Recently NBA National Secretariat released online the Notice of Proposed Amendment to its Constitution. From my personal observation, there seemed to be no reactions from lawyers on this new development except a reaction by a lawyer titled: AN OPEN LETTER TO PAUL USORO, SAN written by on Zion Ewere, Esq wherein he expressed his reservation and dismay on the proposed amendment. According to the said writer:
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/School-Of-Alternative-Dispute-Resolution-SADR1.png")
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/TheNigerialawyer-WhatsApp-Channel1.jpg")
“To my deepest dismay however , in the midst of all steps towards ensuring the betterment and advancement of the NBA, I have discovered that there was and is nothing in thought or plan for the future of the bar , the young lawyers.There has been so many pressing issues and outcry of the young lawyers which I believe you were most abreast and indeed familiar with during your campaign into office .In your pre-election reflections,you mentioned certain reforms you will do to better the system with an inclusive movement, to carry along and fully involve the young lawyers.
“In the proposed amendment of the NBA constitution 2015, I expected to see the inclusion of even one young lawyer in the NEC, or a proper provision for the welfare and protection of young lawyers from Principals that have exalted themselves to be Alpha and Omega, overworking but underpaying young lawyers whose wages are lesser or equal to peanut sizes.”
“So far in your term ,you have shown little or no interest to young lawyers and it is sad to note that these same young lawyers are to take over with no mentoring and proper upbringing which invariably may continue the cycle,denting the image and reputation with which lawyers hold themselves so highly in the society…”
From the above quoted portion from the said open letter to the President of the Nigerian Bar Association,it could be seen that the writer is a young lawyer who seems to be speaking for the lawyers in that category. My own take after reading through the draft of the proposed amendment was that the present NBA leadership is only interested in boosting the power of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in the appointment of a particular staff, bringing some innovations into to the financial aspect of the Association among others to which I believe nobody should have problem with. But as far as addressing the political inequality prevailing in the NBA political system is concerned , I note that the present regime is not prepared to look into that, which is the reason why I said the NBA constitution is retaining the George Orwell’s theory of all animals are equal,but some animals are more equal than the others.
Some people have contended that the legal profession itself is all about inequality because of what they called “seniority in the profession or the inner bar and outer bar dichotomy”. My response to that has been that there is a world of difference what is attained through privilege and what is attained through political equality. Except we do not want to call a spade a spade, there is no political equality in the NBA politics. In my open letter to the President of NBA, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN (PUSAN) sometime in December 2018 reminding him of his promised reform, I quoted PUSAN as follows:
“…As promised in my inauguration address, we have ensured that we fulfill our promise to entrench transparency and accountability in the affairs of the Association. We have also taken steps and made positive efforts in making the Bar more united and stronger through an all inclusive governance model where every member of the Association is made fully aware of the activities of the Association with good feedback mechanism .We believe that a united Bar will complement our efforts at entrenching the promotion of rule of law and respect for human rights. While we shall continue to count on you support in this regard, we are also receptive to fair criticisms that will move the Bar forward…”
My fair criticism here is that the proposed amendment that is presently placed on the ground does not completely reflect or fall short of the expectation going by the reform promised by PUSAN during the inaugural speech after being sworn in as the President of the Association. In my said open letter directed to PUSAN, I further observed after quoting him extensively that:
“Sir, I have gone this length to remind your eminence of the promise of reforms you made on coming into the office. These reforms are indeed necessary because I am of the view that the NBA political system as we have it today is to some extent undemocratic and discriminatory. If machinery is not put in place to rectify this, our continued claim of having an all inclusive Bar in place will be nothing but a mere hypocrisy. I have in the past once likened the NBA political system to the similarity of what was obtained in the George Orwell’s ANIMAL FARM where it was propounded that: “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than the others”. The reason for this was that I found it difficult as a lawyer to comprehend a situation where an association of learned people that prides itself as promoting the rule of law would insert in its constitution provisions that are unjustifiable discriminatory.”
Since a silence has been maintained on this, it can be said that the present NBA leadership is comfortable with this George Orwell’s theory. If the leadership had long been comfortable with this, why were lawyers being taken for a ride on the promise of the electoral reform? Many lawyers are always excited when arguing and clamouring for the restructuring of Nigeria as a nation but do not see the need for that in NBA. Many lawyers derive pleasure in advancing the cause of the “Not too Young to Run” , but when the young lawyers are clamouring to be involved in the scheme of things ,the senior lawyers look the other way.The young lawyers only become relevant when their votes are being sought for during elections.It is then the senior lawyers consider it necessary to pay their Bar Practicing Fees, Annual Branch Dues and sponsoring them to various seminars and conferences. The buying of lawyers’ votes that was condemned by the late Hon. Justice Anthony Ekundayo in his book : “Hints on Law Practice” has resurfaced in different form under the present dispensation. The great jurist once asserted that :
“The Bar Association must purge itself of certain ills. Members seeking elective posts must resist the temptation of ‘purchasing’ the votes of the younger ones by ‘sponsoring’ them to Annual conference with strings attached. It is a mark of gross disrespect for, and patent insult to a member of the bar that his ‘free’ vote is purchased rather than won. It is a total destruction of the principles which form the basis of legal practitioner’s training .To think freely, to decide rationally after weighing all available facts, to exercise the power of a free choice after studying all the surrounding circumstances and to act free from the influence of bias are supposed to be inalienable segments of a lawyer’s framework”.
The above was what used to be the situation under the old NBA Constitution when the voting by delegation was in vogue.Under that old electoral regime; the highest bidders usually carried the day. Why do I continue to to say that there is no political equality in the NBA politics? I have argued this point severally but for the benefit of those reading this for the first time, the reason for this is that when you look at the system critically, you will surely understand what am talking about. As far as electing lawyers into the elective offices of the National officers is concerned, the participation is not all inclusive in NBA politics. For all the substantive positions except those of the Assistant positions, you must have at one time or the other being a member of the National Executie Committee (NEC) either by virtue of once being a Chairman, Secretary of a branch or you are at one time or the other being co-opted (not elected) into the NEC. If you have once occupied any positions other than that of Chairman and Secretary of any branch, you will not be eligible to contest for any substantive position of the National officer except you had once been co-opted (not elected) into the NEC.Apart from that the position you can contest for is that of an Assistant position of the National Officer. The clearer interpretation of this for instance is that ,if you have once served as a Vice Chairman of any branch of NBA ,and you had not fortunate to be co-opted (not elected) into NEC,then you cannot contest for any substantive position at National level except a position of an Assistant despite the fact that as Vice Chairman you are on the same pedestal with the Chairman in terms of qualification requirements such as post call years, payment of the same Bar Practice Fees and Annual Branch Dues.Under this system ,a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who develops interest in NBA politics and decides to run for a position saying that of the President will not be eligible if I had not been co-opted into the NEC before nor had served as Chairman or Secretary of any branch.
On the composition of the National Executive Committee (NEC), by virtue of Section 7 of the NBA Constitution comprises of the National Officers ; all past Presidents and General Secretaries ; all Chairmen and Secretaries of the registered Branches; one (1) representative of each branch; Chairmen and Secretaries of Sections; other deserving members of the Association CO-OPTED by the National Executive Committee provided always that the total number shall not exceed 180 members in the following categories : (i) Senior Advocates of Nigeria- 40; (ii) Senior Members who are over 25 years post call- 40; Special interest groups/active members who are over 10 years post call -100. By the proposed amendment released by the NBA National Secretariat, this composition will remain as there was no any attempt to tamper with the present composition. I think from this everyone can see where the grievance of the lawyers like Zion Ewere , Esq is coming from as per his open letter to PUSAN part of which has been quoted above.Is the spreading of these 180 members of NEC democratic? To me it is not. What is the yardstick for the selection of those 180 members? I have observed for quite sometime now that those 180 members are compensatory positions usually given out by the NBA President and his “Kitchen Cabinets” to compensate those they believe have assisted them during campaigns to win elections into the offices. I once described this in one of my previous articles on this subject as “a winner take all” as I do not see the reason why the President will co-opt lawyers from other camps into his NEC. Will those co-opted members be bold and courageous enough to criticize the President and his Executive’s policy that is inimical and not in the interest of the Association? Do you remember the maxim “he who pays the piper, dictates the tunes? Will it not be proper to fully democratize the entire system?
I have always maintained the position that it is better the NBA political system be fully democratized to allow for all inclusive participation of its financial members that pay their subscriptions as at when due .A situation where lawyers are made to pay their financial subscription to the Association but are prevented from taking part in the political contest of the Association is not fair enough. The young lawyers are equally stakeholders in the NBA political system that must be accommodated in the scheme of things. The Association must look seriously into the welfare of the generality of its members particularly the young ones. Many lawyers today complain bitterly of the difficulty they face in the discharge their professional duties and responsibilities while the young lawyers complain of poor remuneration from their principals.
On the amendment of the NBA Constitution as promised by the present leadership, we had expected more than what are now being put forward as the proposed amendments to the NBA Constitution. When the committee was set up by PUSAN to amend the constitution, I had made the following observations and suggestions that:
“It is a good thing that Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN, (PUSAN) the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has set up a Constitutional and Electoral Review Commiittee to be headed by Professor Fabian Ajogwu, SAN…. As the name of the Committee suggests, justice must be done to the words “constitutional and electoral” in the reviewing of the NBA Constitution or Bye Law… Therefore, the Committee set up to review the constitution must be transparent in the discharge of the duties assigned to it. It must make its agenda known and call for submission of papers and memorandum from members of the Association for consideration. The ball is now in the court of lawyers to come out to express their views on which aspects of the constitution they want reviewed. One of the problems confronting us in the society we live is that sometime issue such as this is not given wide publicity.Sometime when publicity is widely given many people will remain indifferent but by the time the thing is concluded,it is then you will see people complaining…. I think one of the best ways to promote an all inclusive NBA is to make all lawyers to have the true sense of belonging in NBA political system where the real true representation will be allowed to be the hallmark of the system. I urge the members of the new NBA’s Constitutional and Electoral Review Committee to take note of this as I wish them well in their assignment.”
Whether the proposed amendment to the NBA Constitution being showed to us now took cognisance of the above suggestions in the cause of its assignment is the question that can be answered by those involved the processes.
REMARKABLE PRONOUNCEMENT ON ESSENCE OF CONSTITUTION
“The function of the constitution is to establish a framework and principles of government, broad and general in terms intended to apply to the varying conditions which the development of our several communities must involve, ours being a plural, dynamic society and therefore the technical rules of interpretation of statutes are to some extent inadmissible in a way so as to defeat the principles of government enshrined in the constitution.”
Per UDOMA , JSC in Nafiu Rabiu Vs. The State (1980) 8-11 S.C. 130 at Pg. 148-149.
THE SETTLED PRINCIPLE OF LAW
On Supremacy of the Constitution
“It is also trite, that needs no further authority to back it up, that any law or edict which is in direct conflict or inconsistent with Section 287 (3) of the 1999 Constitution is null and void to the extent of inconsistency.”
See ONIJEWU Vs. K.S.M.C & L (2003) FWLR Pt. 181 Pg. 1608 Para C
HAVE YOU OBTAINED YOUR COPIES?
For more Settled Principles of Law and Remarkable Pronouncements from our Supreme Court Jurists from 1956-2016, obtain or order for your copies of LAW PRACTICE KIT and LEGAL LUMINARIES. Call or text 08055476823, 08164683735 or email: rasheedibraheem68@yahoo.com. Your library is incomplete without these books.
13th August 2019
Evidence And Trial Proceedings, Pleadings And Damages, Civil Appeals — All In Civil Litigation Serial Volumes 4–6!
4. Evidence and Proceedings at Trial in Civil Litigation — Governing Principles 5. Pleadings, Reliefs and Measures of Damages — with Precedents 6. Civil Appeal at Court of Appeal and Supreme Court — with Precedents "Civil Litigation Serial is designed to be an indispensable reference for lawyers engaged in civil litigation practice," said Basil Momodu Esq., the author of the series. Call 07051822705 to get your copies today! ______________________________________________________________________ Four New Titles From Prof. Ozekhome SAN Address Judiciary, Separation Of Powers, And Media --- Order Now 
📞 Enquiries: +234 704 044 9375 | +234 814 813 4773 | +234 816 872 3532 📧 Email: educodexl@gmail.com Follow the voice of wisdom. Read Prof. Mike Ozekhome. Be inspired. Be enlightened. Be empowered. ___________________________________________________________________ Grab Your Complete Law Reports Now!!! IP, Company, Evidence & Land Cases - All Volumes With Digital Index!!!
To get a copy kindly Call 07044444777, 07044444999, 08181999888, https://alexandernigeria.com/ ______________________________________________________________________
[A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials
