The disruptions wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the fore the increased relevance of technology in today’s world as well as the need for businesses to leverage technology to stay afloat. In the thick of COVID-19, with lockdown measures across the world to curb the spread of the pandemic, businesses found solace in technology as staff worked from home. However, some businesses at a very low level of technology adoption went under.
This is why the 15th annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) holding July 14-15, 2021 is focusing on how businesses, including the legal profession, can continue to keep pace with and take advantage of technological developments and disruptions to drive transformation in a fast-changing world.
The annual NBA-SBL conference is a platform for business lawyers within and outside Nigeria to network and engage on issues relevant to their fields as well as to establish a thriving relationship between the business community and government institutions.
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This year’s conference, themed “Re-tooling Business for Change: Leveraging the Tech Explosion”, aims to take participants on an exploration of the topics revolving around the fast-developing relationship between frontier technologies across the world and the business law space, said Ayuli Jemide, Chairman, NBA-SBL and Lead Partner, DETAIL Commercial Solicitors.
“These conversations are stirred up in hopes of improving the efficiency of legal practice and the competencies of participants,” Jemide said in a preconference note.
He said the 15th Conference offers a bigger promise of leading content, plenary sessions, engaging discussions and networking sessions.
To live up to this promise, the conference organisers have assembled an exciting lineup of local and international speakers/resource persons invited to speak on best practices to build thriving law firms and businesses post COVID-19.
The two-day conference, which will take a hybrid form due to the pandemic, with virtual and on-site content to ensure maximum reach, will feature a total of five plenary sessions on Day 1.
The first session, with the topic “Tech Innovation and E- Governance”, will be moderated by Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, Managing Partner at Compliance Professionals Plc, and Coordinated by Temidayo Ajayi-Bello of DETAIL Commercial Solicitors. The panellists include Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Gabriel Okeowo, Principal Lead/CEO, BudgIT Nigeria, Honourable Justice Kashim Zannah, Chief Judge of Borno State, Yewande Sadiku, Executive Secretary/CEO, NIPC.
Panellists including Mitchell Elegbe, MD/CEO of Interswitch, Olugbenga Agboola, Co-Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, Gisele Nwepu, CEO of Okapi Financial Services, Olaoluwa Awojoodu, CEO of E-Settlement Group, and Babatunde Ogundeyi, Co-Founder/CEO of Kuda Bank, will discuss the topic “The Future of Digital Financial Services & Financial Inclusion” in the second panel session. The session will be moderated by Dayo Ademola, Managing Director, Branch.co., will moderate the session, while Tiwalola Osazuwa of Aelex will be the coordinator.
“Outliers – From Law to There” will be the crux of the discussion at the third panel session with Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, Founder, Zapphaire Events, Audu Maikori, Founder, Chocolate City, Emem Ema, Founder, One Management, and Nnamdi Patrick-Onuh, Founder, Alistair Englebert Preston Photography, as panellists.
Other topics to be tackled on the Day 1 of the conference are “Internet and Broadband Connectivity – Good or Bad?” (Plenary 4) and “We All Have a Story” (Plenary 5).
Dr. Omobola Johnson, Senior Partner, TLcom Capital, will moderate the fourth session which has panellists that include Charles Anudu, CEO of Swift 4G, Prof. U. G. Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of Nigeria Communications Commission, Gerald Ilukwe, Pioneer MD, Galaxy Backbone, and Kazeem Oladepo, VP, IHS Towers. The session will be coordinated by Aderonke Alex-Adedipe of Pavestone Solicitors.
Gbenga Oyebode, Founding Partner and Of Counsel, Aluko & Oyebode, Asue Ighodalo, Founding Partner, Banwo & Ighodalo, and Myma Belo-Osagie, Of Counsel, Udo Udoma Belo-Osagie, will be the discussants at the fifth panel, with Ayuli Jemide, Chairman, NBA SBL and Lead Partner, DETAIL Commercial Solicitors, as well as Tobenna Erojikwe, Chairman Board of Governors, Institute of Continuing Legal Education and Partner, The Law Crest LLP, as moderators.
There will also be a Question and Answer session with Oyeyemi Aderibigbe, Senior Associate, Templars, while Dr. Adeoye Adefulu, Vice Chair, NBA-SBL and Partner, Odujinrin & Adefulu, will give the closing remarks.
The panel sessions will be preceded by remarks by the Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, Adeleke Alex-Adedipe, Managing Partner, Duale, Ovia & Alex-Adedipe (DOA), Conference Framer, Ayuli Jemide, Chairman, NBA-SBL and Lead Partner, DETAIL Commercial Solicitors, and welcome remarks by Olumide Akpata, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Similarly, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, will deliver the opening address, Dr. Wendy Okolo, Intelligence Research Engineer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will give the keynote speech, while Engr. Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), will deliver the goodwill message.
In-between the plenary sessions, there will be a tea break, a lunch break, musical performance by Abogados Musicales Chambers Ensemble, and a 20-minute speed networking, while there will be lounge and boat cruise at the end of the sessions for registered attendees only.
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