*Criticises NBA AGC Bags, Guest List, Hot Halls, Poor Welfare Arrangements
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Dr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, SAN, has delivered a critical interim assessment of the 2026 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt, describing it as lacklustre, uninspiring and in several respects deeply disappointing.
The senior advocate set out his observations in a written interim report on the conference, which is continuing.
Ubani opened by recalling his assessment of the previous conference in Enugu.
“Those who attended the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Enugu last year will recall that I wrote what many described as a scintillating assessment of that conference,” he wrote. “My verdict at the time was unequivocal: the Enugu Conference would remain one of the most memorable NBA Annual General Conferences in recent history, particularly in terms of organisation, movement around the host city, environmental friendliness, traffic management and the warmth of hospitality.”
He noted a single reservation about that event. “The only minus, minute though, was prominence given to new wigs over old wigs.”
He said the reception of that conference had shaped attendance this year. “There is little doubt that the glowing reports and eulogies that followed the Enugu Conference from many participants contributed significantly to the tremendous increase in attendance at this year’s conference in Port Harcourt. Younger lawyers, in particular, came in torrents, eager to experience what they had been told was the NBA Conference at its very best.”
He then delivered his interim verdict. “Sadly, my interim report so far is one of profound disappointment. Unless the remaining days of the conference produce a dramatic and substantial improvement, the 2026 NBA Annual General Conference may go down as one of the most lacklustre and uninspiring conferences in recent memory.”
His first specific criticism concerned the conference materials.
“My greatest disappointment begins with the quality of the materials, especially the conference bag, and the general organisation of the conference,” he wrote. “The conference bag, rather than reflecting the dignity, class and intellectual character of the largest gathering of lawyers in Africa, resembled that of an ordinary market woman’s bag.”
Ubani reserved stronger language for the composition of the guest list.
“More troubling is the quality and suitability of some of the guests invited to address or participate in the conference. There are certain personalities who should simply not grace a programme organised for lawyers, irrespective of their popularity, celebrity status or social media standing,” he wrote.
He continued: “Lawyers are peculiar in every respect, and the NBA Annual General Conference is a serious professional and intellectual gathering. It cannot and should not be converted into a circus show. No amount of argument by the protagonists of certain guests can change this fundamental reality.”
He set out the standard he considers applicable. “The NBA must preserve the intellectual dignity and professional character of its annual gathering. The quality of our guests matters. We must never lower the standard, particularly in the selection of intellectual guests whose pedigree, scholarship, experience and antecedents are nationally and internationally acknowledged.”
He described what the conference ought to be. “The NBA Annual General Conference should be a place where lawyers encounter the best minds, challenge established ideas, interrogate contemporary problems and leave with a richer understanding of the law, society and the future of our profession. Entertainment has its place, but it must never replace intellectual substance.”
He added: “In this regard, this year’s conference, from my personal observation so far, appears to have reduced aspects of the NBA gathering to something dangerously close to an unserious conference. The presidential debate was a beautiful concept but delivery was substandard, in my respectful view.”
The senior advocate said the problems extended beyond the programme to the arrangements on the ground.
“There is very little, at least from my experience so far, that has put a smile on several faces concerning the organisation of this conference,” he wrote. “There were no properly organised and easily accessible tea break venues. Lunch arrangements were not centrally and conspicuously organised in a manner that would allow conference participants to access them without unnecessary stress. The halls used during the first and second days were hot, uncomfortable and unconducive for the serious intellectual engagements expected of such a conference.”
He rejected the suggestion that such matters are trivial. “These may appear to be minor details to some people, but they are not. The comfort and welfare of participants are integral to the success of any conference. A lawyer who is struggling with heat, hunger, congestion and confusion cannot fully concentrate on the quality of discourse taking place around him or her.”
Ubani identified what he described as a structural problem behind the difficulties.
“One major structural problem confronting the NBA Annual General Conferences is the absence of adequate convention centres across the country. A conference that attracts tens of thousands of lawyers cannot continue to depend on facilities that were never designed to accommodate gatherings of this magnitude,” he wrote.
He called for investment. “This year’s experience has once again reminded us that Nigeria must urgently begin to invest seriously in purpose-built convention centres. State governments must recognise that these facilities are not luxuries. They are essential infrastructure for hosting major national and international gatherings.”
He set out a specification. “Nigeria should have modern convention centres capable of accommodating at least 25,000 persons at a time, with adequate halls, air-conditioning, parking facilities, security, sanitation, exhibition spaces, restaurants, reliable power supply and transportation arrangements.”
He added: “We have the resources to actualise this dream. What appears to be lacking is the necessary vision, planning and commitment.”
Writing as the Association prepares to swear in a new President, Ubani expressed the hope that the pattern would not continue.
“As we usher in a new NBA President this week, my sincere prayer is that we do not continue on this trajectory. If we genuinely desire to attract decent and serious-minded members of the Bar to the Annual General Conference, which remains the largest gathering of lawyers in Africa, then we must raise our standards,” he wrote.
He listed the requirements. “We must plan better. We must organise better. We must select our guests with greater care. We must prioritise intellectual substance over unnecessary spectacle. And we must insist on facilities worthy of the Nigerian legal profession.”
Ubani was careful to mark the provisional character of his assessment.
“This is only an interim report. Tomorrow and Friday may yet present a different experience and perhaps provide some redemption. I sincerely hope they do,” he wrote.
“But as things stand today, my interim verdict on the 2026 NBA Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt is that it has been lacklustre, uninspiring and, in several respects, deeply disappointing.”
He said the attendance itself made the shortcomings harder to accept. “The lawyers who came to Port Harcourt in large numbers, especially the younger members of the profession who had heard so much about the beautiful and memorable conferences in Abuja and Enugu last year, deserve better. This year’s uninspiring conference should, I pray, be the last of its kind.”
He closed: “The Nigerian Bar Association can do better. The Nigerian Bar Association must do better. And the lawyers of Nigeria demand something better, more attractive, more intellectually rewarding and more professionally dignified. Our Annual General Conference must never become an ordinary gathering. It is the largest gathering of lawyers in Africa, and it must always reflect the best of the Nigerian legal profession. You may differ, it is your right. I have said mine, it is my right.”
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