#NBAAGC2019: It Will Be Good For Nigeria To Take A Cue And Learn From The NBA – Paul Usoro, SAN

The NBA President has said that it will be good for Nigeria to
take a cue and learn from the NBA, when we have a good governance
structure in place as a country, as we will have less of the
societal problems we are plagued with today like corruption.

The NBA President made this statement at the the press briefing
which was held at Aliko & Oyebode Chambers, Ikoyi with the
General Secretary Taidi, the 1st Vice President, Mr. Stanley Imo,
2nd Vice President, Dr. Foluke Dada, and the TCCP chairman, Gbenga
Oyebode MFR present at the briefing.

According to the NBA President, this year’s program was a
combination of three significant activities of the NBA, The AGC,
NEC meeting and the AGM. He said that the account presentation was
done at the AGM and adopted; the AGM made fresh appointments for
new Trustees members as a result of the tenure expiration of the
former. He mentioned that names of the trustees who are Olisa
Agbakogba, SAN, chairman of the Trustee, Joseph Daudu, SAN,
Augustine Alege, SAN, Obafemi Adewale, past General Secretary of
NBA, Hajia Fatima Kwaku, Kanu Agabi CON, SAN and their appointment
ratified at the AGM. The meeting also acknowledged the immeasurable
services of the former trustee members. He also said that the NBA
owes a lot of gratitude to them. They are: Alhaji Abdulahi Ibrahim
CON, SAN, Chief Thompson Okpoko, SAN, Chief Mrs. Priscilla Akuye,
Chief Wole Olanipekun OFR, SAN, Chief Anthony N. SAN, and Alh.
Muritala Aminu.

He noted that the NBA constitution was amended; the aim for this
was that governance is key and critical to proper structuring of an
organization. So the focus was basically to strengthen the
governance process of the association.

Speaking about this year’s AGC, he said people adjudged the
conference as the best the NBA has ever had and that every AGC will
have a feature on the Rule of Law as a very important part. He
acknowledged the TCCP chairman, Gbenga Oyebode MFR for making sure
the AGC was a huge success, Olumide Apata, the co-chair, for his
own outstanding support and other members of the planning
committee. He also appreciated the sponsors of the conference. He
appreciated Lagos State for their huge support both in cash and
kind for the conference. He added that other states that supported
the conference financially include Rivers state, AkwaIbom, Ondo,
Ekiti. Nasarawa, and Bayelsa State.

Other Corporate organizations also supported in cash and in kind
such as Access bank, MTN, Airtel, Dangote group, Zenith bank and
7UP bottling company. Law firms also donated generously to the
conference such as Aliko & Oyebode, Paul Usoro & Co,
Templars, and a few others. He also appreciated the gentlemen of
the press that greatly helped publicize the event as the AGC became
a topical issue both in and outside Nigeria as a result of the
publicity from the press. He also acknowledged the fact that the
voice of NBA, being the conscience of the Nigerian Nation and the
voice of the voiceless cannot be heard if we don’t have the press
to support them.

Speaking, the planning committee chairman Gbenga Oyebode MFR
said that the theme of this year’s conference, ”Facing the Future”,
was very well discussed over the conference, particularly on the
first day when they had the pleasure of having President Muhammadu
Buhari GCFR represented by the Attorney General of the Federation,
Hon. Justice Abubarka Malami, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon.
Justice Dr. Tanko Ibrahim, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr.
Babajide Sanwoolu represented by the Deputy Governor of the state,
Dr. Femi Hamzat, and the President of the International Bar
Association, Horacio Bernardes Neto. He pointed out that the NBA
gave him the opportunity to visit Nigeria for the 1st time and the
IBA President reiterated how Africa will be a key focus to him
during his tenure.

”The conference had a very large turnout with about 12,000
lawyers who registered and attended. It went without any
hitches.

“The conference has enough for everyone with discussions around
the issues of the future of the profession, sessions on security
and human rights, sexual harassment and bullying, inequality,
female empowerment with a focus on the SDG 5,” he added.

He also said that the communique will be a walk in progress
regarding the actualization of the recommendations made. He
concluded his speech by saying: “We are not just talking but will
walk the talk.”

During the question and answer session, Nsikak from Daily
Independence, said that the Civil Society Organization looks up to
the NBA as a critical stakeholder, but the punch from the NBA does
not seem heavy enough, why? It was stressed that because we need to
reinforce hope to the people especially in the face of too many
injustices happening

Replying, the President said that NBA will not stop defending,
promoting, upholding the rule of law and not cease to stand for the
Nigerian people. We are sworn to continue to highlight those
practices that denigrate the rule of law. He assured them that the
NBA would also meet relevant persons and authorities to present
these topical issues and engage them frequently.

Ayodele from TVC, also asked that more light be shed on the
qualification and yard stick of aspiring presidents of the NBA as
amended in the constitution. The President responded by saying that
the amendment stated that National Officers, especially the
President and General Secretary will be persons with proven
integrity, administrative skills and experience.

“We need people who will serve and their motivation not based on
what to gain from the association, which makes sense because the
focus here was on strengthening the governance structure of the
association,” he said.

Austin of Newswire also asked that last year’s conference had
someone giving a suggestion that the NBA should take the lead in
drafting a constitution for the Nigerian people to consider.

Responding, the president said there is a process of amending
the constitution but the point was noted and will give the
suggestion to those in charge of the process and even collaborate
with them as it is something the NBA is interested in.

Mustafa Ogunsakin, Publisher Gavel International, asked how the
NBA can help insist on the independence of the judiciary.
Responding, he said this is something of great concern because It
does appear that the person paying the piper has become over
bearing and wanting to call the tune also, this destroys the rule
of law and it is not right.

He also noted that the NBA will continue to talk to those in
authority regarding this so the people will have faith in the
judiciary. We have made this point in the past and will continue to
make it.

“Regarding the Independence of funding as it relates to
state.  The federal has independence of funding but the state
do not, which does not promote the idea of independence, it also
prevents access to justice, the situation likened to a case where
they are only given funds if the executives “like them”, he
said.

He further added that Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, took the matter to
court and obtained a judgment but the challenge now is implementing
the judgment. He added that the NBA will also engage the states to
see how best they can resolve this.

“Senator Abaribe saying the NBA didn’t do anything during the
trial of Hon Justice Walter O. GCON, was not true. The NBA released
several statements and spoke against the process as it was not
right, and recommended that the CJN should never go to the Code of
Conduct Tribunal anymore but the NJC.

“An emergency NEC meeting was held that period with chunk of
statutory members at the meeting, where they agreed that all
lawyers should boycott the court and make a statement to the
government. So the NBA was not quiet at all and they took a
position on that matter,” he said.

Segun from Business Day, asked what the President is doing to
ensure that the financial report is made on an annual basis
consistently and also making it public.

He responded and said that the NBA document can only be
circulated to members alone and not for everyone, but they may get
there someday. They reintroduced the Quarterly management account
and distributed to all members including the audited account
presented yesterday at the AGM.

He intend to run a very transparent system, which is why PWC was
brought in to handle the accounts of the association, he affirmed.
“Presently the NBA website is being revamped and the account
statement will be uploaded there when it is back up before this
quarter is over,” he added.

“This gives confidence to members and also external stakeholders
having trust in the NBA. Also when we put our house in order, it
gives us the moral justification to criticize the government when
they do otherwise.”

Ibe Uwaleke of Advocate News Online asked how the media will
partner with the NBA monitoring and review committee to track the
progress and be updated on the implementation process.

The NBA President assured that there will be a monthly press
conference going forward and the quarterly NEC meetings will now be
held monthly with the press fully involved.

Also, Fredrick of CNBC Africa, asked the Process and Industrial
Development, P&ID matter that led to the awarding of $ 9
billion against Nigeria. He asked about what the position of the
NBA is on this matter, and advice to the government and solutions
to be taken.

Responding, Paul Usoro, SAN said that the NBA is yet to see the
document on this matter to understand the facts before making the
views of the NBA known. The president intends to do that after
which they will give a statement on that.

Vera from NTA said that the usual forums like lawyers in the
media, use to have a very vibrant session but this year it didn’t
feature. She wants to know why.

Replying, the president agreed that she was correct but that
this year’s conference they did something novel by having the
various sections actively involved in preparing the topics. He
assured that the NBA considers all the forums as very significant
and intends to engage the various fora very actively within the
next couple of weeks.

She added that next year’s conference will be an expansion, not
just the sections but the forums will be included.

On behalf of the media, the chairperson of the Nigeria Bar
Association (NBA) Lawyers in the Media Forum (LIM), Ms. Theodora
Kio-Lawson thanked the president for his continued support to the
press and gave the assurance that the press will continue to do
what is best for the association.

2nd Vice president of the NBA Dr. Foluke Dada, gave the vote of
thanks and appreciated the members of the press for coming to cover
the press briefing and gave the assurance that the NBA will
continue to move forward and will continue to engage the press as
long as topical issues are arising in the society.