Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), Olumide Akpata, has reiterated the Section’s commitment to the development of young lawyers with the ultimate aim of building capacity in the next generation of Nigerian lawyers as well as encouraging specialization in the profession.
Akpata said this in his opening remarks at the ongoing 12th Annual Business Law Conference of the NBA Section on Business Law in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said the SBL council was proud of the achievements so far recorded by its committees, adding that details of those achievements would form the core of his report to the Annual General Meeting of the Section at the end of his tenure in August this year.
“I will, however, single out for specific mention the establishment of the SBL Club by our Young Lawyers Committee which is an initiative aimed at introducing contemporary commercial law subjects to law undergraduates in Nigerian universities who are in their final and penultimate years of study,” Akpata said.
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He further said that chapters of the SBL Club have so far been inaugurated at the University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Baze University in Abuja, while three more chapters were in the offing for Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, University of Benin, and University of Nigeria, Enugu campus.
“The SBL Club is a laudable initiative which will help immensely in building capacity in the next generation of Nigerian lawyers and will encourage specialization in the profession. I must state at this point that our focus on and commitment to young lawyers remains unwavering as they continue to be the ultimate beneficiaries of our programmes and projects,” he said.
Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, NBA chairman, in his remarks lauded the SBL for its dogged commitment towards engendering the continuing professional development of Nigerian lawyers in the knowledge and practice of business law.
“Since its establishment in 2004, the NBA-SBL has remained one of the leading specialist sections of the Nigerian Bar Association and has consistently committed over the last 14 years to delivering on its mandate of engendering the continuing professional development of Nigerian lawyers in the knowledge and practice of business law,” Mahmoud said.
“The NBA-SBL’s objectives, which focus on the promotion of continuing legal education, legislative advocacy, protection of its members’ common interests and the facilitation of networking and partnership opportunities between the Nigerian Bar and international commercial associations, align with the NBA’s strategic aim of ensuring that the Nigerian legal profession is suitably prepared to meet and compete with international standards and comply with international best practices for a robust, responsive and independent legal profession,” he said.
