Assistant Editor (East), CHRISTIAN NWOKOCHA, presents a post-mortem analysis of activities at the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Owerri, Imo State.
Owerri, capital city of Imo State, hosted Nigerian lawyers for the 54th Annual General Conference, between August 24 and 29. The event, which was organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), with the theme ‘Nigeria: A 100 Years After’, took place at Imo International Conference Centre.
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha (3rd right, sitting), and other dignitaries during the 54th NBA Annual Conference held at Owerri recently.
Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; his Deputy, Emeka Ihedioha; and former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon (chairman of the occasion) were among the personalities that graced the occasion.
It was indeed a gathering of lawyers of all classes who have contributed in shaping the history, politics and socio-economic life of Nigeria.
While the immediate past NBA President, Okey Wali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), saw the conference as veritable opportunity for lawyers to meet and get acquainted with current trends and legal developments in various areas of practice, the chairman of NBA Technical Committee, Oluseun Abimbola, said the conference was meant to address critical areas of national development, economic growth, policy and regulatory issues, professional development, law reform and social justice.
As part of his contributions to the conference, chairman of NBA, Owerri branch, Stanley Imo, urged lawyers to get involved in governance, stating that most developed countries of the world are led by lawyers.
According to him, 60 out of 100 members of Senate in the United States of America (U.S.A.) are lawyers, 190 out of 435 in its House of Representatives are lawyers, while 25 out of 44 American presidents, including Barack Obama, were lawyers.
“Here in Nigeria, lawyers have not taken their rightful place in governance, and only one lawyer, Earnest Shonekan, had been in charge of the affairs of this country, Nigeria,” he remarked.
Former Lagos NBA chairman and currently the Second Vice President, Taiwo O. Taiwo, told TheNiche that most of the activities of the conference were attained through break-out sessions (technical committees) for lawyers.
The sessions, he said, include business law, legal practice, public interest and development law, human rights institutes, British-Nigeria law forum, military law forum, academic forum, women forum, young lawyers’ forum, lawyers in the legislature forum, law officers in the federation and NBA anti-corruption commission.
The break-out session on human rights discussed issues on human security and crisis of development in Nigeria. The members also focused on social and legal action in reducing maternal mortality in Nigeria, counter-insurgence and human rights implications.
Chairperson NBA Human Rights Institute, Justice Amina Augie, stated that maternal health is not just an issue of development, but that of human rights.
“A perspective of human rights approach to maternal health plays a critical role in legitimising, promoting and enforcing norms, policies and programmes that seek to reduce maternal mortality and improved maternal health. The underlining factors associated with maternal mortality include poverty, tradition, cultural barrier to care utilisation, poor socio-economic development, weak healthcare system; for instance ignorance/lack of education, inequalities in the distribution of healthcare, lack of infrastructure and inadequate legal policy framework,” she said.
In another break-out session on military law forum, the chairman of the committee, Commodore Shehu Uthman, said the session focused on the interplay of law and security in relation to internal security operations with a view to enhancing understanding of the jurisprudence of the military justice system, imperatives of national and global security, understanding on the legal issues of internal security operations and their relationship with national security and survival.
On the NBA anti-corruption commission, two topics were chosen. They included the ‘Nigeria judiciary: Quest for integrity’ and ‘Integrity on legal practice in Nigeria’. It was chaired by Yusuf Ali (SAN).
The two topics addressed the two broad divisions of the profession in Nigeria – the bar and the bench. This is to ensure that sustenance, prosperity, acceptance and continued relevance of the legal profession in Nigeria would remain acceptable by the members of the society.
Former Imo Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chris Okewulonu, in an interview with TheNiche, described the conference as “very successful and educating”, adding that “it was a rewarding Annual Bar Conference”.
On the choice of Owerri for the conference, Okewulonu said “at each time, Imo has always been proposed by lawyers across the country as the choice destination for the annual conference. It is like from dream to reality”.
He added: “From all indications, Owerri is a peaceful area. The legendary aspect of Owerri being noted for their hospitality is there for anybody to see. So, the choice was well made and lawyers who visited have gone home happily.
“At the end of this conference, a lot of legal issues have been addressed. Nigerians should expect improved legal practice in this country in terms of professional ethics, professional delivery and comportment of lawyers. It will be a better service delivery.”
Gowon expressed regret that Nigeria has not achieved its full potential almost 53 years after Independence and an century of amalgamation. He said: “Nigeria at 100 years of age has not yet achieved its full potential as an independent country. Certainly, it has not achieved its potential in its first 100 years. Every Nigerian has an opinion of how far we have traveled as a nation. For me, the issue is not to say who is right or wrong, but what is right or wrong.”
Host governor, Rochas Okorocha, saw the event as a season of harvest from the angle of internally-generated revenue (IGR) and reasonable income to the people of the state who offered services to the conferees.
He disclosed that in addition to payment for the conference centre and other business activities, NBA spent over N500 million on the event.
