Wali and NBA Governance: A Legacy Foretold
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has a special place in the annals of Nigerian history. At very critical moments in our national life, the NBA has always stood up to be counted. As professional associations go, the NBA is sui generis, purely in a class by itself.
The reasons are self-evident.
At times when some military adventurists seized the nation by the jugular, the NBA took to the trenches, battling for the soul of the nation. At other times when wayward political merchants threatened to derail our nascent democracy, the Bar was ready and willing to shed its blood to beat back the marauders.
Unsurprisingly, most NBA members are ever eager to recall with nostalgia the glory days of the NBA as exemplified by the fiery and quintessential Bar activist Alao Aka-Bashorun who held sway as NBA President between 1987 and 1989. He was not alone. Those eras essentially typified the raison d’être of the Bar as perhaps the last bastion of our democracy. Indeed, it is not for nothing that the founding fathers of the association chose its motto as “promoting the rule of law.” Accordingly, the NBA has over the years garnered varying soubriquets as the ‘the voice of the voiceless’ and the ‘conscience of the nation.’ This is consistent with the fact that the NBA has been in the forefront of initiatives aimed to advance the rule of law and administration of justice, secure the independence of the Judiciary, combat corruption and governmental ineptitude, and promote respect for civil rights.
The activism of the Nigerian Bar is however consistent with the general tenor of the Bar in progressive jurisdictions. Remarkably, the“long march” initiated by Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement over the illegal deposition of the country’s Chief Justice ultimately forced that country’s maximum ruler General Pervez Musharraf to resign in August 2008.
However, if truth be told, NBA governance has not always been rosy or garbed in activism; indeed, it has been a tale of roses and thorns, perhaps only capped by the hiatus that attended the association between 1992 and 1998. The widespread perception that the NBA apparatchik had on more than one occasion been hijacked by mercenaries and reactionary elements for the sole purpose of feathering their own nest and that of their sponsors or co-travellers simply refuses to abate. But that is a story for another day.
It was former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN) who had warned that the NBA Presidency is no tea party.
His words: “It is a very great and noble office which carries benefits and burdens.” Akinjide should know. He was the NBA President between 1970 and 1973. Indeed, current NBA President Okey Wali (SAN) alluded to the arduous task at hand when he said: “All over the world, building institutions is not easy, and that is even more difficult in a country like Nigeria with weak institutions.”
That NBA governance requires immense strengthening was clearly borne out by the Professor Chidi Odinkalu Committee Report which passed a damning verdict on the running of the NBA Secretariat thus: “The Secretariat of the NBA is severely under-capacitated, with an unclear mission, an insecure future, and hugely unrealized potential. The NBA itself does not offer a clear value proposition to its members.” The committee was set up by Wali.
It is recalled that Wali had ran his campaign on a 10-point agenda. In walking his talk, the NBA President set up 24 committees to drive the process. He organized a Bar Leaders Summit to fashion a Strategic Plan for the association, and set up zonal NBA disciplinary committees to investigate cases of professional misconduct among lawyers. The administration also targeted capacity building for branches and lawyers, even as the NBA Building Development Fund Raising Committee was set up to raise funds to build a new NBA National Head Office. It also spearheaded an NBA Summit on Peace and Security in Nigeria, sought to engage the National Assembly in fast tracking Justice Sector
Bills, and assured that the welfare of lawyers would remain paramount.
However, as the curtains gradually begin to fall on the Wali Presidency, analysts are divided on the final scorecard. While some have commended Wali for bringing some level of professionalism to NBA governance, others are not amused.
An editorial by one of Nigeria’s foremost newspapers on the first anniversary of the Wali Presidency was scarcely flattering. It said:
“Unfortunately, the NBA that we have seen in recent years, especially under the current leadership is a caricature of what the association used to represent.
“The NBA which had hitherto played a critical role in the political development of our country has become a shadow of itself, either because its leadership is getting involved in partisan politics or because it has no clue as to how best to leverage its influence on the national stage. For example, on many occasions when the public expected the NBA to intervene on burning national issues, especially those dealing with law and/or its perversion, the body has either been disappointingly quiet or has taken sides with the authorities.”
Speaking more recently, Dean of Law, University of Lagos, Prof. Imran Oluwole Smith (SAN) said: “The NBA is not helping matters either.
Expressing a personal opinion here, I do not see a strong NBA anymore; lawyers contest elective positions in the NBA these days for self-aggrandizement and parochial reasons. Before the glaring eyes of the NBA, some lawyers conduct themselves in the most reckless unprofessional manner without consequences. Little pronouncements come out of the NBA national secretariat these days concerning executive ineptitude or bad governance; and public opinion matters less to the body. I must, however, commend the NGOs for filling the lacuna and taking over the responsibilities of the NBA over the years. The NBA must look inward and return to its pristine and glorious days, and show more concerns for good governance, sustenance of the rule of law and sanity of the polity.” Pro-Wali members are bound to counter these verdicts.
One area that has remained intractable is the issue of “external influences” in NBA governance, especially in the election of key NBA functionaries. Watchers of NBA politics are increasingly concerned that forces outside the Bar are taking more than a cursory interest in the leadership of the Bar, moreso given the pivotal role the NBA is expected to play in our national life. Accordingly, the clamour to insulate NBA’s electoral process from any semblance of shenanigans continues to resonate and gain more converts by the day. At any rate, given the legal aphorism that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands, it stands to reason that a pressure group which seeks to be taken seriously as a campaigner for electoral reforms must not have skeletons in its own cupboard. Simply put, NBA Elections must not only be free, fair and credible but must be seen to be so. This is where the issue of electoral reforms within the NBA becomes germane.
Instructively, the said editorial also harped on the all-important issue of electoral reforms within the NBA when it said: “Ensuring an efficient and accountable process for universal suffrage that enables all lawyers to vote through an insulated and objective biometric system (thereby minimising direct contact between the voters and the voted), for instance, would certainly position the NBA electoral process as a vanguard in the battle to improve elections in our country, to be emulated by all other professional bodies, and indeed, the nation itself. The NBA therefore needs to work towards enhancing its own internal processes, for it to retain the respect of Nigerians.”
This writer had in a joint memorandum to the NBA Constitution Review Committee made suggestions on how to insulate NBA Elections from needless controversies and the spectre of “external influences.”
It was suggested that because most of the controversies that trail NBA Elections are rooted in the independence of the Electoral Committee, the committee must not only be independent, but must be seen to be so.
Members of the committee should therefore be nominated by the NBA Trustees and approved by the NBA NEC. Every effort must be made to shield the committee from the influence, authority, direction or control of the National Secretariat or National Officers.
The Electoral Committee must enjoy financial autonomy, and its funding shall constitute a first-line charge on the finances of the association. The committee must not later than 30 (thirty) days to the election publish the list of eligible voters on the NBA website and ensure that branches receive paper copies of the list within the same period. The list should also be issued to all candidates for the election not later than 30 (thirty) days to the elections.
It was further suggested that an Election Appeals Committee (EAC) has become imperative in resolving electoral disputes, with its members nominated by the NBA Trustees with subsequent approval of the NBA NEC.
Universal suffrage was equally canvassed, such that all lawyers who have paid their practicing fees and branch dues for the 3 (three) years preceding the elections shall be eligible to vote, save for a few exceptions. This is to be aided by electronic voting at state capitals, a mode of voting already successfully tested by the NIGCOMSAT in collaboration with at least one professional association.
Indeed, Wali – perhaps much like erstwhile President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua – in his inaugural speech, acknowledged some of the disquiet that attended his election and promised to wrought electoral reforms within the NBA system. His words: “Expectedly your (2012 Electoral Committee) report to the pre-conference National Executive Committee meeting of the 26th of August, 2012 made mention of areas that need improvement in our electoral process. We will look at them and in due course, we will set up a committee to review the constitution of Nigerian Bar Association and make recommendations to the National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, as some of the issues raised in your report will need amendment of the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association and our electoral guidelines.”
It is noteworthy that much of the salutary effects that have attended recent general elections in Nigeria were a result of the political will demonstrated by Yar’Adua in a genuine attempt to wrought electoral reforms. Wali is self-acclaimed as a “man of consummate willpower, undimmed vision and unflagging tenacity.” Even moreso, his legacy is foretold by the antecedents of his election. If Wali is able to carry through similar reforms within the NBA towards bringing about free, fair and credible elections devoid of rancor and undue influence, his place in the annals of NBA history is assured.
Emeka Nwadioke