Lawyer Urges Nigerian Bar Association To Establish Legal Teams Nationwide For #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria Protests
Ayodele Okedele Esq., a concerned member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has written a letter to the association’s president, Y.C Maikyau, SAN, urging the NBA to reconsider its stance on the peaceful #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests. Okedele criticized the NBA’s position as anti-democratic and called for the establishment of legal teams to support the protests.
In his letter, Okedele expressed his concerns as a bar member, an active Nigerian, and an advocate for human dignity. He urged the NBA to engage directly with Nigerians and advise President Tinubu on addressing their needs. Okedele highlighted the importance of the right to peaceful protest, citing President Tinubu’s previous support for such demonstrations during his tweets against former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Okedele wrote, “I write with regards to your e-mail dated the 29th of July, 2024 particularly paragraphs 13 – 21 where you passionately discouraged Nigerians from exercising their right to peaceful protests against the spirit and letters of the Nigerian constitution – a document dear to our association and reverently worshipped by our professional brethren.”
He continued, “Sir, myself and other well-meaning Nigerians are dissatisfied or rather embarrassed by the subtly put anti-democratic statement. I told a colleague who has been unable to access his socials about your letter: ‘This is ridiculous, is N.B.A no longer a pressure group?’ Since the release of the statement, Nigerians have added another reason to how our dear association has failed them and described us with ridicule, thereby decreasing our professional value and relevance in the country.”
Okedele emphasized President Tinubu’s past support for the right to peaceful protest, noting, “Need I mention sir, His Excellency, Mr. Biola Ahmed Tinubu is a vehement supporter of the right to peaceful protest as seen in his several tweets against the administration of the former president, His Excellency, Mr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. In fact, he once tweeted in appraisal of the exercise thus: ‘it was through this that colonialism, apartheid and all forms of dictatorship, misrule and tyranny have been overcome across time and space. Our current democratic dispensation was borne of struggle in response to the challenge of military dictatorship’. Having had such glamorous things to say about the abundance the exercise of right to peaceful protest can bring to the people, I am pessimistically optimistic that he would welcome the #ENDBADGOVERNANCE protest.”
In light of these points, Okedele urged the NBA president to focus on engaging with Nigerians and advising President Tinubu to address their needs. He made the following requests on behalf of himself and other well-meaning members of the bar:
1. Establish Human Rights Compliance and Monitoring Teams across all 130 branches of the Nigerian Bar Association and a central committee for the compilation of all reports. The reports should be published no later than one week after the protests conclude.
2. Issue a press release directing law enforcement and security agencies to protect the fundamental human rights of protesters.
3. Retract the previous statement and apologize to all professional brethren via the same means of communication.
4. Send a demand letter to President Tinubu asking him to issue a clear order to all law enforcement and security agencies to protect the rights and lives of peaceful protesters.
5. Set up a legal aid service team in partnership with civil society organizations across the thirty-six states, including the Federal Capital Territory.
Okedele believes that taking these steps will help the NBA regain respect and relevance in the eyes of Nigerians and its professional members.
