Becoming the first minority ethnic
lawyer to be the Chairperson of the Association of Women Solicitors in
the UK in its over 80 years history is certainly no mean feat. However,
becoming the first ever female and first black person to be elected
President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, may be an even
greater feat. However, Mrs. Boma Ozobia, in her unassuming nature,
shrugs off her unique achievements as a mixture of focus and fate. She
spoke with Mrs. Onikepo Braithwaite, Jude Igbanoi and Tobi Soniyi in a
chat last week, about her passion to see the legal profession in Nigeria
move to greater heights; and also about her recommendations for a
rancour free succession in the leadership of the Nigerian Bar
Association
Recently, the Acting Chief Justice of
Nigeria called for the NBA to nominate lawyers for the position of
Supreme Court Justices. 9 lawyers, including 6 Senior Advocates, have
been nominated. What do you think of this step by the Acting CJN? What
do you think informed his decision to make this move? Do you think that
any of these lawyers will actually make it to the Supreme Court via this
call?
It’s an excellent initiative. The Acting
CJN has shown that he is willing to think outside the box and that has
to be a good thing. The Nigerian Bar Association, I understand, has been
advocating for this for a while and no doubt that may well have
influenced the Acting CJN’s decision in this regard. There is a school
of thought that is worried about lawyers coming straight from the Bar to
the highest level on the Bench. I am not. It has been done successfully
in other common law jurisdictions such as England and Wales where we
borrowed this system of law from, and coming to Africa, in Kenya. In
fact, Kenya appointed an academic who had never served as a judge as
it’s Chief Justice. We too, have done so successfully in the past with
Sir Taslim Elias who was appointed CJN without ever serving as a judge
previously. As to whether the lawyers will actually make it to the
Supreme Court via this call, I don’t see why not! The NBA has certainly
put our best foot forward with this shortlist and I think that they are
all very well qualified to serve. The difficulty is of course, the
constitutional limitation on numbers that can be appointed to the
Supreme Court, which is a maximum of 21 and the CJN.
Has anything good come out of the
October, 2016 DSS Raids on the Judges so far? What do you think that
Government can do to curb corruption in the Judiciary? Recently, it was
reported that Federal Judges were being owed their salaries for some
months. Certainly, this can only exacerbate corruption as opposed to
curtailing it. After all, Judges also have families to feed and bills to
pay.
The DSS raids on the homes of our
jurists diminished us all! I was so sad. It felt like the world was
coming to an end. However, I think the NJC with the support of the NBA
has done the right thing by nudging the judges involved to recuse
themselves from presiding over cases, until the allegations against them
are either proved or dismissed. We must always act in the best interest
of the litigating public and ensure that nothing we do undermines
public confidence in the judiciary. From that perspective, we have done
the right thing for the Nigerian citizen. As for what government can do
to curb corruption in the judiciary, government, meaning the executive
arm, can stay away and stop meddling in the appointment process for
starters, ensure that the budgetary allocation to the judiciary is
adequate and promptly disbursed, and the Court infrastructure, regularly
upgraded and adequately maintained.
Do you agree with the point of view that
compared with their counterparts in other parts of the world, our
Judges are overworked and grossly underpaid and that this fact alone
makes for temptation on the part of Judges to be corrupt?
Absolutely! Overworked and under paid. I
have been advocating better working conditions and remuneration for our
judges for many years now. At both State and Federal level. Visit the
Federal High Court, Ikoyi and see for yourself the conditions under
which our jurists work, it is unacceptable! On the temptation to be
corrupt, I will simply say that you are not corrupt because you are
tempted, but rather, you are tempted because you are corrupt!
You were the President of the
Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) from 2011–2013. What purpose, in
your opinion, do International Legal bodies like yours serve? What
contributions would you say that you made to the Nigerian legal
profession and the global legal landscape during your term in office?
The CLA exists to promote the rule of
law in the 54 member Countries and standards in the legal profession. It
is a very useful and effective advocate especially when it throws its
weight behind the national Bar associations, it can keep the executive
in check. For instance, during my tenure, our efforts certainly went a
long way in assisting the Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Ugandan Bar
Associations in protecting the Judiciary from an over bearing Executive
arm of government. Likewise in the Maldives and more recently Malaysia.
Contributions to the Nigerian legal profession? I cannot be a judge in
my own case, so this is a question better answered by my colleagues in
this jurisdiction.
The 2017 CLA Conference is scheduled to
hold in Melbourne, Australia in just a few weeks. What should Nigerians
expect at this year’s Conference? Do you agree that membership of these
International Organisations such as the CLA is elitist, at least for
Nigerians, as many lawyers are unable to afford to travel to these
destinations for conferences? What advice can you offer to younger
lawyers who are keen to attend these conferences and network on an
international level like the senior lawyers do, on raising funds to
attend?
CLA conferences are always very
informative and a useful tool for comparative analysis of jurisprudence
from fellow common law jurisdictions. The Melbourne Conference will be
no different. As usual we will have participation from all 54 member
Countries and more. The program covers many issues we are currently
grappling with in Nigeria including terrorism, human trafficking and
other such issues. Naturally, with a theme this year that refers to
“thriving in a global world” there are also plenty of topics covering
commercial law and practice. The CLA elitist? Far from it! It is better
described as an activist organisation, working very closely with other
civil society groups for the good of our society. Yes, Melbourne is a
long way from here and therefore costlier than most of our conference
destinations if you are travelling from Nigeria, or indeed almost any
other part of the world apart form New Zealand. The good news is that,
the conference moves around the various continents. Prior to Melbourne,
It was Glasgow and before that, Cape Town in South Africa. Hopefully the
next one will be nearer to us and more affordable. Despite the cost, I
would urge young lawyers to save on non-essentials and invest in their
professional development by attending these conferences.
You once recommended the Commonwealth
Lawyers Association succession model to the Nigerian Bar Association. In
your opinion, could the crisis that trailed the last NBA elections have
been avoided if your recommendation was taken and followed?
I did, and still do. It aids continuity
and means that we are able to plan in 3 – 5 years spans with the buy-in
of the incoming leadership, since the incoming President would have
served as Vice President for two years and been part of the leadership
of the predecessor. It is the same model adopted by the Bar Council and
Law Society of England and Wales.
You were able to achieve the feat of
becoming the first minority ethnic lawyer to be the Chairperson of the
Association of Women Solicitors in the UK. How did you make it happen,
since you were the first in over 80 years, since the Association’s
inception. Did you meet with much opposition?
Well, similar to the CLA, the
Association of Women Solicitors had the same convention. If you are
elected vice chairwoman, then you were likely to be the next chairwoman.
Although an election is conducted, the convention is that you are not
opposed and therefore, the sole candidate for the position. I didn’t set
out to become chairwoman or first ethnic minority chairwoman, I wanted
to make a difference and contribute positively to equality issues in the
profession. Equal pay for women solicitors and their male colleagues
doing the same work. The gender pay gap was 27%! In the United Kingdom.
Flexible working hours to enable better work life balance was also a bee
in my bonnet and these issues led to me engaging with the AWS, working
to contribute my quota and eventually being elected as the Chairwoman.
You practiced as a Solicitor in the UK
for several years. Could you highlight some of the differences you have
noticed between practice here and in the UK? Are there any leaves that
we can borrow from the British book to improve our own legal system? How
would you rate the rule of law in Nigeria?
The most glaring area of difference for
me is really in the pre-trial processes and the almost total lack of
professional accountability on our part. In England, the pre – trial or
house keeping matters are dealt with almost exclusively by the Registry
rather than the Judge. This saves precious time, so that the Judge can
focus on the substance rather than procedure. We spend far too much time
litigating the margins, clogging up the courts and slowing down the
process with interlocutory applications, nitpicking on process and
appealing these peripheral issues back and forth at the expense of
substantive justice. It was once like that in England too, and this led
to delays, similar to or perhaps even worse than we have in our system
today. They have reformed and improved, and we should too.
Another leaf which I would commend to
us, is the practice in England where you as the lawyer, are held
accountable for wasting the Court’s time, rather than your client. If
the judge ever has course to ask you in an English Court, ‘have you
advised you client?’ you better go back and double check that your claim
or defence has a sound footing in law. Otherwise, you may find that
costs in the case, which, can be very substantial – as the award is
usually the actual cost and not a token as we get in Nigeria – will be
awarded against you the lawyer! And serves you right too.
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari,
has been away in England for over a month for ‘medical leave’. He has
extended his trip twice. Do you think that his travel issue was handled
properly by Government? Nigerians are saying that they have a right to
know what is wrong with him and do not want to be kept in the dark, like
in the late President Yar’Adua’s time. What is the position of the law
on this issue? Do Nigerians have a right to know or does the President
have a right to his privacy? Do you think that his absence may be having
a negative impact on the country?
It is a fine balance between the right
to privacy and the citizens’ right to information. I don’t see a
comparison with the late President Yar’Adua at all. In this case, a
letter and a further letter have been transmitted to the NASS and the
Vice President is the Acting President, so constitutional requirements
have been met. Beyond that, similar to the misconception that the
Freedom of Information Act gives citizens the right to intrude into the
private space of public servants, the fact that Muhammadu Buhari is the
President of Nigeria does not give us the right to invade his privacy.
He has fulfilled the spirit and the letter of the law and that is all
that is required of him at this point in time.
Your books, Sisters in Law, and Survival
Manual for New Wigs, which young lawyers confessed that they have
really benefited from are not on the bookshelves. What are you doing
about this?
Sisters in Law was published in England
and is currently out of print. Survival manual for New Wigs was
published here by Odade Lexis Nexis as we referred to them at the time. I
believe they have copies available as I bought some copies for young
colleagues not too long ago.
There seems to be a preference for IBA conferences by Nigerians over CLA. Why? What is your advice?
The IBA is a different conference to the
CLA conference, and I enjoy both, particularly the chance to network
with my Nigerian colleagues, as we do tend to attend the IBA in large
numbers like you rightly pointed out. So, I attend both if my schedule
and budget allows, but if I have to choose, I prefer the CLA conference.
I find the topics covered are all relevant to my practice because it is
a common law conference and I practice solely in common law
jurisdictions.
Coming from Britain, a jurisdiction
where bribery and corruption is not prevalent, how have you coped in
Nigeria where judicial corruption is no longer strange?
I have to say that the perception, sadly
for us, is far worse than the reality in my experience. And I’ll tell
you how I know. I always weigh the chances of success before taking
forward a claim or appealing against a decision of the trial court. That
process of analysis and evaluation, invariably leads to a prognosis. So
far, in the vast majority of the cases the outcome has been as
predicted, which indicates to me that the judge has been persuaded
solely by the evidence before the Court and not by some other extraneous
factors.
You made history as the first woman to
have been President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and
unarguably did Nigeria proud. But how do you feel that only once has a
woman been given the chance to lead the Nigerian Bar Association, even
then, not through an election but ascension?
That’s most kind, thank you! As someone
once said, ‘Power is not biscuit.’ No one is going to hand it to you. I
would like to see more women in leadership positions in the Bar and in
the wider society. But we have to be willing to make the necessary
sacrifices to achieve this. Get involved. Build relationships and
strategic alliances, and more importantly, believe in our abilities.
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