Mr. Kazeem O. Olaniyan, the Head of the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, has joined issues with a Law School teacher, Mr. Sylvester Udemezue (aka Udems), over the later’s criticism of Southwest Lawyers Forum and its adopted candidate, Mr. Dele Adesina (SAN). The Nation Reports
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Udemezue had in his article entitled: “NBA 2020 Elections: 13 Reasons Why Adoption by Tribal Groups Is Unsafe for the Health and Progress of the Nigerian Bar Association” condemned the adoption of Adesina (SAN) by the Yoruba lawyers body.
Adoption of candidate by the Group whose turn it is to produce the next president of the NBA has become a tradition. But if it becomes difficult to adopt a single candidate, all contestants from a particular region are allowed to go and contest the election.
The following former NBA presidents: Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu ( SAN), Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN), and Okey Wali (SAN) were all beneficiaries of Adoption by regional groups in the past. Even in the last election, Chief Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN) was adopted by the Eastern Bar Forum (EBF) but as God will have it, he could not win the election current NBA president.
In his 13 reasons why adoption by tribal groups is unsafe for the health and progress of the Nigerian Bar Association. Udemezue stated:
“Adoption is inferior to Article 9 & Part 2.1(d) of the 2nd schedule to the NBA Constitution by virtue of which, in 2020, any lawyer that hails from the core Southwest is entitled to aspire to become the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in 2020.
“Only parties to a tribal adoption know the secret terms and conditions of such an adoption there always are. So, electing the adopted lawyer means mortgaging the interests of the entire NBA membership who would then be forced to kowtow, albeit indirectly through the leadership (president), to such adoption conditions which may not be (are usually not) in the best interests of the NBA as a whole. It is better to elect a person untainted by such parochial, unpopular and retrogressive concept of tribal adoption.
“Adoption by tribal groups only helps to further divide rather than unite NBA members. The adopted person is viewed more as a product of ethnicity and sectional, parochial interests.
“NBA deserves to be ruled by a lawyer who is elected by an overwhelming majority of eligible Nigerian lawyers based on broad acceptance and genuine leadership credentials, and not based on any tribal ‘adoption’ ”.
“The concept of Rotational Presidency in the NBA prescribes that all lawyers in Nigeria should elect by universal suffrage one lawyer from the NBA Zone whose turn it is to produce the NBA President. Rotation does not require any tribal group to be the one to adopt, choose or present a candidate to NBA members, for sheepish endorsement.
“ If we elect a person “adopted” by a tribal group as NBA president, the tendency is that on assumption of office, he would most likely kowtow to ethnic tunes, parochial & tribal sentiments, trying to please the tribal adoptors, instead of detachedly facing the task of NBA leadership with the broad, free and independent mind required to deliver good governance.
“Tribal adoption hinders inclusiveness; an NBA president that emerges through adoption would be a leader for some and not for all. A true NBA president must adopt all-inclusiveness as his/her motto, carrying along all lawyers from all parts of the country, and thus creating an environment in which all lawyers from all sections feel empowered to express their opinions freely within the larger group. Diversity of thinking is critical to effective collaboration, management and progress.
“An NBA president foisted on lawyers from all the 36 states plus Abuja, by a purported adoption by some members of a tribal group (the scope of whose membership does not extend beyond six states) would not be free to observe essentials of broad-based good governance.
“Electing a lawyer purportedly adopted by a tribal association would mean that ‘universal suffrage is now meaningless’ since a tribal group is now the one imposing its decision on the entire membership of the NBA. Is it not better to allow all eligible lawyers from the relevant portion of the NBA Zone to come out as candidates, and then let all lawyers elect whomsoever they feel is the most competent?
“An NBA president, who is a product of tribal “adoption” may not be free, on assumption of office, to declare, as Marty Rubin once did: ‘I pledge allegiance to Nothing and No one but only to the freedom for which it stands?’
“I read a comment where someone said a certain aspirant to the NBA Presidency in 2020, had in the past come out a couple of times, to contest the same position, but was prevailed upon to step aside for some other aspirants; and that the lawyer who had been “stepping aside” for others should be allowed to go this time, since “he had made enough sacrifice in the past by so “stepping down” for others.”
‘’With due respect, NBA is not a private property of that particular lawyer. The mere fact that anyone had stepped down in the past, to pave way for another lawyer to get elected, is not any good reasons to insist that such a person must be the NBA president now? Whatever agreement or secret deal such an individual (aspirant) purportedly had at that time, with those in whose interest he had stepped down, is not binding on the present generation of NBA presidential aspirants.
“Continued existence, influence of such tribal groups (through “adoption”) is one major reason genuine unity and progress have eluded the NBA for a long time now. I therefore humbly implore lawyers to ignore any story of adoption by any tribal group or branch, by whatever name called, and to go all out in July 2020 to elect an NBA president of core Southwest extraction in line with Article 9 and Part 2.1 (d) of the Second Schedule to the NBA Constitution” Udemezue stated.
In his response, Olaniyan urged Udemezue to spend a little time more productively in preparing his lecture notes at the Nigerian Law School for the students he professes to be lecturing, rather than focusing 99 per cent of his time on the adoption by the members and leaders of Egbe Amofin Oodua, the Forum of Southwest Lawyers, a group which he does not belong to in the first place
He said: “A critical examination of his hatched job reveals no sense of logical reasoning other than a deliberate attempt to scandalise the members and leaders of Egbe Amofin and disparage the candidate so adopted while extolling the virtues of his preferred candidate. His write-ups, including this particular one, lack objectivity and fair-mindedness. May be Sylvester is not aware that in Jurisprudential thought and logic, not all sound arguments are logical but all logical arguments are sound. His argument, at best, has committed what is known by the logicians as”argumentum-ad-verecudian“.
“Few days ago, Udemezue wrote in another article entitled: “The content of my support during NBA elections’’, after a careful thought, deep analysis and in line with the principles I hold dear, I have chosen to not only support but to diligently and vigorously canvass support for Babatunde Ajibade (SAN) to become the next president.
‘’While I work very hard and pray that Ajibade should win because I think he is the best among equals, I have prepared my mind that whoever wins is the will of God,” Udemezue stated
Olaniyan stated that nobody challenged Udemezue then because he was trying to sell his highly parochial and perjured subjective mind to his fellow travellers. But to have continued to display, rather arrogantly, to take a swipe at our respected leader, at least as a free born, fully bred Yoruba person, such arrogance is viewed as a diarrhea of the mouth of a stupendous ignoramus.
“Let nobody be deceived about his subjectivity and he should allow that will of God to prevail. If he indeed meant what he said, why did he again decide to make series of damaging and disparaging remarks about the ever respected.’’
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