It will be recalled that the NBA Secretariat announced in mid July 2022 that the two-wings NBA property in Ogo-Aro Crescent, Area 2, Garki, Abuja has been dedicated to two institute of the Association, namely: the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (NBA -ICLE), and the Human Rights Institute (NBA-HRI) respectively, and that the NBA -ICLE wing was named in honour of Chief Mrs Folake Sholanke SAN, while the NBA-HRI was named in honour of His Excellency Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, a past NBA President and now Governor of Ondo State.
Following the above development, a Lagos-based lawyer and past Secretary of the NBA Lagos Branch, Mr Seth Amaefule has written to the NBA National Secretariat giving notice of objection to the naming of the NBA-HRI after the Ondo State Governor and motion to rename the edifice after any of the lawyers who have expended their lives and personal resources to championed Human Rights causes in Nigeria.
In the letter dated 9 August, 2022 a copy of which was made available to NEWSWIRE LAW, Mr. Seth Amaefule sought the leave of the NBA President to move the Motion at the NBA AGM slated for 25 August 2022.
He urged for a waiver of the requirement of section 10(11) of the NBA Constitution which stipulates that such Notice of Motion to be taken at an AGM shall reach the General Secretary not later than 30 June – as the incident itself occurred on 15 July, 2022, well after the deadline.
The Motion contains nine grounds in which he argues that the Ondo State Governor, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a former NBA President is not qualified for the special honour of naming the edifice of the NBA dedicated to Human Rights in his name as he lacks public record of human rights activism, has made no personal sacrifice in pursuit of human rights or public interest caused, and is now a career politician. Mr Amaefule went ahead to propose five well known icons of the human rights struggles and public interest law in Nigeria giving a brief profile of their activism which qualified any one of them for choice of such honour. They include: Mr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, a past NBA President and founding President of Civil Liberties Organisation; Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, who lived and died in the course of human rights struggles; Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, a human rights activist personified; Prof. Anselem Chidi Odinkalu, former Chairman National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria and an activist; and even the NGO – Socio Economic Rights and Accountability Projects (SERAP) which has secured many ground breaking judgements against obnoxious policies and prodigality in governance.
Mr Seth Amaefule hopes that if it be not possible to list the Motion on the AGM Agenda, that he will be given the floor to move the Motion under Any Other Business (AOB).
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