In his acceptance speech in the early hours of Sunday, when he was declared as the President-elect of the over 200,000 (two hundred thousand) members of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Josiah Osigwe, struck the right cord.
He called for "a moderated celebration" and urged his supporters to be "magnanimous in victory."
While appealing to his opponents to join him in the task ahead, he called on members to roll up their sleeves in order to "achieve a proactive Bar that we have promised. We have to build a united and inclusive Bar. We will take decisions in the best interest of the Bar. We are all winners."
52-year old Osigwe defeated a fellow Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Chukwuka Nwabueze Ikwuazom, a former chairman of the NBA Lagos branch and Mr Tobenna Chigbo Erojikwe, also a member of the Lagos Bar, who distinguished himself as the chairman of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education of the NBA.
Now that the election is over, what should be the focus of Osigwe in the next two years?
In his manifesto, Mazi Osigwe, among other things, promised to advocate for legal reforms by improving the welfare of lawyers and enhancing the overall standard of legal practice.
Great tone!
Before I set forth my agenda for our leader, it's important to point out that the position of NBA President is a coveted and prestigious one. The NBA is Nigeria's foremost and oldest professional membership organisation. Therefore, the holder of the office of President must be conscious of the onerous responsibilities on his shoulders.
The NBA President is by statues, a member of the National Judicial Council (NJC), the body responsible for the appointment and discipline of judges; a member of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), the body responsible for the appointment of lawyers into the inner Bar as SANs; and a member of the Council of Legal Education, the body responsible for the admission of would be lawyers into the Nigerian Law School.
He is also a member of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), the body responsible for the punishment of lawyers who breach the ethics of the legal profession; and finally, he is also a member of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission. The duties of this commission are obvious.
So, an NBA President who comes to the job prepared has a unique opportunity not only to canvass for meaningful legal reforms but also to lead the Bar in challenging the excesses of the political class.
In an environment such as ours, where there seems to be an incestuous relationship between the executive arm of government, sometimes extending to the judiciary, the Bar of today must rise up to be the voice of the people.
Perhaps more than at any other time in our country's history, the NBA needs a leader in the mould of its former illustrious 14th President, the late Alao-Aka Bashorun.
Aka-Bashorun made the NBA the rallying voice in the country's opposition to continued military misrule during the Babangida regime!
Although times are different, Osigwe is assuming leadership of the NBA at a time when there are growing concerns about the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary and the legal profession.
I therefore propose that in addition to his advertised manifesto, the President-elect should consider these suggestions:
The NBA should more than ever before see itself as the conscience of the country. It should let its voice be heard when the executive violates the constitution.
When the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen was whimsically removed from office, the voice of the NBA was muffled. Such an egregious assault on the judiciary deserved a national strike by lawyers.
When lawyers keep mute in such a scenario, they are enabling the violators of the Constitution.
The NBA under Olumide Akpata canvassed vigorously for the appointment of senior lawyers to our appellate courts. I think the new NBA President should continue in the same direction. The late Justice Taslim Elias was appointed from the Faculty of Law of University of Lagos (UNILAG) to the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. His appointment, no doubt, enriched our jurisprudence. The NBA should lobby members of the National Assembly and the Attorney General, and convince them of the value, variety and the dynamism that senior lawyers from the Bar and the universities will add to the jurisprudence of the appellate courts.
Finally, a lot of concern has been raised by members of the public and legal practitioners on the quality of persons appointed to the Bench.
They have been allegations of cronyism and nepotism made against the appointing authorities. Members of the public have complained about the conflicting Rulings and Judgements given by courts of coordinate jurisdiction.
Regrettably, there have been times when appellate court's decisions seem to be at variance with facts, logic, law and even common sense!
This should worry the NBA.
The law, as I have had cause to say at another forum, is not the last hope of the common man as popularly said; it is the last hope of everybody!
If in doubt, ask former Governor el-Rufai and other former political office holders fighting for their political lives.
This problem can be addressed, in my view, if the NBA champions the amendment of section 20 of the Third Schedule part 1 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
That section creates the National Judicial Council (NJC).
That section vests too much powers in the hands of the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Now, the NJC is empowered to recommend to the President among the lists of persons submitted to it by the Federal Judicial Service Commission, "persons for appointment to the offices of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Justices of the Supreme Court, the President and Justices of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Judges of the Federal High Court, the President and judges of the National Industrial Court..."
The question may be asked: Who is the chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission?
The CJN!
Who is the chairman of the NJC? You guessed right!
It's the CJN!
The NJC also has powers to "recommend to the President the removal from office of the judicial officers specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers."
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The NJC is also empowered to recommend to Governors from the list submitted to it by the Judicial Service Commissions of states of those to be appointed as judges and to also recommend to them those to be removed from office.
The scenario gets curiouser when we examine the composition of the NJC.
The NJC is composed of 24 members but the CJN appoints 19 members of the Council!
If we add the CJN, that means he appoints 20 members of the 24-person Council.
Power, the sage says, corrupts; absolute power, he adds, corrupts absolutely!
The composition of the NJC needs an urgent review.
The body is not a court session, therefore, legal minds do not have to populate it. Such a body can benefit from the wisdom of sociologists, philosophers, journalists, the clergy and retired civil servants.
The greatest judge of all times, King Solomon wasn't known to have pass through any law faculty but by popular account, his adjudication of the dispute between the two prostitutes remains a reference point in dispute resolution.
I have no doubt in my mind that the new President's job is cut out for him.
The choice is his if he wants to leave his name in the sands of time like the great Alao-Aka Bashorun.
Gbemiga Ogunleye, a legal practitioner, is the principal partner at EbunOluwa Chambers.
