Dear Colleagues,

As part of the efforts of the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) towards ensuring that the NBA works for its members and Nigeria at large, and in fulfillment of his promise to routinely interact with the membership of the Association, the NBA President, Mr. Olumide Akpata on Tuesday 22/9/2020 held an interactive session with legal practitioners in Nasarawa State.

At the event, the first session of which was attended by the Executive Governor, the Deputy Governor, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Chief Judge and the Attorney General of Nasarawa State, as well as the NBA Branch Chairmen of Lafia and Keffi Branches, the NBA President urged the executive arm of Government in Nasarrawa State to pay more attention to the Judiciary in the areas of financial autonomy, infrastructure of courts and Judges’ welfare.

During the subsequent interactive session which was only attended by the members of the NBA, the President discussed the welfare and remuneration of lawyers and how to Improve the earning capacity for law firms. Other issues discussed were the incessant harassment and intimidation of lawyers by security agencies; access to finance for legal practitioners; health insurance for members of the Association; factors militating against efficient administration of Justice; the welfare and inclusion of young lawyers as well as the need for collaboration with International Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA) and African Women Lawyer’s Association (AWLA) to effectively tackle the issues affecting women.

Further, and in line with his campaign promise of investing in the capacity building of lawyers, the NBA President promised that the Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) accomodating a Centre for Commercial Law Studies would be up and running before the end of the year so that our members can take the benefit of the institute to enhance their capacity.

The NBA President pointed out that the essence of visiting various States in Nigeria is to discuss issues peculiar to different branches, in order to enable the NBA live up to its responsibilities to members of the legal profession and the society at large. The NBA President looks forward to more interactions with other NBA branches.

Dr. Rapulu Nduka
Publicity Secretary,
Nigerian Bar Association