As the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) prepares for another chapter in its history with the emergence of Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, debate within legal circles has shifted from the outcome of the election to the language of history itself.
The discussion centres on a question that has generated considerable attention since Badejo-Okusanya’s victory: Should she be described as the NBA’s first elected female president when Chief Mrs. Priscilla Kuye had already become the Association’s first female president more than three decades ago?
For renowned legal scholar and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, the answer lies not in choosing one history over another, but in recognising that both milestones occupy distinct and legitimate places in the evolution of the Bar.
In a statement sighted by Law & Society Magazine, Odinkalu cautioned against turning the conversation into an unnecessary contest between generations of women lawyers, arguing that acknowledging Badejo-Okusanya’s unprecedented electoral victory does not diminish Kuye’s pioneering place in NBA history.
“I would rather avoid discussing the article in Thisdaylaw,” he wrote, explaining that he considered it “impolitic at best to quarrel with a daughter writing about her mum.”
Read Also: Much Ado about ‘First Elected’ Female NBA President, By Onikepo Braithwaite Onikepo
Rather than engaging in personal exchanges, Odinkalu said the debate should be approached from a historical perspective.
“Two truths can often co-exist in history and one does not have to constitute a denial or evisceration of the other,” he stated.
According to him, any discussion must begin with the recognition that women historically faced formidable barriers within the legal profession and the Nigerian Bar Association.
“We start from the premise that women have historically had a tough time at the Nigerian Bar. They have come a long way and we should be happy and grateful to be witnesses to this moment in our history.”
Odinkalu noted that Chief Mrs. Priscilla Kuye remains the undisputed first woman to lead the Nigerian Bar Association, achieving that feat during an era when the profession was overwhelmingly dominated by men.
“Priscilla Kuye is the first woman to be President of the NBA. She achieved that in a season in which the organisation was essentially misogynistic. Nothing can or should detract from her place in the NBA’s pantheon.”
At the same time, he maintained that it is equally accurate to acknowledge that no woman had previously secured the presidency of the Association through a direct election until Badejo-Okusanya’s victory.
“It is also factually accurate that a woman had never succeeded in running to be elected directly as president of the Association until now.
“That is not an effort to reduce the standing of Priscilla Kuye in my view. If anything, it is a statement about the masculinities that have defined the NBA historically.”
Odinkalu argued that presenting Badejo-Okusanya as the first woman directly elected to the office represents a matter of historical framing rather than historical revisionism.
Drawing a distinction between constitutional succession and electoral victory, he recalled that Kuye first won election as First Vice-President of the NBA before assuming the presidency in accordance with the Association’s Constitution after the then President left office to become Attorney-General of the Federation.
“It is not in dispute who the first female President of the NBA is. That is Chief Mrs. Priscilla Kuye.
“She originally ran and won to become First Vice-President, beating out two big beasts in the Association at the time. When the elected President left to become Attorney-General of the Federation, she succeeded to the presidency as the Constitution of the NBA required.”
He continued:
“It is also not in dispute now who the first female President-elect in the history of the NBA is. That is Mrs. Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya.
“Running and prevailing in a contest for the presidency of the NBA is an attainment in its own right.
“One fact does not dent the other. Two truths can co-exist.”
While expressing disappointment over suggestions that those recognising Badejo-Okusanya’s electoral milestone were engaging in historical revisionism, Odinkalu urged members of the legal profession to approach the moment with greater generosity.
“The suggestion of belly-aching is a tad disappointing and, in my view, ill-advised. It could easily be a lot more graceful and better seasoned.”
He instead described the election as a testament to the progress made by earlier generations of women lawyers, particularly pioneers such as Kuye, whose achievements created pathways for others to follow.
“The generation of Chief Kuye can take both pride in and credit for providing the shoulders on which the current generation of women can stand and advance.
“Rather than belly-ache about this moment, the reality is it could not have been achieved without the foundations they laid.”
For Odinkalu, recognising both milestones is not only historically accurate but also reflects the continuing evolution of gender representation within one of Nigeria’s oldest professional bodies.
“No race makes progress,” he concluded, “by thinking or believing that it has exhausted the boundaries of attainment.”
The intervention comes as lawyers continue to reflect on what Badejo-Okusanya’s election represents for the legal profession. While Kuye’s emergence marked the first time a woman occupied the NBA presidency through constitutional succession, Badejo-Okusanya’s victory represents the first occasion on which a woman has secured the office through a direct vote of members—two milestones that, as Odinkalu argues, together tell the fuller story of the Nigerian Bar Association’s journey towards greater inclusion.
