Mr. John O. Aikpokpo-Martins who is vying for the office of the 1st Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the forthcoming National Elections has released his manifesto.

His manifesto which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer revealed that he has four key agendas to execute upon emergence as the 1st Vice President of NBA, if elected.

Meanwhile, his manifesto revealed that he’s motivated to contest in order to be at the helms of affairs where he can successfully influence decisions that positively touch and impact the welfares of the members of the profession.

However, some of the key identified agendas are to put a stop to the brutalization of Lawyers, improved remuneration of Lawyers, unionization of the Law Officers Association and promotion of human rights and public interest litigation.

The manifesto reads in full:

My distinguished colleagues, the duties and functions of the office of the 1st Vice President is as provided for vide S.5(b) of the NBA Constitution and which said provision is reproduced hereunder with;
(b) The First Vice President
(i) Shall in the absence of the President preside at all meetings in which the President is empowered to preside by the provisions of this Constitution;
(ii) Shall be responsible for the coordination of the activities of the group of Branches as may be assigned to him/her by the National Executive Committee and shall pay periodic visits to the Branches so assigned to him/her such that he/she would have visited each of such Branches at least once during each year and shall make periodic reports to the National Executive Committee on such visits;
(iii) Shall encourage and supervise the formation of new Branches within his/her zonal supervisory jurisdiction in line with the guidelines set out in this Constitution.
(iv) Shall perform all other duties as he/she may be directed by the President or the National Executive Committee or the Annual General Conference or which the President is unable to perform owing to ill health, old age, absence from the country or any other reason.

From the above, it can be said that the 1st VP is the chief adviser to the President on all matters and therefore must be capable of discharging that onerous task. He must, therefore, be experienced in the matters of the Association; being also versatile in other spheres of life and with the fecundity of mind to generate ideas for the President and inevitably for NEC to consider in a concerted effort by all to move the Association forward.

Furthermore, it must be noted that the NBA is the leader of all professional and civil societies in Nigeria, and is, therefore, better placed to dictate the course of national conversation and discourse at all times. Bearing this mind, therefore, it goes without saying that we need leaders with the fecundity of mind, the passion to steer the course, the boldness to speak and the strength of character not to be compromised. It is also very fundamental that we do not elect a 1st Vice President with something to be afraid of, as that will leave him susceptible to subtle blackmail and the capitulation of his will to drive the course of the Association. In essence, the 1st Vice President must be a passionate bar man, tenacious practitioner of the law, vibrant but calm, and a person driven by vision and ideas to move the Association forward. The 1st Vice President must have the capacity and capability to add value to the NBA presidency

Again, I do believe that the Association is neglecting the actual needs of her members, and not just only that of the young lawyers. I think that this sense of neglect and feeling of betrayal by members are more felt by the young lawyers because at that stage of practice, they have not been able to build cushions, or develop antidotes to the fault lines in the practice of law.

From my experience as a past chairman, I can say that the lack of welfare benefits is mostly due to the lack of capacity of most branches to adequately respond to the needs of lawyers, and mostly the young lawyers; a lawyer is assaulted by the police in the course of professional duties, and you see most chairmen of branches trying to wish away the problem instead of solving same. In some cases, the assaulted lawyer is put under tremendous pressure to let sleeping dogs lie. Inevitably he goes home betrayed, hurt, regretful, frustrated and traumatized. I know the feeling, I suffered it too.

I have strongly advocated and will continue to do so that the remittances to branches from the practicing fees paid should not be less than 40%. The Association must ensure that the remittances are increased, and they must be used only and exclusively for the welfare of members. I sincerely believe that if this is done, it will greatly put more monies in the control of branches to meet the needs of their members and this will lessen the seeming frustration of members with the Association.

We must all note that the branches are the closest organs of the Association to the membership; we must, therefore, seek to make the branches more responsive to the need of members more than anything else. The national body is not made up of members, but of branches. It is only the branches that are made up of members; without the members, there will not be the Association, therefore, the welfare of members must agitate the leadership of the Association more than any other duty at all times. This is the reason that I am saying that for this next 2 years; THE NBA MUST BE ABOUT LAWYERS’ WELFARE.

The national body cannot keep aloof any longer. The brutalization of a lawyer anywhere in Nigeria, is an assault on the dignity of all lawyers all over Nigeria. It is high time it is confronted head on.

MY MAJOR MOTIVATION
My main motivation for vying for the office of the 1st Vice President is to have the opportunity to be at the highest decision making of the NBA in order to be able to influence decision making in a manner that will directly touch and impact in the welfare of members. I have been a member of NEC, and I realise how difficult it is to bring my idea to the floor for proper deliberation. I have every reason to believe and I so believe that if I become the 1st Vice President of the bar, I will be in a unique position to be able to bring my ideas for consideration and implementation for the greater good of the largest number of lawyers in Nigeria.

BRUTALIZATION OF LAWYERS BY POLICE.
My main mission is to put a stop to the unfortunate incidents of lawyers brutalization from the hands of law enforcement agencies, particularly the police. We must acknowledge the fact that the humiliation of lawyers in the hands of law enforcement agents has badly battered the dignity and image of the legal profession. Apart from the predictable outcry and consequent institution of court cases, there have no been concerted and deliberate efforts to f eliminate the scourge, and/or surgically seek punishment for the perpetrators of these evil acts. It is my proposal that the NBA must set up a standing committee to handle any such unfortunate incident of police brutalization of a lawyer anywhere in Nigeria. That committee must be chaired by the 1st Vice President.

Secondly, I propose that the NBA liaise with the Inspector General of Police and set up an NBA Desk in the IGP’s office with a dedicated hotline with the sole mandate of addressing any issue of police harassment of lawyers. The NBA must seek ways to eliminate this malady, and deter any recalcitrant officer from ever humiliating a lawyer again.

On of the unique thing I plan to do, hoping that the President will support me, is that there will not be an incident of a lawyer suffering physical abuse from any police officer without my humble self as the 1st Vice President on behalf of the President being in that place within 48 hours of such an incident happening. I promise that no police officer who lays his hands on a lawyer, no matter the circumstance that will go scot-free. Just trust me on this.

REMUNERATION OF LAWYERS
Secondly, it is a given that the sphere of traditional practice areas has shrunk and has continued to shrink. Lawyers, particularly those in litigation and those not in category A firms are working like horses, but barely surviving. Is it not baffling that the Legal Practitioners Act (LPA) makes provisions for, and gave legal window for lawyers to fix their remuneration in some areas of practice like the preparation of land documentations, and lawyers are not leveraging on it! Is it not surprising that lawyers cannot get remunerated to even 2% of the value of land for which they have prepared the deed, whereas, the minimum statutory charge is not less than 10%? As the 1at Vice President, I will seek the directive of the President and NEC to initiate a draft regulations pursuant section 15 of the Legal Practitioners Act to make orders regulating fees of legal practitioners. The Legal Practitioners (Remuneration for legal documentations and other land matters) Order 1991 contains remuneration of legal practitioners in land matters and other legal documentation matters. This 1991 order should be extensively amended and modified to ensure that lawyers charge and collect their statutory charges for the preparation of land documents. This is a major key to unlock prosperity for many lawyers.

A cursory look at the activities of the NBA will show that we have neglected those things that will enhance the remuneration of lawyers, but dwell more on issues that has no direct bearing on the welfare of members. I have therefore put myself forward to at all times within this 2 years, (hoping and praying that I get elected) to put the issues of the remuneration and well being of lawyers on the table at the highest decision making organ of the NBA.

We need to look inwards and focus on our welfare; how are lawyers faring in the practuce of law; how can we train our children; how can we retire in peace? These are the issues and reasons that I seek this office; let the NBA be about lawyers’ welfare too. Fixing these issues particularly is what is motivating me in the main to seek the office of the 1st Vice President of the Bar.

UNIONIZE THE LAW OFFICERS ASSOCIATION.
The biggest single employer of lawyers in Nigeria is the government; that is, the federal and state governments. We refer to our colleagues under the employment of the government, law officers. The stark reality in Nigeria today is that law officers are denied good working conditions and remuneration befitting their status as lawyers and professionals. The difference in remuneration and conditions of service between medical doctors and lawyers in public service is so alarming and shameful. What can the NBA do?

I do believe that the NBA cannot be of much assistance except and until we find out from the law officers themselves how the NBA can be of assistance. I am privileged to have many law officers as my friends, indeed, my spouse is a law officer, therefore, I guess I know what the law officers are saying, and what they want, and I also believe that I know how the NBA can assist.

From my findings, what the law officers need is the unionization of the Law Officers Association. The NBA is not a Labour union and is therefore highly limited to assist law officers negotiate better remuneration and better conditions of service like medical doctors.

I also understand that all attempts by law officers to unionize have been frustrated from within. I think it is imperative that law officers are assisted by the NBA to unionized by a formal registration as a Labour or employees’ union. Upon unionization, the law officers can lawfully demand, and insist on negotiating for better remuneration and conditions of service peculiar to themselves for their members. They can call and embark on strikes to press home their demands, and by that we would have restored dignity to them, and by extension the NBA. I strongly believe that this is the panacea to the travails of law officers in Nigeria, and the only road map to change their fortune to good.

ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION.
I have a lot of experience and passion for public interest litigation, and my involvement in such matters are well documented. There is urgent need for the Human Rights Institute and SPIDEL to reconstituted and reinvigorated by lawyers with known passion for such endeavours. Under the previous constitution, the 1st Vice President was the head of the Human Rights Institute, but the 2016 NBA constitution has remove that duty from the 1st Vice President. However, as the 1st Vice President, I shall ensure that the NBA pays more attention to these areas of the core mandate of the NBA.

The President needs a friendly, calm, respectful and non-opinionated 1st Vice President. He needs a seasoned administrator and a counsellor. I have no doubt that I will add enormous value to the presidency if elected the 1st Vice President.

Thank you.

John O. Aikpokpo-Martins