens the arm of partners who wish to engage
with the association on a medium to long term basis. In its 2013
report, The Chidi Odinkalu Committee on the Professionalization of
the NBA identified some challenges with respect to the secretariat,
including absence of a clear role for the secretariat; no current
scope for professionalism; and unsatisfactory division of labour
between officers, committees and secretariat. The Committee also
made far-reaching recommendations. I understand that steps have
been taken to implement a few of the recommendations but there is
room for much more. I hope the new leadership will fully implement
the recommendations that are still relevant.
As Nigeria transitions to election year 2019, the NBA deserves a
leadership that will be a stronger voice in the march towards
consolidating our nascent democracy. The association’s 2018
elections offer the best chance to make that happen. I hope members
will think long term and the best interest of the organization and
our country in the choice of the next generation of leaders.
Culled: thesheet.ng