At Election time like we have now in the Nigerian Bar Association, the average Lawyer Voter is confronted with a cacophony of information about colleagues who aspire to different Offices. The era of information technology has made the packaging, branding, and marketing of candidates much easier and sometimes far from reality.
In the circumstance, it becomes imperative that those who know the candidates must speak the truth as to what they know to aid lawyer voters make an informed decision and vote to elect candidates who are competent – knowledgeable, skilled and have the right attitude or disposition to service.
From 2004-2006, I served as the General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association when the national Secretariat was in Lagos and in transition to Abuja. Those were the days we built to consolidate the Sections of the NBA, whose foundation had been laid by the senior colleagues like George Etomi. We needed all hands-on deck to stabilize the Sections and maintain the authority of the NBA.
As General Secretary, I found a willing and capable ally in Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, SAN. Fondly called J-K Gadzama, I found him a consummate and selfless Bar man, who unreservedly sacrificed his time, intellect, and resources for the benefit of the Bar and Bench. He paid his bills to make the trip to the Lagos Secretariat from either Maiduguri or Abuja to help solve problems and chart the way forward. J-K Gadzama is always willing to sacrifice personal interest for the interest of the Bar. No wonder in 2016 when it was obvious that so many irregularities characterised the NBA national elections, he opted to allow the Bar run smoothly.
In the period we worked closely, J-K Gadzama, SAN, was passionate about the plight of Young Lawyers, a terminology he always advocated over the prevalent Junior Lawyers nomenclature. J-K Gadzama, SAN, warmly monitors the progress of all NLS interns and NYSC members posted to his firm, as well as young lawyers across the nation, as his primary drive is promoting the prospects of the Bar through ensuring capacity building for young lawyers. I am not surprised that many years after, his passion for the welfare of Young Lawyers is expressed in the dedication of one floor in his J-K Gadzama Court Office Complex in, Abuja, for the development of young lawyers through various capacity building programmes.
Today, J-K Gadzama, SAN has again heeded the call for service, and presented himself to run for the office of the President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). Over the years he has acquired the requisite experience, national and international, to lead the men and women of the noble profession in Nigeria. He certainly has the competence, maturity, and dispositions to lead the national Bar with the diversity across age, tribe, and beliefs.
The challenges confronting the legal profession and the justice system in Nigeria can best be addressed and solved by an NBA led by Gadzama. With J-K Gadzama, SAN we would experience radical advancements in the Bar, better welfare packages for young lawyers, and efficient discharge of the roles and duties of the NBA to societal building, upholding the Rule of Law and sustaining our democracy.
I am comfortable endorsing and recommending J-K Gadzama, a man who is simply himself, in and out of office or positions, as your best candidate for the Office of President of the Nigerian Bar Association. With JK, we can look forward to better advancements from the present scintillating height of our NBA.
I recommend J-K Gadzama for your consideration and implore you to VOTE J-K Gadzama for President, NBA, on Saturday, 16 July 2022.
Hon. Nimi Walson-Jack
Past Secretary-General (2004-2006)
Nigerian Bar Association.
