The Culture of Silence.
That phrase was a recurring decimal during the 4th Plenary session on Day 1 of the 2022 NBAWF Annual Conference in Lagos, as panelists sat down to examine the topic, ‘The Road Less Traveled: Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession.’ Moderated by Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, Executive Director of the Domestic & Sexual Violence Agency, the panel had the likes of Dolapo Kukoyi, Managing Partner at the law firm of Details Commercial Solicitors; Eno-Obong Akpan, Esq., Chairperson Emeritus of the NBA’s Uyo Branch; and Omowunmi Fajemiroye, Assistant General Manager at Legal TGI Group. The panel also consisted of two men, Ose Okpeku, a Partner at The Law Crest, and Baba Alokolaro, Managing Partner at The New Practice (TNP).
Apart from the culture of silence (which is usually a consequence of fear about repercussions, especially in a patriarchal environment where such bullying and harassment are seen as a harmless, locker-room amusement and nothing more), other reasons the panelists gave for the continued incidence of the practice in the often-embattled spaces where lawyers and other workers work and interact were: the wrong and unchecked use of power (whether of seniority at the firm or at the Bar, for instance, or greater wealth, etc.); the ability of the perpetrator to get away with his actions or attitudes, no thanks to the nebulous nature of anti-bullying and harassment laws in our statute books; and the lack of proper reporting channels that protect the victim’s identity, etc.
NEWSWIRE Law & Events Magazine correspondent in Lagos reports that on the positive side, the panelists noted the gains that have been made in the campaign against the practice – even at the level of the NBA and its Women’s Forum – such as the formal launch in October 2021 of a policy document during the last NBA General Conference in Port Harcourt by the Association’s President, Olu Akpata. The increased visibility this campaign has received in Nigeria in recent years, they said, has also been a deterrent to all but the most egregious offender. So also is proper mentoring of young female professionals on ways to protect themselves and to anticipate the onset of abuse by reading the tell-tale signs of a potential offender. Another major factor, according to Fajemiroye, is the fact that reporting a crime such as rape no longer carries the stigma on the victim it once did in our culture, and the demands of justice and deterrence far outweigh the fear of ostracism for the victim and, increasingly, for civilized society. These gains, the panelists agreed, must be sustained and built upon.
One big irony of this whole bullying and sexual harassment scenario, as pointed out by Mrs. Kukoyi in her remarks, is that while other members of the society have lawyers to run to whenever they fall victim to this practice, a lawyer herself usually has no one to run to when at the receiving end – especially when the perpetrator is a senior and even influential lawyer (who can deploy the argument, for instance, that the accuser is merely a gold-digger out to profit financially by making such an allegation). This, Kukoyi said, creates a conundrum for the victim and makes it extra-difficult for her to champion the cause of other members of society.
In that sense, said Alaokoloro in his intervention, the legal community as a whole is guilty of not erecting the protective ramparts high enough for potential and actual victims of this practice. But that, he added, is no reason for lawyers to abdicate their responsibility to the society in this regard. The influence lawyers wield in the larger society has imposed that inescapable obligation. He ended by attacking the notion that some practices (such as the sexism implied in certain acts of gender-based bias and abuse) are acceptable because ‘We are Africans. It’s our culture.’ No, we’re not just Africans any longer, he insisted; we’re citizens of a global community, a dynamic community where laws change and cultures evolve, and we must step up as far as global best practices are concerned, in order to be able to function as equal, confident and respected members of that community.
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The 5th Panel Session at the NBAWF Conference took a look at the threats and opportunities presented to women on their way up the corporate ladder. Moderated by Irene Netiman, Company Secretary at First Bank Nigeria Limited, the Panel discourse on the topic ‘Shattering Stereotypes: Heels in the Boardroom – A Case for Navigating or Negotiation the Corporate Ladder,’ included Tonye Patrick Cole, the former Managing Director at the Sahara Group (who was the only male on the Panel). He was joined by four women, namely: Ifeoma Utah, General Counsel at MTN Nigeria; Dupe Olusola, Director/CEO at Transcorp Plc; Sesan Suleiman, Managing Counsel at the law firm of Templars; and Adewunmi Alode, company secretary at Lafarge.
One attribute that can be a great asset in the woman’s quest for advancement in the corporate environment, Olusola said in her remarks, is authenticity, being true to one’s identity, purpose and core values. A woman in this position must challenge herself in a bid to bring her best self and her A-Game to the table. Otherwise, she warned, she becomes the token female, hired just to fulfill the righteousness of gender balance or gender sensitivity.
In addition, said Alode, a woman must bring to the table a sense of objectivity and the ability to express independent opinions based on a deep understanding of the business and its processes, as well as a knowledge of the numbers related to that organisation, such as its income and expenditure, etc. If you don’t know these things beforehand, she advised the upwardly-mobile career woman, go and learn. No knowledge is ever wasted.
According to NEWSWIRE Law and Events Magazine’s correspondent at the event, Suleiman of Templars and MTN’s Utah offered more or less similar views to those of Olusola and Alode, with Suleiman also calling for the dismantling of institutional barriers standing in the way of female ascendancy in the corporate world – as obtains in certain other climes around the world – as women cannot do it all by themselves.
In addition to possessing the attributes enumerated above, Tonye Cole said, the woman desirous of making her way up in a given organisation must also ask certain questions of the organisation’s leadership – questions centered around gender parity, and what the leadership’s attitude is towards it. The answer to those questions, the former Sahara boss said, will drive the woman’s own policy as to how (or even whether) to navigate the corporate ladder of this particular organisation.
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The last plenary session of the Conference was a two-man debate on the topic ‘Justifying Diversity – Should Quotas be used to Achieve Legal Parity? Moderated by Aderinsola Fagbure, principal partner at Black & White LP, the session called for the two debaters – Dare Amusan, Senior Associate at the law firm of AK Odumah & Co., and Georgette Monnou, Legal Lead for the West and Central Africa Group at pawaPay – to take sides on the following questions:
Would Quotas Jumpstart the Process of Achieving Equal Representation in the Legal Representation?
Or
Would it disrupt structures and systems that focus on the objective merit of lawyers and judicial candidates?
On whichever side of the divide one stands, those are questions that will certainly resonate in the legal community for some time to come, as far as the quest for gender parity, diversity and inclusion are concerned.
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The 2nd Annual Conference of the NBA Women’s Forum also featured a highly interactive series of Technology Training Sessions for Lawyers. This was a one-day instructor-led virtual training programme designed to introduce members of Forum to technological tools that will improve their processes as well as improve the value of their services to their clients.
The event came to a close with closing remarks by Mrs. Chinyere Okorocha, Vice-Chairperson of the NBA Women’s Forum, and a vote of thanks by Mrs. Folashade Alli, Head of the Forum’s Advocacy Committee.
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