PROTOCOLS

It is with great joy that I welcome you all to this August event, the 2023 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice (NBA – SLP), taking place here at the NBA House, Abuja. I am especially excited because this is my Section’s Conference – SLP being my primary Section.

I thank the Chairman and leaders of the Section, for the leadership they have provided in the past two years. I also thank the Chairman and members of this Conference Planning Committee for their efforts in putting together this worthy conference. I am particularly grateful to them for the choice of the Conference theme: “Legal Practice Without Borders”. A very timely and fitting theme.

It is no longer news that we are living in very unusual times; the world as we know it is changing drastically before our very eyes, in ways we never thought possible or imagined just 2 decades ago. With technological advancements, the attendant increase in transborder communications and transactions, and the rising number of transborder crimes, the legal services market, just like every other field of human endeavour, is becoming increasingly borderless.

There is a serious call for cross-exchange of legal services. On one hand we have the UK-Nigeria trade agreement and on the other hand we have the AfCFTA, under which we are being persuaded to open our legal market to foreign lawyers and law firms. We have pushed back so far, but the big question is, for how long? The real solution lies in preparing ourselves to deal with the changing face of legal practice.

Adaptation is the keyword! We must take conscious and deliberate steps to equip ourselves for what lies ahead. Any legal practitioner who wishes to remain relevant must equip him or herself with the necessary skills needed for 21^st century lawyering. The days of brick-and-mortar practice are behind us, the days of exclusive business territory is gradually fading – we must fess up and brace up so that we are not left behind.

In furtherance of our commitment to continuously explore opportunities for our members with regards to professional development as well as strengthening legal practice, we established the NBA Working Group on the African Continental Free Trade Area. The Working Group was established to:

1. Conduct a full assessment of the impacts of AfCFTA on the legal profession and legal practice in Nigeria.

• Identify, develop, and recommend possible legislative interventions, and other practical/implementable short-, medium-, and long-term measures that will prepare members of the legal profession to actively participate in the AfCFTA regime.

• Carry out such other functions that may be assigned by the President or the National Executive Council

This is to ensure that members of the NBA take full benefit of the AfCFTA regime when it becomes fully implemented. It is just but one of the measures we are putting in place to prepare the Nigerian lawyer to face the future. I urge us all to continue individually and collectively to equip ourselves by acquiring modern skills for practice in the 21^st Century. We must not be left behind!

As you may already be aware by now, following the concerted efforts of the Bar and the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, the Legal Practitioners Remuneration (for Business, Legal Service and Representation) Order, 2023 was issued on 16 May 2023 under the hand of the HAGF. It is now Gazette No. 0102 in Vol. 110, Government Notice No. 68. Similarly, the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023, was issued pursuant to Section 12(4) of the Legal Practitioners Act. It is now Gazette No. 103 in Vol. 110, Government Notice No. 69.

These are in line with our commitment to create lasting reforms of our institutional frameworks. I have always been a firm believer of the fact that our ability to provide leadership to the people is heavily dependent on the level of confidence we are able to command. And this can only happen if we conduct ourselves ethically and professionally.

Part Two of the new RPC is the Guidelines and Rules on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism for Legal Practitioners. I urge us all to take time and familiarize ourselves with the provisions thereof. The coming into effect of the Rules was deliberately set for 1 January 2024, to give time for sensitization, advocacy and for the necessary structures to be put in place before the implementation of the Guidelines. The Section on Legal Practice can take up the assignment of organizing workshops and seminars that will help lawyers understand the provisions and be ready to comply with the novel provisions by 1 January 2024.

Finally, I congratulate the Section Executive Committee on the success of this Conference. I thank you all for choosing to participate and wish you a very pleasant and rewarding conference experience.

Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau OON, SAN

PRESIDENT