2023 ELECTION: The opening section of the 2022 national conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has come and gone, but the effect may still linger on for a while, especially the political connotations of it in the wake of the 2023 presidential election.
BASIC FACTS
- The NBA conference is an annual event organized by Nigerian lawyers under the umbrella of the Nigerian Bar Association.
- The 2022 edition was held at the Eko Hotels Victoria Island, mostly the usual venue when it rotates to Lagos State.
- The event paraded the leading contenders of the nation`s top political job, who were there at the invitation of the organization
WHAT WE KNOW
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have had its opening section on Monday, the 22nd of August. The annual general meeting is taking place at the Eko Hotels & Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos.
As expected the leading contenders to the nation`s top political job were invited to grace the occasion, and have the opportunity to speak to the lawyers as the nation grapples with lots of difficulties in this troubled times.
Present at the August all important event for the Nigerian lawyers was the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, together with his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.
Also present was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the former Nigerian Vice President, and a serial contender for the office of the president.
However, obviously absent were the presidential candidates of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) counterpart, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Bola Tinubu rather dispatched his running mate, Kashim Shettima, the former governor of Borno State to represent him. The absence of the APC and NNPC candidates may not have been a surprise to many, as he never really confirmed his attendance before the day.
On the other hand the duo of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi were widely reported to have confirmed their attendance long before the day of the event and were expected at the occasion.
Clariform reports that amongst the presidential candidates who attended the conference the LP candidate, Mr Peter Obi received the most acceptance by the gathering of lawyers, as the learned crowd erupted in uncontrollable jubilation and shouts of joy when he entered into the venue.
The theme of the general conference for the 2022 NBA AGM is “BOLD Transitions”. It is slated to run between August 19 and 26. Some other dignitaries at the event were governors of the states of Edo and Plateau, respectively, Solomon Lalong and Godwin Obaseki.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was represented by the Lagos State Attorney General, Moyosore Onigbanjo, who was also joined by the state’s Chief Judge, Kazeem Alogba.
Another notable dignitary at the event is the award-winning Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who gave the Keynote Speaker at the event.
NOTABLE QUOTES
Speaking at the event, the former two-term governor of Anambra State and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi traced the cause of the difficulties Nigeria is facing currently to deficit in leadership.
He said , “Out of 200 million Nigerians, 60 percent is supposed to be working. So it [should be] 120 million Nigerians working, but today, Nigerians that are working are under 60 million,” Obi said.
“We are in a physical mess, total physical mess because of all this. Between January this year and April, the total revenue of the federal government of Nigeria is N1, 630,000,000, 000 but expenditure is N4, 720,000,000,000. If you minus this, we have a deficit of N3, 100,000,000,000.
“How did we come here? It is the effect of leadership failure over the years. What are we going to do to come out of this?
“You need to have a visionary, articulated, competent leadership.
“The elections we are going to have next year will not be about tribe nor religion, not connections, not entitlements, it must be elections about character, competence, capacity and solutions to deliver.”
The APC vice-presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, and the running mate of Bola Tinubu, promised the lawyers that his principal will repeat his record as two-term governor of Lagos State at the federal level, if he becomes president.
He said, “Nigerians have the capability to see through the worn-out rhetoric and sophistry of pretentious politicians,” he said.
“Nigerians should follow the man wey know the road. From day one, we will hit the ground running. We’ll promptly address the issue of the economy, ecology, and security.
“And we have the antecedents. I built some of the best schools in Nigeria. Go to Borno and see wonders; you will never believe that it is a state in a state of war.
“So, we are going to replicate our achievements in Lagos, in Borno and some of the frontline states so that our nation will be a better place.
“The fundamental issue is pure leadership.”
Similarly, in his address at the event, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar recounted the troubles facing the nation under the present leadership provided under the Buhari government.
In his words: “Since the return of democracy in 1998/99, Nigeria has never found itself in such a very critical point in our history.
“Today, we have had all the negative indices. Today, we are all disunited in the nation. We have never experienced this level of poverty.
“We have never experienced this state of insecurity. We have never experienced this level of unemployment. We have recognised all these negative development in our history.
“This is where history and experience beckon on us to make sure that we don’t get it wrong at this point in time otherwise if we get it wrong. I don’t know when we will ever get it right.
“I have been involved in the struggle to return this country to democracy to this country in the time of military days. In fact, I can even say I was even lucky to be alive because so many of my contemporaries have been killed in this struggle but by the grace of God I have survived till this point in time.”
“I assured NBA that a new Nigeria of our dreams is possible in the hands of a bold man of experience”, he said.
CATCH-UP
Nigeria`s national and presidential election is slated for February 2023 and will be featuring multiple party candidates.
The ruling All Progressive Congress is fielding the candidacy of Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the former two term governor of Lagos State in a Muslim-Muslim ticket with Kasim Shetima.
In the contest will also be Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
They will be up against Peter Obi, the standard bearer of the Labour Party (LP), at the presidential polls. Clariform reports that the popularity of Mr Peter Obi is rising by the minute as the February election draws nearer 2023.
The LP candidate is a technocrat and the youngest of the leading candidates, and have also chosen another, but even younger technocrat in the person of Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed in a well-balanced ticket.
NEWS ANALYSIS
The NBA conference presented an opportunity for the leading presidential candidates to speak to a learned audience with the capacity to dissect every word they speak and how they speak the words.
The lawyer`s gathering is an event populated by reasonably well informed people, who irrespective of their individual biases still each have the ability to evaluate not only the words spoken by the candidates, but also their movements and conducts in the event.
Therefore, it was good that some of this candidates availed themselves the opportunity and addressed some of the burning issues facing our nation.
However, it is also very condemnable that the APC presidential candidate dishonored the event and for whatever reason stayed away. It is the usual character of politicians to make excuses.
So just like his absence was not a surprise to many, it also won`t amount to any surprise if Bola Tinubu comes up at a later date with excuses why it was “unavoidable” for him to miss the event, and why sending his running mate was sufficient.
Kashin Shettima Tinubu`s running mate had the effrontery to ask the lawyers and Nigerians follow his principal because according to him Bola Tinubu is “the man wey know the road” , he did not tell the lawyers where the road will lead to.
It is not enough to know the “road”. It is also more important to know what destination the road Bola Tinubu knows will lead Nigerians and the country to. Therefore where does this road Shettima talked about lead to and why did Tinubu not come in person to explain it at the event?
