NBA Presidency: Alegeh Looks Back at an Eventful Tenure
The immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Augustine O. Alegeh, SAN, FCIArb [UK] recently issued a press statement in which he lauded the accomplishments of his administration in a wide range of areas, the challenges that were surmounted, and the opportunities that were seized during what has been widely described as one of the most momentous presidential tenures in the long and illustrious history of Nigeria’s foremost professional association.
One of the achievements widely credited to the Alegeh era is its giant strides in professionalizing the Bar through a number of schemes and interventions such as the ongoing lawyers’ verification exercise, which, combined with the introduction of lawyers’ stamps, placed the NBA firmly and permanently on the route to eliminating fake lawyers within her ranks.
Another remarkable achievement, Alegeh recalls, was the Stamp & Seal, a document which contains several security features making it impossible to be duplicated and tampered with, and is only issued to verified legal practitioners whose names are on the Roll of lawyers and the database of the NBA. To this end, he says, the NBA signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Strataflex Nigeria Limited on January 14, 2015, sequel to a unanimous decision by the Association’s executive council NEC endorsing the use of authenticated stamps on all documents appended by legal practitioners in Nigeria, and in accordance with Rule 10 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007. He called on succeeding administrations to ensure that the NBA policy was strictly adhered to and sustained.
The Bar Card, the former NBA helmsman notes, was yet another innovative initiative of the Association under his leadership. This card, the result of a partnership with Access Bank was issued to verified lawyers on the NBA database who have paid their practicing fees. a chip and pin card containing the name of the lawyer, a passport photograph and Supreme Court enrolment number, the card functions as a payment card for ATM, POS, and online transactions. This Bar Card entitles a lawyer to a variety of discounts and other packages, notably a 25% discount on a number of local and international airlines; partnership with several first-rate hotels; and discounts for cars of all ranges sold by Kia Motors.
During his tenure, Alegeh said, the NBA – in partnership with Leadway Assurance – provided insurance for every NBA member who has paid BPF to the NBA. Not only has Leadway paid all claims so far, the company also began making sponsorship donations to NBA.
Another widely-commended provision for lawyers was the Senior Lawyers Sponsorship Programme, through which the Alegeh-led NBA administration provided sponsorship to the Association’s Annual General Conferences for older practitioners.
Under his leadership, Alegeh also stated, the Bar and the Bench consolidated their often complex relationship via well-attended NBA Dinners, held in honour of retiring Justices of the Supreme Court, and funded either by the NBA or its donor partners.
Still on the synergy between all branches of the legal profession, Alegeh recalls the NBA’s assiduous efforts to increase the number of Life Benchers as well as an expanded membership of the Body of Benchers – as a result of which his administration sent three lists (10 Life Benchers; Replacement of 10 life Benchers; and 10 fresh nominees) to the Body’s Secretariat. Following the approval of the list, the NBA, he says, was still awaiting nominations from the judiciary to fill up the slots at the time of his departure as NBA. He urged his successors to help expedite the process to its logical conclusion.
The NBA, he says, also engaged itself in pursuit of similar robust relations with security outfits such the Nigerian Armed Forces – especially in respect of the protection of human rights in the country’s insurgency-ravaged Northeast region. To this end, both parties inaugurated the NBA Human Rights Monitoring Team in the six states in the region to observe and report back on the state of human rights in those states. The NBA’s prompt response to the conflict between army operatives and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Zaria, in which many lives were lost, was in the spirit of this constructive engagement.
The NBA, said the former President, also engaged in various public interest programmes – one of which was in the area of justice sector reforms, as the NBA sought to provide direction on administration of justice reforms, including by publishing a strategic policy document on practical steps towards reform of the administration of Justice in Nigeria. Under his leadership, Alegeh says, the Association also played a leading role in drafting key justice sector bills, including the Police Act Amendment Bill, the Prisons Act Amendment Bill and the Anti- Torture Bill.
In recognition of the fact that the NBA owes society the obligation of playing a leading role in facilitating access to justice for the indigent, Alegeh asserts that the NBA publicly presented the NBA Pro-bono Declaration for the Legal Profession, which restates the NBA’s commitment to achieving effective legal representation for the poor – for which reason the association planned to establish a National Pro- Bono Centre within the NBA secretariat to facilitate collaboration with government and non-government legal aid service providers in this regard.
As part of its stated mandate to protect human rights in the society, says Alegeh, the NBA was a member of the working group that developed the draft National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Nigeria, an immediate outcome of the Association’s collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission in commemoration of International Human Rights Day of 2015.
The NBA’s partnerships were not limited to Nigeria, however, Alegeh says. In order to build on existing good relations with foreign professional bodies the NBA entered into an MOU with the Law Society of South Africa, and was in the process of entering an MOU with the Netherlands Bar Association at the time of his exit from the NBA Presidency.
In the same vein, the body also began working on the modalities of the NBA International Internship Programme, the idea of which was to seek placements for young Nigerian lawyers in member-bodies of the International Bar Association (IBA) as well as foreign Law firms. The NBA also hosted the maiden African Bar Leaders’ Conference in Lagos, an annual summit to be hosted on a rotational basis by the Law Societies and Bar Associations across Africa.
According to Alegeh, the NBA also facilitated two legal services trade missions to The Netherlands and South Africa, respectively, the purpose of which was to introduce Nigerian law firms to the legal markets in these countries, to market Nigerian legal services to companies and individuals, and to raise awareness about the Nigerian legal and business climate to companies interested in doing business in the Nigerian market. The Netherlands trip also led to a strategic partnership with the International Criminal Court (ICC) with respect to its investigation into the situation in the North East.
On the matter of NBA properties, particularly the association’s national secretariat in Abuja (a project which spanned the two preceding administrations, Alegeh states that the NBA under his administration was able to complete, commission and move into the building after a protracted process involving the availability and otherwise of funds from various donors, legal and administrative bottlenecks, tenancy issues, and so forth.
The same went, Alegeh says, for the NBA House, on Victoria Island, Lagos (Old Building & New Building, respectively); the NBA Old Secretariat House at Garki, Abuja.
Alegeh also turned his attention to the issue of NBA Election petitions and other matters subject of litigation. He lamented his administration’s inability to resolve some contentious issues, notably in respect of the last (2016) presidential election, and his efforts as Chair of the NBA Reconciliation Committee to resolve knotty issues.
The NBA’s Partnership with other professional bodies was also brought under review by Alegeh, who recounted the NBA’s contacts with a number of professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Bankers, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Nigerian Medical Association, Nigerian Union of Teachers, and Institute of Architects. The idea behind these contacts, he says, was to create a platform for interaction and exchange of ideas with a view to having a common position on national issues – especially when such issues had to do with areas requiring the specific expertise of these respective bodies. It was in this spirit, Alegeh says, that the NBA proposed a joint visit with these bodies to Maiduguri to demonstrate solidarity for the rebuilding project of the Federal and Borno State governments, and to enable each body to obtain a first-hand appreciation of the situation on ground, access the rebuilding efforts as well as commit to specific support intervention activities in accordance with their areas of competence.
On the sensitive issue of the Association’s finances, the former NBA boss stated that the body’s main revenue source was BPF, which was augmented with donations, as well as a dual layered approval and e-payment system which eliminated or reduced cash payments to their barest minimum.
The NBA’s system also reduced imprest to a more reasonable figure of Fifty Thousand Naira, which had to be retired. All payments, Alegeh disclosed, were made by e-banking to the account of the beneficiary of payments. At inception, he says, the administration, met in place a system established by ex-President J.B. Daudu, SAN, and followed by subsequent Presidents, where the President picked all his travel, fueling of NBA 1 (the president’s official vehicle), payment for conferences, accommodation, refreshments bills. Under this system, Alegeh asserted, there was no imprest for any national officers.
Also, he says, all donations and payments to NBA were made directly to the NBA Accounts with Access Bank Plc. The Alegeh administration introduced a system I which the NBA Treasurer presented the NBA Accounts at every NEC meeting and fixed the NBA Accounting period to run from 31st-July to 31st July. Expenditure in August, which was the AGM month, was usually not included in the Treasurer’s Annual Report. However, the Treasurer captured the financial position in the Treasurer’s Report for November NEC. NBA Accounts, Alegeh noted, are audited yearly. As the NBA National Treasurer was normally not a qualified Accountant, it usually fell on the External Auditor to prepare the Account for presentation by the National Treasurer.
Alegeh returns to the NBA’s partnership with Access Bank, the official Bank of NBA in accordance with a 5-year agreement with the Bank, in addition to the Bank’s offer of sponsorship to the tune of N250M, which include provision of NBA Card for all Lawyers.
In conclusion, Alegeh called on succeeding administrations to follow-up on some of the pending issues and see them through to fruition, and to exercise discretion in others as they deemed fit, for the continued growth and development of the Nigerian Bar Association.
