#NBA2019AGC-AGM : NBA President, Paul Usoro, SAN, Lists The Reforms By His Administration

NBA President, Paul Usoro,SAN has lauded all past Presidents who
have supported him since he emerged as the president.

The President made this statement in his address for the Annual
General Meeting of the Association.

In the address he listed all the reforms that his administration
has achieved since one year he came in as the President.

His administration has been able to revamp  Financial
prudence and accountability of the Association,

Secretariat Reform, 10%remittance of Bar Practice fee to
branches, members welfare, and more.

Below is his statement 

NBA PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS TO THE 2019 ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION

1. Introduction
1.1 It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 2019 Annual
General Meeting of our Association, the Nigerian Bar Association
(“NBA”), our first AGM as your elected officials. It is one year,
to the date, today, since you graciously gave us the mandate to
pilot the affairs of the Association, as your National Officers,
for a two year term, starting from 2018 to 2020.

1.2 That mandate was based on commitments that we made while
campaigning for our respective offices and this AGM affords us the
opportunity to present, in
kaleidoscopic format, our Report Card for the last one year. In
presenting that Report Card, I would bifurcate it into two main
parts in the succeeding paragraphs of this 2. 2018-2019 Report Card
2.1 Rebuilding of Confidence and Trust of Members in the NBA

2.1.1 I think our greatest success in the last one year has been
in restoring the faith and confidence that members have in the
Association and its National Officers. I can easily give two
indices that portend these renewed and enhanced confidence and
trust, viz:

a. We have just concluded the most-attended Annual General
Conference (“AGC”) in the history of our Association. With about
12,000 delegates, the 2019 AGC easily qualifies as the largest
gathering or congregation of lawyers in world history. It is not
just in the aggregate numbers that we measure the renewed
confidence of our members in the Association but more so in the
fact
that the delegates joyfully stayed throughout the Conference. As at
yesterday, 28 August 2019 which was the last day of the Conference,
the Halls for the various sessions were packed full and, in some
cases, with no standing room. I truly feel humbled that our members
expressed their confidence and trust in our leadership by turning
out in such great numbers for the AGC which, from the testimonies I
have received, did not disappoint howsoever and, in particular, in
terms of logistics arrangements and the Session Programs/Contents
and Speakers.

b. The second index is in the drastically diminished if not
completely extirpated expressions of distrust of National Officers,
particularly, in regard to the management of the Association’s
Funds. This was a general refrain as at when we came into office,
but those voices appear to have been calmed if not completely wiped
out.

2.1.2 How did we achieve this feat? Primarily, it is God’s Grace
and we thank and glorify His Name at all times. In His infinite
mercies, He gave us wisdom to implement the following
non-exhaustive reforms and we believe these reforms renewed and
bolstered the confidence and trust of our members in the
Association:

i. Corporate Governance Reforms. The flagship of our corporate
governance reform has been the consistent publication of the
Association’s Quarterly Financial Statements and of course, the
Closing Accounts as at 28 August 2018.

This, arguably, is the flagship step that has restored
credibility to the Association and, by extension, the National
Officers. We consider these Governance reforms as the bedrock for
turning around our Association and placing it on the path of
consistent rectitude and effective administration. That informs the
constitutional amendments that we have proposed for consideration
by members at this AGM and we are hopeful that members would see
reason to institutionalize the reforms and make them mandatory and
sanctionable.

ii. Financial Prudence and Accountability. As a
corollary to the first point above, we have been very prudent in
the management of the Association’s funds and this is well
represented in the Quarterly Management Accounts which we have
consistently published. Not only have we been prudent, we have been
scrupulously transparent and accountable in the management of your
funds. That was our commitment from Day One of our assumption of
office and that is a commitment that will subsist up to the last
day of our tenure.

iii. Secretariat Reforms. The public face of
our Secretariat reforms could be seen in the drastically shortened
delivery time of stamps to our members – these days, within 7
(seven) and not more than 14 (fourteen) days from when the orders
are received at the National Secretariat from the Branches. This
was a significant campaign issue at the time of the last NBA
Election, and we
feel satisfied that the complaints thereon have been eliminated.
This is but one of the reforms that we have carried out at the
National Secretariat. Amongst the other tangible and intangible
reforms that we now have at the Secretariat is a new and functional
organogram that was approved by NEC and which is being implemented.
When fully implemented, it would give the Association a most
effective and efficient Secretariat administration.

iv. 10% Bar Practice Fee (“BPF”) Remittance to Branches.

It is no more news that we paid 10% of the BPF to our Branches,
establishing thereby that our word, as National Officers, remains
our bond. That was a promise that we made during our campaigns and
we kept it, without any prompting and even in the face of inherited
liabilities. Our commitment in this regard will also persist up
till the end of our tenure.

v. Members’ Welfare. For me, one of the darkest
incidents during our tenure has been the incessant kidnap and
murder of our members. This confounding tragedy sadly pervades our
national life and we have been most outspoken in condemning and
calling attention to it. More than that, I have consistently called
the Branch Chairmen and families of our affected members to
empathize with and/or condole them. We do these not just as a
matter of duty but because it is the right thing to do.

vi. Communication with and to Members.
We have greatly improved on our communication with and to members.
Mails are sent to members constantly updating them with information
on fresh initiatives by your National Officers. Beyond the general
communication, we have set up Secretariat free-toll hotlines for
the use of members. I have personally picked up complaints from
members on social media and attended to them or directed
Secretariat personnel to attend to them and there are several
public testimonies to this fact.

vii. External Stakeholders’ Confidence. By vetting and paying
some of our
inherited debts, we are restoring confidence in the Association
amongst external stakeholders. The details of these payments are
always reflected in our Quarterly Management Accounts. As far as
the debts that are arise during our tenure are concerned, we pay
these promptly in order to maintain the credibility of your
Association and the confidence of the affected external
stakeholders.

2.2 State of the Nation/Rule of Law
2.2.1 The NBA has been and remains not just the conscience of our
Nation but the voice of the voiceless. This is a critical role that
we owe society as lawyers. In this regard, we have been quite loud
and definitely not muted in constructively criticizing government
and its agencies when necessary and required. A classic instance of
this was the NBA Communique that was published after the 3rd
Quarter NEC meeting in June 2019.

2.2.2 Another outstanding instance was the NBA’s
reaction during the Onnoghen CJN’s saga.
In that regard, I must pay special tribute to our statutory NEC
members who gave me outstanding support during that period. The
Emergency NEC meeting that was called to discuss the issue was
attended by virtually all our statutory NEC members from the
various Branches and the decisions that we took were reached
unanimously by the members present. That, by itself was a record in
the history of the NBA.

3. 2019-2020 Plans
3.1 Having summarized our work of the past one year, what are the
big issues that will occupy our time and thoughts for the remainder
of our tenure? I would list these out as follows, in no particular
order and without intending to be exhaustive: I. Young Lawyers. We
could not do much for the young lawyers in the preceding year,
given the foundational issues that we had to address. We are
however committed to focusing on this class of future leaders of
our profession – and by extension, Nigerian leaders – and would
reflect this, starting with the constitution of the Young Lawyers’
Forum (“YLF”) within a week from today. We would also refocus the
YLF to serve primarily as a training and mentorship platform for
these young lawyers. II. Consolidation of Reforms and Gains of
2018-2019. We shall consolidate on the gains that we have so far
made as listed out in the preceding paragraphs of this Address. One
particular instance of such planned consolidation relates to the
welfare of our members through the restoration of the insurance
policy for our members – a project that we are facilitating.

We are also hoping that this AGM will strengthen our hand in
consolidating the reforms through the amendment of the NBA
Constitution as proposed by us.

III. 2020 Elections. I have consistently given the assurance
that we will conduct a credible and outstanding 2020 NBA Elections.
This commitment we shall keep and as our plans in that regard
unfold, we would keep our members duly informed. IV. Reform of
Disciplinary Processes. It is obvious to everyone that our
disciplinary processes require urgent reforms if
stakeholder-confidence (both internal and external) must be
restored. I gave a commitment in this regard at yesterday’s AGC
plenary session which focused on the required reforms in our
profession and we shall keep that commitment.

3.2 As I mentioned earlier, the headline issues that we
highlight above are not exhaustive of the matters that we would
address in the next one year. There are, of course, such other
critical issues, like the Continuing Legal Education Reforms,
reactivation of the Human Rights Institute which we intend to
couple with the NBA’s pro bono activities as part of our Rule of
Law advocacy. These and several other issues we would, by God’s
Grace, address in the remainder of our tenure, in fulfilment of our
commitment to leave the NBA in a better and reformed state than we
met it.

4. Conclusion
4.1 In concluding, I must again thank you all for the tremendous
support that we have received from all our members. In particular,
I pay special tribute to all our Past Presidents who have been
totally united in supporting us and very generous and forthcoming
with their words of wisdom and advice for me. I must also thank,
most especially, all our NEC members who have shown such incredible
faith and belief in us by consistently supporting our initiatives.
I cannot at all forget to specially thank my Branch Chairmen who
remain my bulwark, partners and ambassadors. They are the ones who
carry the flag for me at the Branch level and explain my thoughts
and programs to our members. I remain deeply appreciative of your
support and continue to count on it for the remainder of our
term.

4.2 I wish us all most fruitful deliberations at this
AGM.
Long live the Nigerian Bar Association.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Paul Usoro, SAN NBA President

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