The office of the national publicity Secretary is pivotal to the sustenance and promotion of the core values of the NBA. It is an office with enormous responsibilities. The holder of the office is constitutionally the Image Maker of the Association and as such he/She must be a person that is responsible, diligent, hardworking and responsive. There is no iota of doubt it appears the Bar has lost its voice and to regain the voice and consciousness of the Bar where the voice of the NBA shall be the voice and conscience of the Nation the occupier of the office of Publicity Secretary must be someone of impeccable character, bold, fearless and vision driven.
If given the opportunity to serve the bar in this regard I shall in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the NBA do the following:
I will ensure adequate and prompt publicity of the activities of the Association both at the national and local branches.
I will present a good and progressive image of the Association to the general public.
I will issue releases and statements on matters of general interest to the Association and the public after due consultation with the President or the National Executive Committee;
I will perform all other duties as may be assigned to me by the President or the National Executive Committee or the Annual General Meeting.
In addition to my constitutional stipulated duties I shall see to the following:
IMAGE OF THE BAR:
I have keenly observed that virtually all vehicles in Nigeria go about with the sticker of NBA whereas the owners of these vehicles are not lawyers. This has undoubtedly impaired the image of the NBA. This is possible because NBA stickers are sold in the markets where anyone can buy. If elected as the National Publicity Secretary, I shall ensure with the consent of the President and NEC approval design customized Car Stickers that shall bear the Name and Supreme Court Enrolment Number just like our Stamp and Seal.
I shall with the permission of the President encourage all branches of the Bar to set up a Committee in each branch of the NBA with a mandate to cause the arrest and prosecution of anyone found with the NBA stickers who are not members of our Association, subject however to the approval of NEC.
POLICE BRUTALITY:
It is undisputable and irrefutable fact that lawyers are fast becoming endangered species in the hands of some unscrupulous and infamous police officers in the course of discharging our constitutional and lawful duties. I have been a victim of police brutality wherein I was attacked and assaulted by police officers while performing my lawful duty.
- I promptly instituted an action against the erring police officers and the Nigeria Police force against the violent violation of my Fundamental Right in Suit No: FHC/OS/CS/65/2015 OLAYINKA SOKOYA V. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE & ORS and judgment was delivered in my favour whereby the court awarded the sum of N10, 350, 000 as general and special damages for the breach of my Fundamental Rights.
It is my belief that this ugly trend must stop forthwith. If elected as the Publicity Secretary I shall with the permission of the President and NEC encourage all branches of the bar across the nation to put in place a Police Duty Solicitors Scheme PDSS with a view to foster cordial relationship between the police and other security agencies of government. If elected I will ensure that any assault on any of our members in any part of the country is adequately reported to appropriate authority for necessary action and to ensure the prosecution of such erring officer. It is my belief that an injury to one is injury to all.
IDENTITY CARDS FOR ALL LAWYERS
While I appreciate the efforts of the past and present administrations in ensuring the provision of uniform Identity cards for members of our Association, it is regrettable that only very few lawyers have the Bar Affinity card which was introduced by the Austin Aleghe SAN Administration, consequently if elected as the National Publicity Secretary I will ensure that all the members of the Association are issued with the Identity card promptly which shall serve the dual purpose of ATM CARD and I.D CARD.
SYNERGY BETWEEN THE NATIONAL SECRETARIAT AND THE BRANCHES.
If elected as the publicity secretary of this great and noble association, I shall ensure that there is synergy between the branches of the bar and the national body in giving their programmes and activities wide publicity on the website of the NBA and on all social media platforms. I shall ensure high level of communication with members and increase the involvement level of members and others with social media platforms.
QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF BAR NEWS
I shall ensure members remain fully informed of any events held by the branches of the Bar and the National Secretariat. I shall ensure quarterly publication of all the activities of the NBA which publication shall be circulated on the website of the NBA and on all social media platforms for easy accessibility to the members.
PLEASE VOTE OLAYINKA SOKOYA AS PUBLICITY SECRETARY TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE: My quest to aspire to vie for office of the National publicity Secretary is borne out of the fact that I have keenly observed events and activities of the NBA since 2008 that I was called to the Bar and I discovered that it appears the NBA has lost its voice which was hitherto the voice of the nation. I observed also that members of the Association who were hitherto seen as nobles and highly respected members of the society have lost this enviable status.
It is not strange to hear in the news across the nation that lawyers are being subjugated, assaulted and attacked violently by some unscrupulous officers in the police and other security agencies.
While I was growing up as a child, I used to see lawyers as special species in the Society but the story has changed today. The current obnoxious situation cannot be divorced from body language of NBA who has not really done enough in this regard. I have been a victim of police brutality.
I equally observed that there is a huge gap between the National Secretariat and the branches whereby dissemination of information to members has not been swift and effective.
It is my observation further that in every two years, NBA will require members to do verification in order to vote in the NBA election. While I agree that verification exercise is necessary before any election, I believe the process can be less rigid and cumbersome and more friendly. NBA should by now have a verifiable and reliable database of all Nigerian lawyers across the globe. I don’t think it is fashionable for members to be uploading their call to bar certificates on the website before they are allowed to vote.
Information is a key component to capacity building and as such, I shall disseminate information on how members of the NBA can fraternise with sister Bars across the globe such as American Bar Association and International Bar Association so as to make members of the NBA more relevant in the global market.
I shall with the concerted effort of the President of the NBA strive to boost the image of Nigerian lawyers globally and give updates on International opportunities for Nigerian Lawyers across the nation.
We can change the narrative if Olayinka Sokoya is elected as Publicity Secretary.
Pls get verified today to Vote Olayinka Sokoya as Publicity Secretary
#I shall amplify the voice of the bar across the globe from time to time and make it to be heard resoundingly in the crusade against oppressive and obnoxious government policies and obvious wide-spread abuse of human rights and institutionalized corruption.
