Lawyer Asks Nigerian Bar Association To Set Up Legal Teams Nationwide For #EndBadGovernamceInNigeria Protests

Ayodele Okedele Esq., a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has written a letter urging the association’s president, Y.C Maikyau, SAN, over the NBA’s stance not to support the peaceful #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests.

Okedele in his letter to the NBA president, expressed his concerns as a bar member, active Nigerian, and advocate for human dignity, while criticising the NBA’s stance, which he describes as anti-democratic.

He urged the NBA to refocus its efforts on engaging directly with Nigerians and advising Tinubu on addressing their needs.

He 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.

“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.

“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 glamourous thing 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 the above, rather than dissuading Nigerians, I would rather you invest that passion in writing to the His Excellency to hastily come down from his tower, meet Nigerians beneath, personally engage them, get their needs and give a feasible plan on how to get them met or advise him to provide adequate protection to the peaceful protesters. Should you do this, you would earn his respect and that of your professional brethren in whose stead you hold the office you have written through and are about to exit.

“Therefore, on behalf of myself and other well-meaning members of the bar I make the following requests from your office:

1.     Establish Human Rights Compliance and Monitoring Teams across all the 130 branches of the Nigeria Bar Association and a central committee for the compilation of all reports. The reports should be published not later than one week after a definite halt of the protest activities.

2.     A press release from your office directing the law enforcement and security agencies to protect the fundamental human rights of protesters.

3.     A retraction of the statement complained of and an apology made to all professional brethren via same means of communication.

4.     A demand letter to H.E Bola Ahmed Tinubu asking him to give a crystal clear order to all law enforcement and security agencies to protect the rights and lives of the peaceful protesters.

5.     Set up a legal aid service team in partnership with civil society organisations across the thirty-six states including the Federal Capital Territory.”