Senior Advocates Rub Minds at Maiden BOSAN Dinner in Lagos
The majestic Intercontinental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos was at its sizzling best as it played host to the maiden annual dinner of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN).
Special guest at the occasion, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, GCON, SAN; Chief Fagbohungbe, SAN; Damian Dodo, SAN and Yusuf Alli, SAN
The event, which had been the subject of much anticipation in the weeks leading to it, was billed as a platform for achieving greater cohesion among learned silk in Nigeria (also known as the ‘Inner Bar.’)
According to Newswire Law & Events Magazine’s correspondent in Lagos, the caliber of attendees was, however, not restricted to this distinguished group of SANs. Among the eminent personalities who graced the event were the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, GCON, SAN. Hon. Justice John Inyang Okoro, JSC, who represented the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Hon. Justice Walter S. Onnoghen, was joined at the event by three fellow Justices of the apex court, namely, Hon. Justices K. B. Akaahs, JSC; Paul Galinje, JSC; and Olukayode Ariwoola, JSC, as well as Justices of other courts of record – notably the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice O.O. Oke, and the Chief Judge of Delta State, Hon. Justice M. Umukoro, who was represented by Hon. Justice Roli Harriman. Others who came to felicitate with their learned colleagues were the first-ever female senior advocate of Nigeria, Chief Folake Solanke, SAN; a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Onnomibbo Okpoko, SAN; and Dr. Christopher Kolade, CON, Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
In her opening remarks, the chair of the dinner organizing committee, Chief Solanke expressed her pleasure at the emergence of other female SANs over the years, but also displeasure at the falling standards creeping up on the legal profession, such as the disrespectful, even foul, language and tone being employed by some lawyers in addressing judges in court, and called for a change of attitude on the part of the Bar.
One of the early highlights of the evening was the formal welcome extended by the body towards newly preferred SANs – a task performed admirably by Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN.
Hon. Justice Onnoghen, CJN, whose remarks were read on his behalf by Justice Okoro, urged Nigeria’s body of learned silk to shed their reputation (in the eyes of the public, at least) as arrogant, stuffy and out of touch, and their gatherings as mere old boys’ networks.
While maintaining that senior advocates must balance the privileges inherent in their enviable status with the weight of expectations on the part of those who use their services, and the society at large, Justice Onnoghen called for the institution of a pre-conferment induction programme for newly-preferred with a view to inculcating the needed values in them.
The guest speaker, Dr. Christopher Kolade, who described his remarks as ‘personal thoughts’ on the nature of leadership and its travails in Nigeria (rather than a ‘lecture’ as advertised in the event programme) began by asserting that political leadership should no longer be the exclusive preserve of politicians.
“If any group should lay exclusive claim to the authority to lead society, he insisted, it should rather be professionals – by virtue of the rigorous discipline that their training has instilled in them, as well as their superior fitness and ingrained culture of best practices in the practice of their professions.”
Lamenting what he called ‘the yawning gap between expectations and performance’ in Nigeria’s leadership challenge, Dr. Kolade reminded his audience that leadership was not about title, status or money, but about a leader’s ability to keep faith with the legitimate expectations of his/her people by focusing on results.
Following Dr. Kolade’s well-received speech, a series of toasts were proposed to BOSAN; to the Nigerian Bar Association; and to the Nigerian nation, after which the special guest at the occasion, Vice-President Osinbajo took the podium to laud the aims and objectives of BOSAN.
The nation’s number two citizen made a passionate call on the elite in Nigerian society – including the learned silk and other leaders – to constrain in themselves the inherent human tendency toward selfishness, as well as sacrifice parochial loyalties in pursuit of the greater good.
At the end of his presentation, the Vice-President was presented with a gift by Chief Folake Solanke, SAN on behalf of the Law Pavilion, one of the backers of the BOSAN dinner, as the event drew to a close.
See photos below:
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