All roads led to the magnificent edifice known as The Citadel, along Kudirat Abiola Way in the Oregun suburb of Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, on Wednesday, June 21, 2013 as the Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) got underway.
Co-compered by veteran journalist and former presidential spokesman Dr. Reuben Abati (who currently serves as a TV anchor and producer with ARISE News) and Dr. Uju Agomoh (a leading penal reform advocate and Executive Director of Prisoners’ Welfare & Rehabilitation Action, PRAWA), the event was graced by legal luminaries on both the Bar and the Bench, as well as academics and leaders in business and the professions. The chief host, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Bimbo Salu-Hundeyin , while the President of the NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, SAN was represented by the Association’s General Secretary, Adesina Adegbite. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kayode Ariwoola and his Lagos State counterpart, Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba, were both ably represented. The new Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti was a notable presence at the event – as he headlined a strong contingent from Abia State which included Sen. Darlington Nwokocha (representing Abia Central Senatorial District in the nation’s upper legislative chambers).
Welcoming guests to the 3-day gathering, the Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee (CPC), Okey Leo Ohagba said the Conference was planned as a reminder to the Nigerian judiciary of the enormity of the task ahead of it. He promised an upbeat Conference experience and urged participants to make the most of the intellectual and social offerings.
Also speaking, the outgoing Chairman of the NBA-SPIDEL, Dr. Monday Onyekachi Ubani, weighed in on the theme of the confab, saying elections had 3 components, namely, registration of voters; voting proper and announcement of results; and the intervention of the judiciary to redress grievances. He warned that the judiciary, in carrying out the third component, must avoid the danger of substituting the will of the majority with that of the minority. Thanking the Lagos State Government and especially its judiciary for its graciousness and solidarity with SPIDEL, as well as dignitaries from his native Abia State Ubani (whose tenure as Chairman expires at the end of this Conference), also thanked his team for making said tenure a success.
Goodwill messages were also sent by Gov. Otti of Abia State; Sen. Nwokocha; Hannibal Uwaifo (President of the African Bar Association (AfBA); the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Beatrice Jeddy-Agba; the Lagos State Governor (through the SSG, Mrs. Salu-Hundeyin); the NBA President (through the Gen-Sec., Adesina); the MacArthur Foundation, through it’s Director of African Operations, Dr. Kole Shettima; and the National Judicial Institute (NJI).
The Conference was formally declared open by Mrs. Salu-Hundeyin on behalf of the Lagos State Governor.
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