With the expiration of the tenure of office of Mr Olumide Akpata-led National Executive Council of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, a new set of lawyers had taken the oath of office to continue from where Akpata’s administration stopped.
The new executives include Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, who is to lead the association as its president. Other officers of the association to work with him are Mr. Adesina Adegbite as the General Secretary; Mr Daniel Ka-Ayli as Assistant General Secretary; Chinyere Obasi as National Welfare Secretary; Habeeb Lawal as National Publicity Secretary; Olawole Ajiboye as Assistant Publicity Secretary and Anze-Bishop Ladidi as Treasurer.
Other officers of the association who have all taken their oaths of office are Linda Bala as 1st Vice-President of the association, Clement Ugo as 2nd Vice-President and Amanda Demechi-Asagba as the 3rd Vice-President.
There are 20 other lawyers as members of the NBA General Council representing the Western, Eastern and Northern zones of lawyers in the country.
Vanguard Law and Human Rights recalls that as soon as Mikyau was declared the winner of the 2022 NBA election which held about two months ago, he had promised to take off from where his predecessor stopped while his tenure would speak truth to power and promote the rule of law and protect human rights in the country.
Although, majority of members of the inner and the outer bar described Mr Olumide Akpata led-NBA as a huge success, many are still of the view that the Akpata NBA was not perfect.
Some of the stakeholders that spoke on the issue identified disunity in the bar as one of the challenges the Akpata-led NBA battled all through its two-year tenure without success.
Both members of the inner bar and the outer bar therefore agreed that the newly sworn-in executives of the NBA led by Mr Y.C Mikyau (SAN) should therefore urgently address a number of issues particularly the crack suffered by the bar with the emergence of Akpata as NBA President in July 2020.
It is without doubt that part of the effects of the crack was what manifested in the outburst by an Ibadan-based silk, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) when he claimed that some lawyers of Yoruba extraction entered into a pact to distance themselves from the presidency of Akpata.
It will be recalled that Akintola (SAN) had taken to the air to specifically mention that Chief Olanipekun (SAN) is the leader of Egbe Amofin and was part of the pact that its members should distance themselves from the Akpata presidency, adding that he and Olanipekun complied with their agreement religiously.
In fact, it was rumoured that the failure by some senior Yoruba lawyers to identify with the Akpata presidency was the major reason the NBA recently filed a petition before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to sanction a partner in the Chambers of Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), indict the Chamber itself and bring down the practice of Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN.
Crying more than the bereaved
A top lawyer who does not want his name in print told Vanguard Law and Human Rights that the NBA was only crying more than the bereaved by filing the petition against Ms. Adekunbi Ogunde and the Chambers of Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, when the lawyer whose brief was targeted, Chief Ajumogobia (SAN) had dropped the case after he heard from Chief Olanipekun’s chambers on what actually transpired.
“Akpata does not have a forgiving spirit. He wanted to bring down Wole Olanipekun, SAN, at all cost simply because he did not have the support of the silk during his election. I can tell you that the ex-President of the NBA was only crying more than the bereaved in that matter. That was why he leaked to the press the letter he did to Chief Olanipekun (SAN) on the issue, asking him to step down as Chairman of the Body of Benchers, BOB, without serving him same document simply to scandalise him just to take his pound of flesh.
“Chief Akintola, SAN, you may not know, is a fan of Chief Olanipekun, SAN, any day. His outburst, calling the ex-President of the NBA a “Boy” was also a deliberate attempt to hit back at Akpata. Likewise the ex-chairman of Akure chapter of the NBA who wrote a letter to the new NBA President that he wanted to return certain allowance of N100k paid into his account by the Akpata administration after the Annual General Conference of the NBA was also meant to spite Akpata.
“No doubt, there is, at the moment, a big crack in the bar. The Akpata presidency appears to have widened the crack. I think the Mikyau-led NBA presidency should urgently address that matter,” the source who is a silk added.
Way forward
Suggesting a way forward, another prominent member of the inner bar and former Attorney-General of Abia State, Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN, simply said the new NBA President “should mend the little crack between the inner bar and the outer bar.”
According to him: “There was a little misunderstanding between the inner bar and the outer bar during the election that produced Akpata in 2020. The new President should mend that crack,” he said.
In the view of Mr. Okunola Olorundare, SAN, he advised Mikyau presidency to address the issue of indiscipline at the bar.
According to him: “There was a little misunderstanding between the inner bar and the outer bar during the election that produced Akpata in 2020. The new President should mend that crack,” he said.
In the view of Mr. Okunola Olorundare, SAN, he advised Mikyau presidency to address the issue of indiscipline at the bar.
“There is no discipline at the bar. The indiscipline cuts across both the inner bar and the outer bar. There must be discipline. The disciplinary committee must be revived and it must be decisive in dealing with complaints,” he added.
Bar in Nigeria too fragmented
Also, a respected silk and human rights activist, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, agreed with earlier contributors even as he took his time to x-ray the status of the bar before recommending a line of action for Mikyau’s presidency.
According to him: “The Bar in Nigeria is too fragmented and nothing says this more than the previous election that ushered in Akpata.
“The new Exco should strive to build bridges across the Bar and work assiduously to downplay the issues that drove the campaigns during the election, which divided the Bar along ethnic and class lines.
“The Bar should henceforth speak with one voice, devoid of all manner of dichotomies. It was shocking to me the angle that the last Exco brought to the last conference in Lagos on the issue of BIG WIGS of the Bar, where an attempt was made to showcase senior lawyers considered to be less of courtroom advocates but who have in their career achieved landmark milestones.
“It was totally an avoidable distraction, if you ask me. The Nigerian Bar is unique in the sense that it combines advocacy with solicitorship and so any lawyer called to the Bar in Nigeria is entitled to continue to combine both.
“When it became necessary for him to do, Mr. Olumide Akpata donned his wig and gown and appeared in court to defend the NBA against the attempt to whittle down its powers and we all hailed him.
“I am sure that if he has any reason to do so, the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, will adorn his silk and appear in court; so too the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN and the Honourable Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN and indeed all other senior lawyers currently engaged in one political assignment or the other.
“Lawyers and judges have become endangered species, as the practice of the legal profession, whether on the Bench or at the Bar, is increasingly becoming a dangerous path to tread.
“The persecution of lawyers, purely on account of the prosecution or defence of the cause of their clients, cannot continue.
“The Exco should have Standing Committees comprising seasoned lawyers and activists, across the six geo-political zones, monitoring cases involving lawyers who are victims of overzealous security agencies, to take them up with superior authorities and to file cases in court for judicial pronouncements.
“Judges are unofficial members of the NBA and as such, the NBA Constitution requires that the NBA should ensure that judges are independent, well catered for and protected.
“The relationship between senior and young lawyers calls for urgent review. We need to find a balance between ambition and consolidation.
“The senior lawyer has spent years setting up his practice, invested heavily in it and is looking forward to the days of harvest. This is expected. However, he didn’t build the practice alone, so he must show enough magnanimity to accommodate the needs of those working with him.
“I’m concerned with the pitiable plight of young lawyers, especially in terms of remuneration, but given that law practice is mostly personalized, the new NBA exco should as a matter of priority consolidate on the Akpata initiative on the guidelines on the issue of remuneration.
“As the African saying goes, if the hunter should reflect on the vicissitudes of hunting in the wild, he would most probably be unwilling to share his game.
“It is a commendable and pragmatic move that must not be allowed to die. However, this must correspond with established ethics of the profession, especially on the issue of due deference to and regard for senior lawyers,” he said.
Adegboruwa (SAN) also said: “We are presently in the election season, which means that those in the positions of authority are more likely to abdicate their responsibilities to the people that they were elected or appointed to govern, in pursuit of selfish electoral fortunes.
“The NBA should constantly interrogate the affairs of Nigeria against its stated aims and objectives, as the voices of lawyers must be heard on issues concerning the masses of our people, especially those of security and welfare.
“To this end, the NBA NEC should mandate every NBA Branch to raise the stake of discourse on the State of the Nation as part of the agenda of their monthly meetings. A gathering of lawyers cannot be complete if it does not discuss and take decisions on fundamental and topical issues affecting the nation.
“Lawyers should not just gather to discuss branch dues, practicing fees, stamp and seal, NBA elections, etc; we must affect society for good. It does not matter what the government in power feels or says, the NBA MUST be guided by its own Constitution and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The NBA as an organisation cannot be pro-government, it just cannot happen, because it won’t work. And it is gratifying that the President-elect has indicated this in some of his interviews after the election.
“The Exco can count on the support of all lawyers in this regard. In my humble view, the responsibilities associated with the office of the President of the NBA may not permit him to be the official spokesperson of the Bar, but he must delegate that function to other officers so long as any intervention from the Bar on national issues has his input,” he added.
Credit: THE VANGUARD.
