By Julius Atanawhemera
One Joseph Silas Onu, most recently on Facebook and preemptive of the 2018 NBA Elections, in a post by that title, called on ‘Juniors’ to join him in supporting the candidature of Afam Osigwe, the immediate past General Secretary of NBA, for the office of President of NBA.
The entire fulcrum of the call is hinged on the said Osigwe purportedly being a champion of the ‘lowly’ lawyers…! Is this how low the honour of the legal profession has plummeted…? This was a post to the world at large…! ‘Lowly’ is a description Onu happily ascribed to members of our noble profession…? And Onu thinks he is doing his best to project Afam Osigwe…? What a crying pity…?
Thank God Afam Osigwe, is well known to many in the profession. He is one person any lawyer, whether they like him or not, would easily describe as bright, ambitious and upwardly mobile. If anyone identifies him with ‘lowliness’ of any sort, it is because that person has been lulled into a state of mediocre ‘zombiism’, an attribute every lawyer found worthy in character and learning by this noble profession ought to cringe away from…
Osigwe, was called to the Bar in 1999. Since then, he has been a branch secretary and Chairman, before his last position as General Secretary of NBA. He has done an LLM and has practically finished a PHD in Law. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is a Bencher… He is very much on the way to becoming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He has done very well for himself…!
If you are a lawyer, meaning that you have been called to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, you need to place your own credentials beside those of Afam Osigwe and very CAREFULLY calculate your progress vis-à-vis his.
Ask yourself what you need to do to get to where he is now. If you have been listening to characters like Joseph Onu, do yourself a favour and quickly retrace your steps.
Afam Osigwe is not an SAN, not because he is averse to the title. He just has not obtained that status YET. If you deceive yourself into choosing him for Presidency of the Bar simply because he is not an SAN, how do you think the public should rate your intelligence…?Rather, take a look at some of Afam Osigwe’s antecedents and find that it is usual with him to spin these tales to get to where he wants.
Burning the ladder by which you reach your goal is not an attribute I would want to applaud in a person I choose for leadership. Follow me down a few steps please…
When Afam Osigwe wanted to become Chairman of Abuja Branch, he faced oppositions. He got past it by raising and sponsoring the humiliation of the Bar. He called out Elders who had habitually borne the burden of building up Unity Bar to an enviable status, insulted them and pitted young lawyers who were yet to imbibe the practice of respect for seniority at the Bar against these revered seniors. He and the Squad he sponsored were ready to go down to fisticuffs and were also ready to descend to any level to force the hands of the lawyers in Abuja. Many respected Elders, self-consciously ran away from exercising their franchise, wary of ruining their cherished reputation. Afam, became Chairman.
On his way to becoming General Secretary of NBA, the tale turned on how he was going there for the Abuja Bar and how everyone should see him as Unity Bar Project. Everyone sheathed their swords and supported him overwhelmingly… What a mistake…? From the first day he stepped into office, Osigwe, used the machinery of that office to continue tele-guiding the branch to the point of its current dismemberment. The Unity Bar is now in tartars, sustained by the machinations of Afam Osigwe who almost single handedly funds a faction that has defied all entreaties to allow peace in the Unity Bar, Abuja. He is currently almost the only ‘elder’ in that faction of the Unity Bar. As a Bencher, the irony that he is now an ‘Elder’ is inescapable. He has changed the refrain of his song from being anti-Elders to anti-SANs.
Must Afam Osigwe whip up selfish and self-serving narratives to enable him get on…?
Afam Osigwe, in a manner of speaking, has burnt and torn down the House built by the Elders of his home branch. Is he now going to be allowed to wear that as a badge of honour and accuse his fellow more experienced prospective co-contestants that his rascally way will bring honour to NBA…? Does him not being an SAN yet better qualify him to Presidency of the Bar…? What absurd audacity…? How ludicrous can one get…?
Every well-meaning lawyer in Nigeria should please come out and stop hirelings like Joseph Onu from deceiving young lawyers. Someone who tells you to rubbish the ultimate privilege of the Bar while himself acquiring several other privileges should be viewed with suspicion, not emulated. It is early days yet towards 2018, let us look out for a senior with leadership and nurturing qualities that encourages fellow feelings and sharing in respectable environments. Let us look out for seniors who would not encourage rancor, but would present themselves with dignity as evidence of what one can become if one strives for co-existence with ones’ fellows; learn the practice of law and excel.
Lawyers are not trained to become touts. Let us find for ourselves, a President who readily sues for peace and progress. If you are not a member of the Abuja Branch of NBA, please ask your friends who are members to explain to you the effect of the rabble rousing efforts of Afam Osigwe. We used to have a well-equipped Branch Office bot NOT anymore. We used to have Buses but NOT anymore. We even have a proposed site with big plans for a Bar Centre on a large parcel of land with certificate of occupancy which the Elders of the Bar have enabled and were ready to make sure it functionality at about this time but unfortunately, that is not happening anymore at the moment…
Afam Osigwe and the breakaway faction which he sponsors, has the Abuja Bar in disarray. The Unity Bar is currently being dragged from one Court to the other… Is that who we want for the President of NBA…? Definitely NOT….
Julius Atanawhemera, Esq, NPN, Dip, is Publicity Secretary, NBA Abuja, Unity Bar).
