Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN) has assumed office as the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), declaring that her administration will prioritise the economic
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN) has assumed office as the 33rd President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), declaring that her administration will prioritise the economic welfare of lawyers, professional dignity, inclusion and a stronger institutional voice for the legal profession.
Badejo-Okusanya was sworn-in yesterday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at a ceremony marking the transfer of leadership from the immediate past NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN).
In her inaugural address, the new NBA president said her mandate was not a prize but a trust, promising to build what she described as “a bolder bar that works for everyone.”
“Members first, always. We will build a bolder bar that works for everyone,” she declared.
Badejo-Okusanya, who recalled attending her first NBA Annual General Conference in August 2002 as a newly called lawyer, said she never imagined that 24 years later she would return to lead the association.
She said her election was particularly significant because it took place in Port Harcourt, a city deeply connected to the NBA’s history and its struggle for institutional survival.
Thirty-five years after a crisis in the city culminated in a truncated electoral process and the proscription of the association, Badejo-Okusanya became only the second woman to occupy the NBA presidency, following Dame Priscilla Kuye.
“It has taken 35 years, but history is not made merely when a barrier falls. History is made when those who pass through the opening widen it for others,” she said.
The new president vowed that she would not allow her gender to define her administration, stressing that she sought the office “not simply to make history” but “to make a difference.”
She said the NBA must address the harsh economic realities confronting lawyers, particularly young practitioners and those working in small firms.
“A lawyer who is economically vulnerable is not truly professionally free,” she said. “Economic dignity is not separate from professional dignity. It is essential to it.”
Badejo-Okusanya promised to pursue a sustained framework for fair remuneration, better access to jobs and mentorship, technology adoption, financing and emerging areas of legal practice.
She also announced plans to subsidise access to electronic law reports for lawyers and reintroduce the NBA affinity card, which she said would provide access to negotiated discounts on airlines, hotels, supermarkets, pharmacies and other essential services.
On professional conduct, the NBA president warned that her administration would have “scant tolerance” for misconduct, particularly abusive and insulting exchanges among lawyers on social media.
She said lawyers must uphold the dignity of the profession even when engaged in political disagreements, warning that the NBA would take decisive steps against conduct capable of undermining public confidence in the profession.
Badejo-Okusanya further promised to modernise the NBA secretariat and deploy technology to make membership services, payments, practising stamps, continuing professional development and access to benefits faster and more transparent.
“Leadership is not a title. It is an obligation to deliver. We will deliver,” she said.
She also pledged to create a transparent portal through which lawyers could indicate their areas of interest and offer themselves for appointments, insisting that service opportunities must reflect the breadth of talent within the association.
The new president extended a hand of fellowship to her former opponents, declaring: “I will be president not only of those who voted for me, but of every member of the Nigerian Bar Association.”
As she took the oath of office, Badejo-Okusanya said she was conscious of the weight of the responsibility before her but expressed confidence that the NBA could emerge stronger, more inclusive and more relevant to the daily lives of Nigerian lawyers.
Her central challenge, she declared, would be to move lawyers “from surviving to thriving.”
Osigwe, in his valedictory remarks, urged lawyers to rally behind his successor and support her administration, regardless of whom they backed during the election.
“A leader has emerged. You may not have supported her, but by winning, all of us are her supporters,” he said.
Osigwe, who described his two-year tenure as “an honour of a lifetime,” said the NBA had successfully navigated attempts to destabilise its leadership and completed the 2026 transition despite court injunctions.
He also praised Badejo-Okusanya as a competent and prepared leader, stressing that her election was not an act of tokenism.
“The bar did not elect a woman for a woman’s sake, but elected a woman who has the competence, who has what it takes to lead and who is prepared for the job,” Osigwe said.
He urged NBA members to criticise the new administration constructively rather than seek to delegitimise it, warning that the next two years would be demanding.
