The revolution, which quietly slipped into the Nigerian Bar Association a few years ago, is gathering momentum. First, the NBA introduced sections format in its Annual General Conference at Enugu in 2003. Then in December 2004, it inaugurated Councils for the two Sections so created. Mr. George Etomi is the Chairman, Section on Business Law which encompasses 21 Committees covering the most diverse areas of legal practice. After the formal presentation of the Section at the just ended General Conference in Jos, JUDE IGBANOI sought out the leading corporate and commercial law practitioner and took him on a wide range of issues  

Q: You are the Chairman of the Section on Business Law of the Nigeria Bar Association, which was inaugurated sometime last year. Please kindly share your experience so far, what the Section has done since inception and what plans you have?

A: The council for the Section was inaugurated on December 9 last year to prepare the grounds for the Section proper. In the nine months in which the preparatory work has been going on, the Council had met on five occasions. We have set out the modalities for the take off of the section itself. We looked at the various committees that were assigned to us and we found out that of the original 15 committees, there was wisdom in expanding these. So, what we’ve done for better efficiency is to break up some of the nebulous committees. For example we have one that had Maritime, Aviation and Transport together. We felt that each area deserved a committee of it's own. So we now have Maritime, Aviation and we have Road and Rail Transport. We also had representations from members of our Association who are developing new areas. For instance we have a brilliant submission on Travel and Tourism by one of our colleagues who proved to us that it would serve the need and interests of the NBA if we set up a committee to midwife activities in those areas.

So we collated all these submissions and made a report to the National Executive Committee of the NBA who graciously approved that these committees be expanded to 21. Secondly, we have established a website, www.nba-sbl.org. The Web Site is up and running, it’s a beautiful web site and we encourage people to visit it. We’ve identified capable hands in the Bar who have agreed to chair some of these committees. Why this is important is that the section will conduct its activities through these committees. So the engine of this section will be the committees. So its crucial to have practitioners who are verse in these areas, who obviously command respect in those areas, who can attract funding, because there will lots of seminars, workshops and so on. These are people who we generally believe can give an uplifting image of the NBA.

I have been touched by the response of those who have made direct approaches to us, who have agreed that they would serve. For instance, Chief Sena Authority particularly had agreed to Chair the Committee on Energy. Why we appreciate this is that she actually chaired it at the global level. It is an honour for us that she had agreed to do this. We believe we will get her type and her caliber in other areas, so that we can genuinely reposition the NBA to better serve the society. One of the problems in the NBA is that the good ones hardly participate in Bar activities, so they sort of drift away as role models. If we can restore that, it would be wonderful.

Q: Some lawyers are of the view that the section is too broad and it covers virtually every area of law, Aviation, Maritime, Oil and Gas etc. What specific challenge does this pose to you as Chairman of a section that is so multi-faceted?

A: In fact, one of the early decisions taken by the Council is that we could not tackle all the areas. It is intended that we start off with about seven or eight of these committees.

In terms of being multifaceted, the truth is that law is life. There is hardly any aspect of human endeavour that the law does not reach out. When you went to the university to study, you did 13 or 14 courses in about four years, but that is just scratching the surface of what law is all about. The areas law reaches out to are so verse. The challenge is that NBA must continue to reinvent itself each time a challenge arises from any aspect of human endeavour that requires attention.

Q: What level of autonomy does your section enjoy from the NBA Section?

A: A good autonomy. We have this understanding that both sections should operate independently. Because they are knowledge based, they would be given the atmosphere that allows knowledge to thrive. We do naturally report activities to NEC which is the executive arm of the NBA. They a re kept abreast of what is going on. But in terms of what and what we do, we don’t have any interference.

Q: Your presentation yesterday at the Conference drew a lot of ovation and it is still receiving lots of commendation. For the benefit of those not attending the Conference, kindly highlight the key points in your presentation?

A: The presentation signaled the initial outing of the Section. It was tagged “A General Meeting” of the Section. So yesterday’s presentation was a culmination of those meetings of the Council I referred to. It set out the objectives of the section, the committees, that Council members and we did mention that  we were going to introduce the innovation of employing a full time Administrator. He will be trained to the highest international standards to free council members to continue to do what they are doing but have supervisory roles over what is going on. So, the pace at which the section develops will not be dependent on how free the Chairman is. Just the way the international Bar Associations functions.

Q: You raised the issue of a web site for the section which you said is already up and running. But there is this fact that a good percentage of Nigerian lawyers are not computer literate. How can this anomaly be addressed so that layers can maximize the benefits of such a web site?

A: Like I told you, the section is about knowledge. There is no way you can address knowledge today without being IT compliant. We are setting up continuing legal education apparatus, so that lawyers can acquire basic and elementary knowledge about IT and accessing Internet generally. It’s a mental block and lawyers can demystify it. In my office, new layers that come into the chambers spend at least three months on information technology training.

Q: On continuing legal Education, you are known to have a passion for this. You are said to have advocated for recertification for lawyers from time to time. What informed your position on this?

A: Two things mainly. First is the acknowledgment t of the fact that law is life. If you don’t update your knowledge you’ll become dinosaur in little or no time! Secondly, service to the public is the primary reason professionals exist. So if you are going to serve the public, you must be knowledgeable in the area. People who studied law 15 years ago probably didn’t study privatization in school. But today you can’t be a good and functional commercial law practitioner if you don’t know anything about privatization.

In England if you want to continue to be relevant to the Law Society, you must continue to do this Solicitors Recertification Exams. The questions are not difficult. They are just designed to test how abreast you are with contemporary developments. We need to introduce that. Very often you find that lawyers in Nigeria foray into some other areas, return after 10 or 15 years still claim seniority and then the unsuspecting public goes to give them briefs.

Q: What is your general impression about the on going Bar Conference in terms of its organization, attendance and so on?

A: The attendance is very good. The Organization has challenges. Jos does not have venues as large as what you have in Abuja and Lagos so, the issue of space has been a challenge. In a situation where an event is being held and there are more people outside than inside is frustrating. Splitting the conference into sections has also helped reduce the stampede that would ordinarily occur. It was a nightmare driving cars into the venues; vendors are all over the place. But in terms of the quality of papers and participants, it’s been excellent.

Q: You are said to be very passionate about a new image for the Nigerian Bar Association. What is this vision about creating a new image for the NBA?

A: When a number of us pushed for the creation of sections, it was part of the struggle to create a new image for the Nigerian Bar. You will agree with me the polity at the time. Many of us have had majority of our practicing lives under military rule. So the Bar just geared itself towards fighting for the rule of law, fighting for democracy and all the things that the rest of civil societies and trade unions were engaged in. There was this trade union type approach, which served its purpose at the time. Now that democracy has been won, the issue has now shifted to development because democracy is not an end in itself. The Bar must encourage knowledge acquisition by lawyers. The Nigerian Bar must reinvent itself to meet with the needs and expectations of the society it is supposed to serve.

Q: The section on business law of the NBA has attracted so many comments from lawyers who are in corporate and commercial practice. They envisage that some time as the section grows, corporate and commercial practitioners would get their recognition for excellence commensurate to what those in litigation have in the award of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. They hope it would settle the issue once and for all the  perceived discrimination of only litigation lawyers being admitted into the Inner Bar. What’s your view on this?

A: Well it’s a worthwhile thing. In life generally, one of the things that propels you to higher glory is recognition for the work you’ve done which appreciation, honours tend to propel people to heights.
I have always said the award system in the profession should be modified or expanded to include and recognise the phenomenal work being done by practitioners who don’t go to showcase themselves in court.
That is not one of our mandates at the Council but if representations do come, they will be looked at. I know there is an attempt to amend the Legal Practitioners Act, maybe it can be considered within that framework.