Okonjo-Iweala asks politicians to stop weaponising insecurity

Sadly, no woman led NBA in 30yrs, says Dongban-Mensem

President of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, has called for gender equity in the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

 
“It is quite sad that we have not had a female president of the bar for over three decades,” Justice Dongban-Mensem declared before legal luminaries and dignitaries, yesterday, during the opening ceremony of the NBA Annual General Conference at the Eko Hotels & Suites in Lagos.
 
At the event, the President of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, urged politicians to stop weaponising insecurity against their opposition in office.
 
Delivering a keynote address entitled, ‘A Social Contract For Nigeria’s Future’, the former Nigerian finance minister said: “We cannot have socio-economic development without security. We certainly cannot have security without development.
 
“We all know that security has been weaponised in our country for political purposes by political actors, leading partly to the situation we have now. We have politicians who believe that the best way to make their opponents look bad is to instigate insecurity, making it look like they can’t govern, regardless of whether this leads to the loss of lives and property of innocent Nigerians. This has to stop.”
 
At the NBA election in July, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Afam Osigwe, emerged as the president-elect of the bar, to take over from Yakubu Maikyau (SAN). Before Maikyau were Olumide Akpata and Paul Usoro.
 
However, Justice Dongban-Mensem said the bar should display gender equity and justice by electing a female president. She said, “Equity and vibrant justice, especially gender-wise, should be fortified and demonstrated in NBA. It is not encouraging that since the inception of the association, only one female, in the person of Dame Priscilla Kuye, ascended to the seat of the president from 1991 to 1992, in a profession that boasts near equality.
 
“It is quite sad that we have not had a female president of the Bar for over three decades. We cannot demand equity in a progressive society and be regressive, among our ranks. Therefore, more has to be done.”
 
The event with the theme, ‘Pressing Forward; A National Posture to Rebuilding Nigeria’, featured stellar personalities at home and abroad. Former President of Ghana John Mahama was present while President Bola Tinubu was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima. Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun; Senate President Godswill Akpabio and his counterpart in the lower chamber, Tajudeen Abbas, were also represented at the event.