*Says Their Counterparts In Developed And Even Other
Developing Economies Are Receiving Legal Education That Reflect
Current Economic Realities.
*Says He Has Engaged Council Of Legal Education On Transformation
Of The System
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
![image](/2021/06/Legal-Research-On-The-Go2.jpg")
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olumide
Akpata, has criticized the ancient-style training of Nigerian law
students as not being reflective of the economic realities of
today.
![image](/2021/07/escrow-service1.jpg")
The NBA President in his welcome address to participants at the
Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law 15th Annual
Business Law Conference which commenced on the 14th of July 202,
noted that it remains inexplainable that Nigerian Law students in
2021 are receiving the same University education that was available
five decades ago while their counterparts in developed and even
other developing economies are receiving legal education that
reflect current economic realities. Mr. Akpata added that the NBA
has already set up and empowered a Committee to engage the Council
of Legal Education in order to effect a transformational change to
the legal training of prospective lawyers in Nigeria receive.
The full address of the NBA President reads as follows:
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2021 Annual conference
of the Nigerian Bar Association – Section on Business Law
(‘NBA-SBC”). There is no gainsaying the fact that by virtue of my
office, I belong to all sections of the Association and
accordingly, I am precluded from expressing any preferences for any
of the Sections of the NBA. Nevertheless, it is impossible to
suppress the emotion that this is a home coming event for me. For a
Section that I served as Secretary, Vice Chairman and ultimately as
Chairman, I am extremely delighted to address the Section today in
my capacity as President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
I am gratified to note that unlike what obtained in the past,
the NBA-SBL is not the only Section that is pulling its weight. As
I informed the National Executive Committee (NBA-NEC) of our dear
Association, at its meeting of 24 June 2021, the Section on Public
Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) and the NBA Section of
Legal Practice (NBA-SLP) recently held their annual conferences in
Ibadan, Oyo State and Oyo, Akwa Ibom State respectively, and both
events were very well organised and well attended. This is the sort
of healthy competition that the visionaries envisaged when
establishing the various specialist Sections of the NBA. All I can
say to you today is that I am confident that this NBA-SBL
Conference will be a case of keeping the best for last.
Ladies and gentlemen, if there were any lingering doubts about
the continuing relevance of the NBA- SBL to the overall attainment
of the aims and objectives of the NBA as outlined in the
Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association 2015 (as amended),
such doubts were completely erased by the selection of this years
Conference theme, “Re-tooling Businesses for Change: Leveraging the
Tech Explosion”, a theme that is as topical as it is critical,
especially in the context of the extraordinary times which the
legal profession and indeed the Nigerian society have faced in the
past 18 months.
The world we live in is a complex, dynamic and an ever changing
one and any person, group, profession or field of life that desires
to survive this world must always adapt and re-adapt to the changes
in the society otherwise such person, group or profession will be
left behind to atrophy and die while the rest of the world will
move on. Indeed, as the Chairman of the Conference Planning
Committee Chairman rightly observed, with the growth of technology
comes an unending struggle of law to keep pace with technological
developments and disruptions, particularly in the business space as
the fourth industrial revolution continues to emerge and the world
tries to grapple with the economic realities of the Covid-19
pandemic.
A well-known American Jurist, Louis Brandeis once perceptively
observed that, “legal work was limited by time and space because
lawyers were dependent on local transport, postal services and
contemporary communications technology”. Over a century later,
Brandeis’ observation still holds true especially in the third
world countries like Nigeria. Like many aging industries, the legal
profession in Nigeria has been slow to perceive external threats,
and and slower still to respond to new patterns of service
delivery and is still characterized by absence of necessary
infrastructure and gadgets in the courts as a result of which the
judges are still forced to record proceedings in long hand, analog
filing and documentation management system, large volumes of laws
of cases in courts and have direct adverse impact on commercial
transactions, in-bound investments and overall economic
development. For a system that is designed to serve the largest
economy in Africa, this is simply not acceptable. At the NBA, we
will continue to engage the Judiciary and provide the necessary
prodding to ensure that issues like these are addressed.
The above notwithstanding, it has not been all gloom and doom.
Technology has already begun to revolutionise the practice of law
in Nigeria in significant ways and affected the speed of delivery
of quality service, efficiency, billing/accountability, practice
management et al. Of course, we all know that without the use of
technology, most law firms would not have survived the
extraordinary year we faced in 2020. It is only a bit disappointing
that most of us had to wait for the COVID-19 pandemic before
realising the place of technology as an essential tool for law
practice and the benefits of leveraging technology to facilitate
access to justice in Nigeria. It is also a testament to the
utilitarian value of technology that we are able to organise this
hybrid conference in a move that signals a gradual return to
normalcy – whether it be the old normal or in all likelihood. the
new normal.
One thing I promised in the build to the 2020 NBA election was
that we will engage the Council of Legal Education to effect a
transformational change to the legal training that prospective
lawyers in Nigeria receive. Amongst other things. technology and
its overall interaction with law will be at the forefront of this
agenda. It remains inexplainable that Nigerian Law students in 2021
are receiving the same University education that was available five
decades ago while their counterparts in developed and even other
developing economies are receiving legal education that reflect
current economic realities. It is in this regard that we have
empowered the Committees created by the NBA Constitution and
equipped them to execute their mandates. I have the assurance of
the NBA Legal Education Committee that in the coming weeks, we will
see traction in this area.
It is also consistent with the above that I must commend the
leadership of the NBA-SBL led by Ayuli Jemide and the Conference
Planning Committee led by Adeleke Alex-Adedipe for putting together
this Conference at this auspicious time. Participating at this
Conference, by its very essence, significantly contributes to the
fulfilment of the mandatory professional development requirement of
our Rules of professional Conduct with the added bonus that there
is indeed a lot to be gained from actively participating in the
Conference. I had the benefit of a sneak preview of the programme
especially sessions like The Future of Digital Financial Services &
Financial Inclusion; Nigerian Innovators & Nigerian Solutions;
Global Tech Trends in Law Practice Management; etc. as well as the
stellar line of speakers lined up for this conference and I
encourage everyone of us to make the most of this Conference. I am
sure that the lessons learnt from this Conference will be extremely
useful, not only to us as individuals, but also to our businesses/
law practices.
Once again, I welcome you all to the 2021 Annual General
Conference of the NBA SBL.
*Says Their Counterparts In Developed And Even Other
Developing Economies Are Receiving Legal Education That Reflect
Current Economic Realities.
*Says He Has Engaged Council Of Legal Education On Transformation
Of The System
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olumide
Akpata, has criticized the ancient-style training of Nigerian law
students as not being reflective of the economic realities of
today.
The NBA President in his welcome address to participants at the
Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law 15th Annual
Business Law Conference which commenced on the 14th of July 202,
noted that it remains inexplainable that Nigerian Law students in
2021 are receiving the same University education that was available
five decades ago while their counterparts in developed and even
other developing economies are receiving legal education that
reflect current economic realities. Mr. Akpata added that the NBA
has already set up and empowered a Committee to engage the Council
of Legal Education in order to effect a transformational change to
the legal training of prospective lawyers in Nigeria receive.
The full address of the NBA President reads as follows:
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2021 Annual conference
of the Nigerian Bar Association – Section on Business Law
(‘NBA-SBC”). There is no gainsaying the fact that by virtue of my
office, I belong to all sections of the Association and
accordingly, I am precluded from expressing any preferences for any
of the Sections of the NBA. Nevertheless, it is impossible to
suppress the emotion that this is a home coming event for me. For a
Section that I served as Secretary, Vice Chairman and ultimately as
Chairman, I am extremely delighted to address the Section today in
my capacity as President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
I am gratified to note that unlike what obtained in the past,
the NBA-SBL is not the only Section that is pulling its weight. As
I informed the National Executive Committee (NBA-NEC) of our dear
Association, at its meeting of 24 June 2021, the Section on Public
Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) and the NBA Section of
Legal Practice (NBA-SLP) recently held their annual conferences in
Ibadan, Oyo State and Oyo, Akwa Ibom State respectively, and both
events were very well organised and well attended. This is the sort
of healthy competition that the visionaries envisaged when
establishing the various specialist Sections of the NBA. All I can
say to you today is that I am confident that this NBA-SBL
Conference will be a case of keeping the best for last.
Ladies and gentlemen, if there were any lingering doubts about
the continuing relevance of the NBA- SBL to the overall attainment
of the aims and objectives of the NBA as outlined in the
Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association 2015 (as amended),
such doubts were completely erased by the selection of this years
Conference theme, “Re-tooling Businesses for Change: Leveraging the
Tech Explosion”, a theme that is as topical as it is critical,
especially in the context of the extraordinary times which the
legal profession and indeed the Nigerian society have faced in the
past 18 months.
The world we live in is a complex, dynamic and an ever changing
one and any person, group, profession or field of life that desires
to survive this world must always adapt and re-adapt to the changes
in the society otherwise such person, group or profession will be
left behind to atrophy and die while the rest of the world will
move on. Indeed, as the Chairman of the Conference Planning
Committee Chairman rightly observed, with the growth of technology
comes an unending struggle of law to keep pace with technological
developments and disruptions, particularly in the business space as
the fourth industrial revolution continues to emerge and the world
tries to grapple with the economic realities of the Covid-19
pandemic.
A well-known American Jurist, Louis Brandeis once perceptively
observed that, “legal work was limited by time and space because
lawyers were dependent on local transport, postal services and
contemporary communications technology”. Over a century later,
Brandeis’ observation still holds true especially in the third
world countries like Nigeria. Like many aging industries, the legal
profession in Nigeria has been slow to perceive external threats,
and and slower still to respond to new patterns of service
delivery and is still characterized by absence of necessary
infrastructure and gadgets in the courts as a result of which the
judges are still forced to record proceedings in long hand, analog
filing and documentation management system, large volumes of laws
of cases in courts and have direct adverse impact on commercial
transactions, in-bound investments and overall economic
development. For a system that is designed to serve the largest
economy in Africa, this is simply not acceptable. At the NBA, we
will continue to engage the Judiciary and provide the necessary
prodding to ensure that issues like these are addressed.
The above notwithstanding, it has not been all gloom and doom.
Technology has already begun to revolutionise the practice of law
in Nigeria in significant ways and affected the speed of delivery
of quality service, efficiency, billing/accountability, practice
management et al. Of course, we all know that without the use of
technology, most law firms would not have survived the
extraordinary year we faced in 2020. It is only a bit disappointing
that most of us had to wait for the COVID-19 pandemic before
realising the place of technology as an essential tool for law
practice and the benefits of leveraging technology to facilitate
access to justice in Nigeria. It is also a testament to the
utilitarian value of technology that we are able to organise this
hybrid conference in a move that signals a gradual return to
normalcy – whether it be the old normal or in all likelihood. the
new normal.
One thing I promised in the build to the 2020 NBA election was
that we will engage the Council of Legal Education to effect a
transformational change to the legal training that prospective
lawyers in Nigeria receive. Amongst other things. technology and
its overall interaction with law will be at the forefront of this
agenda. It remains inexplainable that Nigerian Law students in 2021
are receiving the same University education that was available five
decades ago while their counterparts in developed and even other
developing economies are receiving legal education that reflect
current economic realities. It is in this regard that we have
empowered the Committees created by the NBA Constitution and
equipped them to execute their mandates. I have the assurance of
the NBA Legal Education Committee that in the coming weeks, we will
see traction in this area.
It is also consistent with the above that I must commend the
leadership of the NBA-SBL led by Ayuli Jemide and the Conference
Planning Committee led by Adeleke Alex-Adedipe for putting together
this Conference at this auspicious time. Participating at this
Conference, by its very essence, significantly contributes to the
fulfilment of the mandatory professional development requirement of
our Rules of professional Conduct with the added bonus that there
is indeed a lot to be gained from actively participating in the
Conference. I had the benefit of a sneak preview of the programme
especially sessions like The Future of Digital Financial Services &
Financial Inclusion; Nigerian Innovators & Nigerian Solutions;
Global Tech Trends in Law Practice Management; etc. as well as the
stellar line of speakers lined up for this conference and I
encourage everyone of us to make the most of this Conference. I am
sure that the lessons learnt from this Conference will be extremely
useful, not only to us as individuals, but also to our businesses/
law practices.
Once again, I welcome you all to the 2021 Annual General
Conference of the NBA SBL.