Bayo Akinlade, a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikorodu branch in Lagos, has called for an overhaul of the association to keep it in tune with appreciable standards.

Mr Akinlade, the convener of the Fight Against Corruption in the Judiciary (FIACIJ), said in an interview in Lagos.

”The NBA can no longer be effective with its current structure…(there’s) the need to set up new structures,” he said.

Mr Akinlade spoke on workable measures to enhance Nigeria’s legal profession and law practice. According to him, the NBA, as the largest law body regulating the affairs of lawyers in Nigeria, must be kept in tune with current realities to ensure its effectiveness.

While pointing out various shortcomings in the activities of the NBA over the years, he noted that the sustenance of the bar greatly depends on its continued relevance.

He stated, “Growing as a young lawyer, I met an NBA that was focused, and I cannot recall the NBA having grand parties or events like ‘unbarred’ like we saw in the just concluded annual conference.

“How can anyone concentrate on the practice and development areas that our conference seeks to provide when delegates go to bed at 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. each morning and get to the conference venue late with a nasty hangover?”

Mr Akinlade added, “Again, what we saw at the end of the annual general meeting this year was another controversy, which, though not new to the NBA, was this time openly confrontational and combative. The NBA can no longer be effective with eight to nine executive committee members at the helm of its affairs.”

Mr Akinlade noted that the legal landscape and social and political terrain have also changed. He said lawyers who lead the bar today are at every level, far younger and less experienced than lawyers who led the NBA more than 15 years ago.

“Mentorship within the bar has also declined over the years; the bar today is very different and naturally so,” he said.

On the way forward, Mr Akinlade harped on the need to retain the foundation of the bar but to ensure that the current structures are uprooted

(NAN)