Aigbokhan has called on Nigerian lawyers to rethink the boundaries of traditional legal practice and embrace a broader system of public accountability that brings lawyers, activists, journalists and ordinary citizens together in confronting governance failures.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/ELLAN.png")
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-Summer-IDRI-Masterclass.jpg")
Writing against the backdrop of the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, themed “Beyond Limits,” Aigbokhan said the controversy surrounding the inclusion of social-media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), on a national security panel should prompt deeper reflection on the changing nature of advocacy and accountability in Nigeria.
According to him, the central challenge facing the legal profession is no longer confined to what lawyers can achieve in courtrooms, chambers and formal institutions, but extends to how effectively the law connects with ordinary Nigerians and responds to institutional failures on the streets.
“The real battlefield is on the streets, and figures like VeryDarkMan are already occupying the space the legal profession has long neglected,” he said.
He argued that although lawyers have historically played a central role in challenging government illegality and protecting citizens’ rights, the profession should resist the notion that lawyers alone possess the solutions to Nigeria’s governance and institutional problems.
Aigbokhan maintained that VDM’s role should be viewed as complementary rather than competitive with the work of the Bar.
“VDM has a role cut out for him, one that complements, rather than competes with, the work of the Bar. Lawyering plugs certain holes. Street accountability plugs others. Nigeria needs both,” he stated.
He noted that VeryDarkMan did not emerge through the conventional channels of legal advocacy, established civil society or professional institutions, but developed his influence through social media, where he built a substantial audience by speaking about alleged corruption, public-sector failures, consumer complaints, insecurity and social injustice.
According to him, VDM’s ability to communicate such issues in language easily understood by ordinary Nigerians is part of the reason his participation in a major NBA conference should be considered significant.
Aigbokhan also referenced the Ratel Movement, an online-driven initiative associated with VDM, describing it as part of an emerging grassroots accountability model that uses digital platforms to mobilise public attention around governance, insecurity, public services and other social concerns.
He argued that such movements demonstrate that public accountability increasingly operates outside traditional institutions.
“VeryDarkMan has emerged as a critical bridge across this gap,” he said.
According to Aigbokhan, digital activists are able to respond in real time to issues that formal legal proceedings may take considerably longer to address.
He said VDM’s interventions on governance, insecurity, alleged misconduct by public officials and the enforcement of court decisions have enabled complex institutional failures to be communicated to members of the public in an accessible manner.
Aigbokhan consequently urged the legal profession to embrace more pluralistic engagement rather than restricting conversations about justice and governance to lawyers.
He warned that meetings dominated exclusively by members of the profession risk becoming “echo chambers” unless voices from journalism, activism, communities and emerging digital accountability movements are also included.
According to him, challenges surrounding the enforcement of court judgments, insecurity, corruption and public accountability cannot be addressed effectively by one profession acting in isolation.
He said the key question for lawyers should therefore be what they are prepared to do “beyond the courtroom.”
Aigbokhan also cautioned against equating a favourable court judgment with the actual delivery of justice, noting that winning a case may only be one stage in a much wider accountability process.
He proposed what he described as a new accountability ecosystem in which different actors perform complementary roles.
Under the model, the lawyer provides the law, the activist provides pressure, the journalist provides investigation, the citizen provides legitimacy, while the court provides authoritative resolution.
He argued that the combined force of those institutions and actors is considerably stronger than any of them working independently.
Aigbokhan therefore called for a new model of public-interest lawyering in Nigeria, one that goes beyond conventional advocacy and places lawyers in closer contact with communities and citizens.
He said lawyers should be prepared to leave the comfort of their chambers, engage directly with the public, deploy technology intelligently, work with civil-society organisations and communicate legal developments in language accessible to non-lawyers.
According to him, legal victories must not remain buried in judgments or professional discussions but should be translated into practical outcomes that citizens can understand and experience.
Addressing the debate over VDM’s presence at the NBA conference, Aigbokhan acknowledged that the social-media activist might not be the type of messenger many lawyers would naturally choose.
“VeryDarkMan may not be everyone’s preferred messenger. He may not even be the messenger lawyers would have chosen, but he has a message that lawyers require for the boundless limit,” he stated.
He said the theme “Beyond Limits” should mean more than professional rhetoric and should include a willingness by members of the Bar to listen to unconventional voices, even when such individuals make the profession uncomfortable.
For Aigbokhan, the controversy therefore raises a broader question about the future of the Nigerian legal profession.
“The real question before the Nigerian Bar is no longer whether VDM has a place in the accountability conversation,” he said.
“The question is whether lawyers will remain spectators in that conversation or step beyond the courtroom and make the law a living thing capable of being described.”
He maintained that Nigeria’s institutional challenges require a partnership between law and public pressure, arguing that neither courtroom advocacy nor street activism is sufficient on its own.
According to him, the emerging accountability ecosystem should therefore not be framed as lawyers versus activists, but as a collaboration in which professional legal expertise, citizen mobilisation, investigative journalism, digital advocacy and judicial authority work together to demand responsibility from public institutions and officials.
Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via:
0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888
Website: www.alexandernigeria.com
“Order Justice Omolaye-Ajileye’s Electronic Evidence Books Now” — Essential Guides On Evidence Act, Case Law And Digital Proof
