- Public confidence in the Judiciary is at a very low point. This must therefore receive the highest priority – Agbakoba
- Ensure the updating of Legal Practitioners Act… Ethical behaviour and integrity of lawyers will restore public confidence – Adekoya
- I don’t believe that any part of NBA should be higher than the body. It will destroy it – Ozekhome
- The new President of the NBA should consistently speak up on Good Governance and Social Justice issues – Akaraiwe
- Ensure the Bar continues to modernise and adapt to the rapidly changing world around it, especially in the area of technology – Okezie
- The Bar must belong to lawyers, not classes of lawyers – Onu
- We look forward to the NBA president restoring the dignity of our profession and upholding the rule of law – Ifesemen
By Lillian Okenwa
When the incoming President of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN, was asked how he intends to actualise and fulfill his campaign promises within his 24 months tenure during an interview, his response was:
“It would appear that time is never really enough for meaningful leadership; yet, it has never been known to stand in the way of a visionary leader. In the time allotted by the NBA Constitution, I hope to build on programmes that are already working and lay the foundation for reform and restructuring of the profession to meet our short, mid, and long-term aspirations. I quite appreciate the brevity of the time; in fact, from the moment the administration is inaugurated, it will have less than two years to carry out its plans and programmes. Bearing this in mind, I have a detailed calendar of events designed to deliver on the promises made in my manifesto in phases, and working to deliver each aspect according to plan and on schedule.”
After a gruelling campaign and a tough battle to win the NBA presidency, Maikyau popularly called Y.C won. But that is only the beginning of the task ahead of him.
To Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, a former President of the NBA, “the task before the incoming President of the Bar will be to sustain the momentum of the institutionalization of the NBA. As president, my goal was making the secretariat the centre of action and this is a task the outgoing President, Olumide Akpata, has executed with perfection. So I will commend this process to the incoming President. The second task, having strengthened the secretariat, is engaging National issues. The big issue will be the 2023 general elections. The issues around governance, democracy, and constitutional reform must be paramount. Last and not least is the matter concerning the administration of justice. I would hope that this matter engages the new president. Public confidence in the Judiciary is at a very low point. This must therefore receive the highest priority. I can only wish the new president the very best.”
Life Bencher, award-winning arbitrator and a former 1st Vice President of the NBA Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN, counselled thus: “In my humble opinion, his most pressing task is to ensure that an updated Legal Practitioners Act which puts in place a robust self-regulatory mechanism to govern the relationship between the profession and members of the public is enacted. The ethical behaviour and integrity of lawyers will restore the confidence of the public in the profession and ultimately result in increased demand for legal services. He also needs to deal with the many encroachments by other professionals (accountants and estate surveyors especially) on the provision of legal services.”
Rights crusader, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN stressed that “the in-coming NBA President has a lot of work to do. To build on the enduring legacy of Mr. Olumide Akpata who I must confess has done exceptionally well having built on the foundation of Mr. Paul Usoro who also did extremely well.
Ozekhome pointed out that “in the last four years NBA has been having its voice heard on national issues in a way that the respectability with which Nigerians once viewed it but which receded and indeed got buried has again come back to the fore. NBA is now being reckoned with on national issues. Having said that, I must say that there’s so much rot in the judiciary; both within the bar and the bench. Cases of bribery, and corruption. Cases of lawyers, senior lawyers for that matter, even Senior Advocates meeting with judges Nicodemusly like Nicodemus in the night. To settle judgments extrajudicially so that when you’re in court with your opponent and you’re fighting, you’re just fighting a lost battle because that case has already been decided in the wee hours of the morning or in the midnight like witches and wizards in a coven.
“That is certainly not good for us at all. It is even believed that judges now fight to be included in election petitions tribunal where they know that desperate politicians must come before them dangling carrots to win election through the court of law which they had failed to win through the ballot box. I have therefore said Nigeria is practicing judocracy and electionocracy. Judocracy is the system where Presidents, Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members, even House of Assembly members, and Local Government Chairmen are now conceived, midwife, and delivered through the hallowed courts of law rather than the ballot box. That certainly is not good for society or for the judiciary. We should allow democracy to prosper and it can only prosper when the will of the people is expressed through the ballot box with that ballot paper.
“Thus exemplifying those immortal words of Abraham Lincoln in 1863 November 19, during his Gettysburg declaration when he defined democracy as —government of the people by the people and for the people. It means therefore that, it takes two to tango. If lawyers do not give, judges would not take. If judges do not take, lawyers will not give. We must stamp out this monstrous affliction.
“The new president must go all out to ensure that the present bill before the National Assembly for amendment wherein the NBA is deliberately being marginalised, being circumscribed, almost being annihilated does not see the light of the day. It is a bill that seeks to clip the wings of the NBA. It is even permitting a rival body or more rival bodies to emerge, just like you have ANAN and ICAN among the accountants, which has not given accountants one voice again in Nigeria. People who are not happy with the unity in the NBA are seeking to fragmentalise it. Once you fragmentalise NBA, we can no longer speak with one voice.
“Aside from that, there are certain positions in that bill which is seeking to put NBA under other bodies within the NBA. For example, I’m a proud member of BOSAN (Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria), but I believe that BOSAN is a part and parcel of the NBA, just as you have FIDA, the Women’s group, Youth’s forum, Military and Other Security Agencies forum under it and so on. I don’t believe that any part of NBA should be higher than the body. It will destroy it. For example when we’re at the Supreme Court during valedictory or special session, who speaks after the Attorney General of the federation? The Attorney General of the Federation is the chief law officer of the federation, who is next? Is it the Chairman of the Body of Benchers or the President of the NBA? I think these are some of the glitches that led to the public outburst between Chief Awomolo, SAN, and Olumide Akpata; one for the Body of Senior Advocates and one for the NBA. It was most embarrassing to the legal profession. The incoming president should seat down with the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, and all stakeholders including the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, and arrive at a consensus once and for all. It should be in writing. Whether by amending the Legal Practitioners Rules, the Privileges Rules, and all the rules of professional conduct, the various rules of the General Council of the Bar, so that we know who takes precedence and so we don’t wash our dirty linens in the public.
“Then the new NBA president should take on holistically and frontally the malaise and problems of the society. We do not live outside the society, Nigeria is haemorrhaging. States and non-state actors are taking over governance of the country and calling the shots. Kidnappers have taken over, Boko Haram and armed bandits have taken over. Hunger is coming. We can’t travel on the road, we can’t fly and we can’t travel on the water. Bandits and terrorists are now seizing large swathes of land, collecting taxes, issuing tax tickets to indigenes, and mounting their flags on the soil in various northern states. They move about freely in droves as we saw in their breaking into Kuje prisons. Nothing happened. They even attacked the president’s convoy in his home state. This is evidence of a failed state where non-state actors begin to dictate the tune to the sovereign government. The new NBA President should therefore make NBA have a very strong voice on national issues, dictating the tone, whipping politicians into line, whipping judges and lawyers into line. So that we can have the beautiful country we dream of.”
Another 1stVice President of the NBA, Mr. Ikeazor Akaraiwe, SAN, made recommendations. “In 2006, at the November meeting of its National Executive Committee at Bauchi, the NBA formally rebranded into the following Conceptual Definition:
- To be at the vanguard for the promotion and defence of the Rule of Law, Good Governance, Social Justice, and the Dignity of all persons.
“At the same NEC meeting the NBA also adopted the following Vision – ‘To rank among the foremost Bar Associations in the world’; Mission – ‘To use the Law As An Instrument For Social Change’; and replaced its Motto: ‘Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium ‘with a new one— ‘Promoting The Rule of Law.’ For good measure, the following Core Values were adopted: -Integrity, Excellence, Courage, Professionalism; with the following also adopted as Brand Responsibility- Courageous, Assertive, Independent, Leader.
“The next President of the NBA needs to internalise these things and implement them. For example, the NBA cannot concentrate on legal practice issues in the face of the many governance issues confronting Nigeria, vis a vis the NBA Conceptual Definition adopted in November 2006. I would therefore expect the new President of NBA to make a quiet retreat from concentrating on legal reform issues, to make his impact felt all over the Conceptual Definition, which is, ‘To be at the vanguard for the promotion and defence of the Rule of Law, Good Governance, Social Justice and the Dignity of all persons.’
“If the new President of the NBA will consistently speak up on Good Governance and Social Justice issues; if the dignity of Nigerians is the fulcrum of his administration, then and o my, then would he have succeeded.”
The task before Maikyau according to Kachi Okezie, Principal Partner at Abuja-based sports, media, and entertainment law practice, Pembrooke Solicitors are:
1. To ensure the Bar never slips back to the pathetic state it was in, prior to Akpata coming in.
2. To continue with the drive for innovation on all fronts, ensuring the Bar continues to modernise and adapt to the rapidly changing world around it, especially in the area of technology. Today, the Bar is being looked up to for leadership and guidance by other professional bodies as well as the Federal Government in the area of tech-driven election delivery.
3. To continue to make the Bar fit for purpose in terms of its commitment to fighting for rule of law and justice in society, including creating opportunities for equal participation of all its members in its activities and programmes.
Likewise, Silas Onu, a former Publicity Secretary of NBA Abuja (Unity Bar) charged the President-Elect: “To run an all-inclusive Bar, not one that will be a Bar for the SANs and other lawyers. The Bar must belong to lawyers, not classes of lawyers. He should also be a Bar President and steer clear of outside political activities as we head towards 2023 elections.”
Also, Jude Ifesemen, award-winning poet, lawyer, and principal partner of Ifesemen & Associates shared his thoughts. “For a while, the NBA Executive had been repurposed into just an oligarchy of a commercial venture. It was mainly about personal enrichment. Although Mr. Usoro tried to end that era of unnecessary financial expenditures, more was still left to be desired.
“Mr. Apata has so far been able to redirect the Bar from the money dominance despite the challenges and snobs he received from a particular demography. Kudos to Mr. Apata! I do hope, Mr. Y.C in taking the Bar to the Dynamic Bar would carry everyone along and completely end the practice where people use the NBA for their personal enrichment rather than service to the people and not caring about the welfare of the members.
“One expectation for Mr. Y.C Maikyau SAN is repurposing the bar for the real issues and focus that the Bar should be is the upholding of the rule of law and the welfare of the officers of Law, that is lawyers; so that they may be able to pursue and defend the rule of law.
“For a long time, our profession as a champion for the nation has been comatose with the homes of Judges being invaded by state officers against the principle of separation of powers and sanctity of the Judiciary with the NBA only playing the Ostrich or not committed enough to take a firm stand against administrative obscenities.
“The NBA lost its steam and was no longer heard or seen. Lawyers have become endangered species and officers of the state like the police have gone to feast on this silence to harass, intimidate and assault lawyers even in the course of their noble duties of clients’ representation.
“We look forward to the NBA president restoring the dignity of our profession and upholding the rule of law. We can no longer sit back as lawyers and allow the Government of the day to run the nation aground and be mute or applaud them in sponsored conferences to continue the privilege of their patronage.
“The habit of inviting guests as speakers at the NBA AGC whose purpose is the smart use of sophism to justify the maladministration and obscenities of government should not be repeated. The Rule of law must no longer take a backseat over whatever the President declares as issues of national security suo moto. Nigeria is our collective project and the NBA is a major stakeholder and must play its part.
“We hope that the new administration will uplift the bar, uplift the dignity of Lawyers and challenge the status quo. It is said that the court is the Last Hope of the common man but the court is still an engine run by lawyers. But if the lawyers themselves have sold their birthright over cheap morsels of government patronage, who then will cry for the voiceless? We do hope to see this change.”
