Sometime in 2018, I was invited as guest on Channels TV morning program, Sunrise Daily, to talk on the scourge of medical negligence in Nigerian hospitals.
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Immediately after the program, Olumide Akpata called and introduced himself and stated that he was fascinated that I specialize in Medical Law which, according to him, was (and still is) a niche area of legal practice in Nigeria. He expressed his desire for Nigerian lawyers to develop expertise in different aspects of the legal profession and then asked how we could work together in propagating Medical Law as a viable area of expertise and specialization for Nigerian lawyers.
This was an audacious intervention from an individual whom I hitherto never met. He was the Chairman of the NBA Section on Business Law at the time. Immediately after our discussion, I saw Olumide Akpata’s tenacity come to play. He organised a 3-day Master Class for Nigerian lawyers and law students who had somewhat benign interest in Medical Law. He pulled all the strings and crowd; literally dragged all major stakeholders in the medical sector, including the Minister of Health and top hierarchy of all regulatory medical bodies in Nigeria, to the event. The event remains the largest Medicolegal gathering till date on the African continent.
As a stakeholder in the Medicolegal field, I am convinced that Mr. Olumide Akpata was instrumental in growing the previously lackluster interest of Nigerian lawyers in Medicolegal to the thriving state in which it is today. As one who is fascinated by human capital development, Mr. Akpata’s pedigree in putting his zeal into ensuring that Nigerian lawyers build capacity, develop expertise and specialize in emerging areas of law practice, to me clearly makes him a qualified person to lead the Nigerian Bar Association.
In a profession, where it is no longer sufficient for our teeming lawyers to scramble for the same scarce resources, a sincere commitment to broadening the horizon and creating more income earning opportunities for lawyers, as Olumide Akpata has been doing and is determined to continue doing, is what the Bar needs today to deal with the scourge of poor earning capacity in the profession.
I hereby appeal to all lawyers who are truly interested in promoting viable legal practice and a better future for the Nigerian legal profession to massively support Olumide Akpata in his quest to becoming the President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
LAOLU OSANYIN,
Vice President of World Association for Medical Law
Founder and Convener of the Nigerian Medical Law Summit
President Centre for Medical Law Research and Development (CMLRD)
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