Nigerian Lawyers are worse than our politicians - Part 1
- Details
- Category: POLITICS
- Published on Thursday, 19 July 2012 11:45
- Written by Ogbuefi Blogs
The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) on Tuesday commissions its National secretariat in Abuja and named it after the immediate past President, Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and the Action Congress of Nigeria Governorship candidate in Ondo state. According to the outgoing NBA president, Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN the reason for naming the
secretariat after Akeredolu was informed by the need for generational identification and recognition of those who had contributed immensely to the development of the association. He said Akeredolu deserved the honour; haven served the bar meritoriously with his sheer courage and rigour as testimonies to his selfless service.
Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN)
Responding, Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu who led the association between 2008 – 2010, and is the current A.C.N Governorship candidate waxed eloquent in his ambition to run for the Ondo state government house and boasted at the ceremony: "I can assure you by the grace of God, we ( ACN) will win the governorship election”.
Ogbuefi Ndigbo wonders of all the more deserving recipients for the honour of having the NBA Secretariat named after them, people who recorded great achievements and contributed immensely to the development of the legal profession in Nigeria none was deemed by Daudu of deserving this honour!
A few examples:
1. Rotimi Williams
2. Gani Fawehinmi
3. Daddy Onyeama
4. Bola Ajibola
5. Alao Aka-Bashorun
6. Teslim Elias
7. Sapara Williams
I’m not denigrating Rotimi Akeredolu, but quite frankly, I also think such honours should be conferred after the person has died or at least retired from practice.
This is simply a cheerless attempt to use NBA to play local politics as there are many deserving personalities to be honoured if indeed NBA sincerely desired.
This is also not my lone opinion. A reknowned lawyer, [I withholds the name because I have not been authorised to quote her] said:
“AKEREDOLU President of NBA 2008-2010 is one in the history of our Association who got in through a consensus arrangement spear headed by Chief Olanipekun SAN such that he once declared in 2008 that “after God, the next person to me is Olanipekun, he worked round the clock and across camps to make this possible...” the arrangee ‘election’.
Apart from taking on Hon. Justice Legbo Kutigi former Chief Justice of Nigeria, one of the finest judicial officers in the land in his time, to court, without NEC’s approval, over nomination of NBA members into NJC, what did he do? What legacy? as NBA President? He took the biennial delegates election to Ibadan to ensure Gadzama SAN was out-played for JBD and I guess its payback time for JBD.
Former NBA Vice President at the time, Mr Akaraiwe say it is a befitting birthday gift to Akeredolu to have named the NBA Secretariat in Abuja after him in answer to electronic objections filed by Lawyer Dele Aloko. And I request we make no mistake about it, my NBA is too big to be presented to anyone as a birthday gift, please.
Akeredolu was at logger heads with his NBA General Secretary Ibrahim Mark through and through and he almost always ran the Association into troubled waters.
Akeredolu made NBA contract awards as a sitting President to questionable companies with CAC proven interests.
A copy of his financial statement for 2008-2010 should be circulated to x-ray multi millions of Naira collected, to disprove the perception of a regime largely ran without rendering accounts.
The NBA paid hugely with subscribers’ funds to purchase the secretariat in Abuja; against protestation by a group led by Segun Onakoya Esq., of Lagos Branch, a former National General Secretary of NBA, that it is incongruous to move our secretariat when we have a befitting one sitting in Lagos and Abuja being central could have NBA presence”.
If NBA must, we suggest that Chief FRA Williams SAN, CFR, who deserves to be immortalized on account of our Abuja House for unequalled contributions to both legal developments & NBA!
Nigerian lawyers should have named it their Abuja secretariat after the first person who nurtured the whole idea of the NBA or still one of our dead members who contributed immensely to the growth of the association and not the recent past President who did not do much to the Association like the past Leaders who made it what it is today.
Ogbuefi Ndigbo
