*Says She Ran On Capacity, Not Gender
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The President-Elect of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, has said her campaign for the presidency of the Association was built on capacity and not gender, stressing that her priority will be to put members first and build a more responsive NBA.
Speaking on Arise THISDAY Live, Badejo-Okusanya said she was excited and humbled by the trust reposed in her by members of the Bar who elected her as the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
According to her, receiving over 12,000 votes in the election showed that thousands of her colleagues had placed their confidence in her to run the affairs of the Association for the next two years after the expiration of the tenure of the current NBA President.
“I am excited, very humbled by the trust that has been placed in me,” she said. “I was able to gather just over 12,000 votes, which means that 12,000 of my colleagues have placed their trust in me to run the affairs of the NBA for the next two years.”
Asked about her plans for the Bar, Badejo-Okusanya said her major priority would be to put NBA members first.
She said her campaign slogan, captured in her manifesto, was to build “A Bolder Bar That Works For Everyone.”
The President-Elect explained that the slogan did not mean the Bar was not working, but that the Association must become more intentional about serving the diverse needs of its members.
According to her, her administration will be bold about creating opportunities for lawyers, protecting members, building a transparent and responsive secretariat, and helping lawyers to earn better, live better and practise better.
She said her manifesto was built around practical and achievable goals, not lofty promises that cannot be implemented.
“My plans, which are encapsulated in my manifesto, centre on those five pillars. It is not a manifesto built on lofty ideals of things that cannot be achieved. It is deliberately simple, with lots of low-hanging fruit, all designed to help the Nigerian lawyer earn with dignity, be better respected, and at the end of two years, to have set the NBA on the path to being more responsive to its members,” she said.
On whether the events and politics leading to the election had anything to do with gender, Badejo-Okusanya said she did not believe gender was on the front burner of the issues that preceded the election.
She said she preferred to look ahead, adding that “there is a reason why the rearview mirror is much smaller than the windscreen.”
Badejo-Okusanya said she won decisively, having secured about 4,000 votes more than her closest challenger, and was proud of the outcome.
She noted that while she is proud to be a woman, she deliberately ran her campaign on capacity rather than gender.
“I deliberately ran my campaign on that score, not on gender, but on capacity. I wanted people to see a capable woman. Not ashamed of being a woman, very proud of being a woman, but I wanted people to see a capable lawyer, first of all,” she said.
She added that the NBA should move towards a point where gender is no longer the central issue in leadership discussions, but capacity, competence and service.
The President-Elect also called for reconciliation within the Bar, saying the election was over and the task ahead was to rebuild the Association.
According to her, it was now time to reach out, work together and move the NBA forward.
“We are here now. It is now time to rebuild the Association, to start the process of reconciliation and reaching out and working together, because teamwork makes the dream work,” she said.
Badejo-Okusanya promised to be President to all members of the NBA, including those who supported her and those who criticised or opposed her candidacy.
“I will be President to all members, both my most ardent supporters and my most strident critics. I will be President to them all,” she said.
She added that her goal is to “move the needle” and reposition the Association for better service to its members.
During the programme, the panelists congratulated her on her election and wished her a successful tenure, while urging her to rely on teamwork, wisdom and resilience in leading the Bar.
Badejo-Okusanya thanked them for their goodwill and said the work of building a more responsive, inclusive and member-focused NBA would begin in earnest.
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