The reaction of our members has been overwhelming; they are ready to go with us anywhere. We hit the 9,000 mark a while ago. I am told that we probably have already hit the 10,000 in terms of the number of conference delegates that will be attending, so the issue of venue was of no moment to them. Yes, we’re all very excited that we’re able to just the conference again.
#EndSARS, Police reform
We continue to intervene in issues that affect the body polity. Just yesterday (Wednesday) we issued a statement on the #EndSARS anniversary. Sometimes, there is that hunger to do more than speak or issue statements. There is that need to do a bit more and to take steps that are a bit more effective, in my view. Sometimes, statements are not enough, but, having said that, we continue to step into the space. Recently we went to visit the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) because we were a bit tired of issuing statements about police brutality and police harassment. We went to his turf, to see him, to say, ‘What can we do better? How can we work together? Maybe it’s a problem of orientation, maybe there’s something we can do?’ We have even offered to train Nigerian policemen, particularly on the provisions of our Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) or Law and that collaboration is about to kick off.
Case for a decentralised Bar
Another thing we’ve tried to do is to decentralise. I am not the one to soak up all the oxygen in the room. I like for everybody to be able to speak, where necessary. So, we have the NBA Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), NBA Section on Legal Practice (SLP), NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), through whom we had to sue the Federal Government on the Twitter ban. We had to sue the Federal Government on the extension of the tenure of the former IGP (Mohammed Adamu); we sued the police over the sack of the policewoman in Ekiti, simply because she got pregnant. We have organs like that and one of the things I want to see is the NBA working effectively through its various organs. I’m very keen on our branches – we have 125 branches across the country – and I’m not very keen on us replicating the Nigerian situation where you’re top-heavy and nothing is going on at the branches. Meanwhile, the association really exists at the branches, 125 of them and we have to make sure that they’re strengthened and that they are up and doing.
Lawyers living with disability
Even during the elections, we made it an issue that we would definitely want inclusivity for our members living with a disability. I met with lawyers living with disabilities early in the days, as soon as we came into office. We set up a joint working committee to deal with how to ensure that their organisation finds expression within the NBA. So, we have announced the establishment of the NBA Lawyers with Disability Forum. That has been established. Mrs Asia Ahmad El-Rufai is chairing that committee and it is up and doing. Unfortunately, it was unable to propose sessions for this Conference. I expect that by the time we are preparing for August 2022 (NBA AGC), they will come with sessions. It is the Forum that will come with seasons, not the Technical Committee on Conference Planning that will impose sessions on them because they will know best what will be required, what they need and what their members or their colleagues need to hear. Even beyond the AGC, the committee is set to tackle issues that affect lawyers living with disabilities, such as access to courts; how do they get into the courtrooms, to public establishments where they go to ply their trade? The committee is meant to be dealing with those issues. Mrs El-Rufai is passionate about these issues and I know that you will hear from the committee very soon and, definitely before we leave office, we will see that the Lawyers with Disability Forum will be up and running and working effectively to the benefit of our members who fall within that category.
NBA Constitution amendment
NBA Constitution amendment concerns our Annual General Meeting (AGM). A Constitution is a dynamic document. Issues have come up that needs to be dealt with. This is not the first time we are amending the Constitution. In 2019 we carried out some amendments to the document and in 2015 we did the same thing; nothing new about that. I’m sure anyone who would want to sue the association for amending the Constitution, I’m sure they have good reasons for that. I’m sure we’ll hear those reasons when we show up in court to answer to the suit. But there are quite a number of issues. What we did, as we normally do, was we set up a committee to look into the Constitution and propose amendments, called for memoranda from members to propose amendments and that went through the process as prescribed by the Constitution. So, what we have before us today is that at the AGM which will be held on Thursday, October 28, some issues will be brought to the fore. Some, I admit, are quite topical and have elicited very emotive responses, but it is what it is. We will get there and I am looking forward to a very exciting and robust debate over the issues that we will deal with. It is an internal affair of the NBA and I am sure we will all be fine in the end.
Discipline at the Bar
As for the question of discipline at the Bar and whether I am satisfied or not, actually, I’m not. I’ll tell you why. We have a situation where the clients that we service or the Nigerian populace are not happy with the pace at which disciplinary action is meted on erring members of the profession. So, I cannot be satisfied with that state of affairs. What we find is that the process is rather slow, and, to my mind, falls short of meeting the expectations of members of the public so we must improve on it. We are a bit hamstrung at the level of the NBA because recently the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), the Chief Justice of Nigeria issued new rules which took out the role of the NBA in determining whether or not there is a prima facie case against a lawyer who has erred. We also no longer play the role of prosecutor at the LPDC. So, we are kind of in a very difficult position because the Nigerian public considers the NBA as the regulator of the profession and that is how it ought to be. We are having conversations with the CJN, Body of Benchers, just to make sure that they look again at that system of disciplining erring members of the profession to make sure it meets the needs of the clients, those who use our services so that they’ll know that nobody is trying to shield any errant lawyer and we want to make sure that they are brought to book if they run afoul of the law. It is rather slow and the Nigerian public is a little bit concerned that they’re not getting the kind of response that they would like to see. I am also concerned because we are a self-regulating profession and if we do not fix this quickly, we run the risk of losing the right to self-regulation because others may begin to regulate us, which is what we don’t want to happen.
