“OPEN LETTER TO MAZI AFAM OSIGWE,SAN: LET THE NBA LAWYERS BREATHE-LESSONS FROM THE MUTINY BY THE ADVOCACY FOR BAR LICENCE FREEDOM”

By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja

Dear President of the Nigerian Bar Association-NBA, Sir,

Let me begin by belatedly commending you on your election as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association-NBA.

By both a combination of historical insights and your personality trait as a jovial, easy-going and amiable person, you of all persons is the best suited to handle the current on-going mutiny!!!

Based on the historical fact that you yourself were previously a victim of victimsation by the powers-that-be at the NBA, during your first attempt to run for election as President of the NBA.

That historical experience ought to arm you with insight to address the on-going mutiny by a group of NBA lawyers who are protesting against the imposition of mandatory continuing legal education as a PRE-REQUISITE before the NBA issues them with annual bar practice licence and NBA stamps.

The said lawyers have convened themselves into a group under the name Advocacy for Bar Licence Freedom (ABLIF) under a lawyer that describes himself as Ambassador Jimoh.

While not holding brief for them or anyone, according to the Legal Practitioners Act, (LPA) 1962, payment of annual practicing fees is the only pre-requisite requirement for Nigerian lawyers to be entitled to renewal of their annual practice licence.

The additional imposition of mandatory continuing legal education programmes as a PRE-REQUISITE by the NBA is not provided for under the LPA.

For the foregoing reasons we use this opportunity to invite all RIGHT-THINKING NIGERIAN lawyers to please kindly register and join the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) by clicking here https://members.nls.org.ng/register

Our continuing legal education programmes are free and done online in conjunction with the Law Society of Lesotho (LSL) with whom we signed an MoU in October 2024.

Election of National Officers is due to be held by July 2025, register online at https://nls.org.ng/nls-election-forms-and-guidelines.

Yours faithfully,
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
30th June 2025.

____________________________________________________________________

(C) CITY LAWYER Magazine. All rights reserved. To join our Channel, click here. Click here to join our WhatsApp chatroom. Contact us at citylawyermag@gmail.com or 081-3838-0083.