ESQ. SEMINARS HOLDS 2014 INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION SCHOOL

ESQ. SEMINARS HOLDS 2014 INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION SCHOOL


Esq. Seminars on the 28th – 30th of
October, 2014 hosted the Esq. Arbitration School 2014 at the Civic Centre in
Victoria Island, Lagos which was supported by the prestigious law firm of Aluko & Oyebode. It was a great
time for the delegates and the resounding success for the organisers. The panel
of facilitators was very impressive as it attracted some of the best
arbitration practitioners from Nigeria and also from London.

Facilitators included:-

  • Gbenga Oyebode MFR, Chairman, Management Board, Aluko &
    Oyebode;

  • Lere Fashola, CEO, Legal Blitz Limited;

  • Jerome Finnis, Of Counsel, International Arbitration Group,
    Hogan Lovells LLP;

  • Babatunde Fagbohunlu SAN, Partner, Head of Litigation &
    Arbitration, Aluko
    & Oyebode;

  • Patrick Ikwueto, SAN, FCI.Arb, Managing Partner, Patrick
    Ikwueto & Co,
    Abuja/Lagos.;

  • Chief Bayo Ojo SAN, FCIArb, Chartered Arbitrator, Senior
    Partner, Bayo Ojo
    & Co, Abuja. Director, International Centre for Arbitration and Mediation Abuja (ICAMA);

  • Abdul Jinadu Esq, Barrister, Keating Chambers, 15 Essex
    Street, London;

  • Jobalo Oshikanlu, Legal Director, ARM-Harith Infrastructure
    Fund;

  • Wale Akoni SAN, Head of Chambers, Babalakin & Co.;

  • Olatunde Busari, SAN, FCI.Arb, Chartered Arbitrator, Partner,
    Akinwunmi &
    Busari, Lagos;

  • Ned Mojuetan;
  • Mark Molyneux, Partner,Addleshaw Goddard LLP;
  • Seyilayo Ojo FCI.Arb, Managing Counsel, Seyilayo Ojo &Co.;
  • Nkiru Balonwu, CEO, Spinlet Nigeria;
  • Wale Goodluck, General Manager, Commercial Legal, MTN.
    Nigeria;
  • Yemi Akinsanya, Principal, Adeyemi-Akinsanya Associates;
  • Oludare Senbore, Partner, Aluko & Oyebode, Nigeria,
    former Head of Legal,
    Infrastructure and Project Finance, StanbicIBTC;
  • Seye Kosoko, Head of Legal and Company Secretary, Standard
    Chartered Bank
    of Nigeria;
  • Irene Robinson-Ayanwale, Head, Legal Department and Council
    Secretariat,
    The Nigerian Stock Exchange; and
  • Ace Ankomah, Head of Litigation and Arbitration,
    Bentsi-Enchill, Accra, Ghana.

Cross section of facilitators

Cross section of facilitators

Cross section of Delegates

Lunch time

Jerome and Kate

Adedunmade, Jerome & Kate

Cross section of facilitators

Cross section of facilitators


Esq. Seminars hold regular trainings on various areas of law
and it will do legal practitioners and in-house counsel out there a great deal
of good to keep an eye out for their seminars/trainings and participate in
them. We shall also do well to inform you of upcoming Esq. Seminars.
Those terrible weeks in their camp by Human Rights Watch

Those terrible weeks in their camp by Human Rights Watch

Summary

Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown Islamist insurgency, whose name in Hausa roughly translates as “Western education is forbidden,” has abducted at least 500 women and girls from northern Nigerian since 2009 and has perpetrated numerous human rights abuses against them in captivity. The April 14, 2014 abduction of 276 girls from a secondary school in Chibok, a rural town in Borno State, focused a much-needed spotlight on this increasing scourge.

While much has been written about Boko Haram and the horrific threat it poses, very little is known about the abuses endured by women and girls in captivity. Such victims are obviously hard to find. This report, based on field research, including interviews with victims and witnesses of abduction, documents the abduction of women and girls by Boko Haram, highlighting the harrowing experiences of some of the abducted women and girls. There remain many more women and girls in captivity whose stories have not yet been told.
From June through August 2014, Human Rights Watch interviewed 30 individuals who were abducted by Boko Haram between April 2013 and April 2014, and 16 others who witnessed the abductions. The victims, including 12 students of the Chibok School who escaped from Boko Haram custody after they were abducted, provided further details of the abuses they endured. The women and girls described how they were abducted from their homes and villages while working on the farms, fetching water, or attending school. The victims were held in eight different Boko Haram camps that they believed to be in the
518-square-kilometer Sambisa Forest Reserve and around the Gwoza hills for periods ranging from two days to three months. They saw scores of other women and children, but were unable to ascertain if some, or all, had also been abducted or if they were family members of the insurgents. The women and children ranged from infancy to 65 years old. The Gwoza hills, which form a natural barrier between Nigeria and Cameroon, overlook Sambisa forest to the north and runs from Pulka town, 80 miles south east of Maiduguri, Borno State into Cameroon’s Far North region.
The women and girls told Human Rights Watch that for refusing to convert to Islam, they and many others they saw in the camps were subjected to physical and psychological abuse; forced labor; forced participation in military operations, including carrying ammunition or luring men into ambush; forced marriage to their captors; and sexual abuse, including rape. In addition, they were made to cook, clean, and perform other household chores. Others served as porters, carrying the loot stolen by the insurgents from villages and towns they had attacked. While some of the women and girls seemed to have been taken arbitrarily, the majority appeared to have been targeted for abduction because they were students, Christians, or both.
The Victims
Most of the abductions documented in this report took place in the predominantly Christian area of southern Borno State, and all but one of the victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch were Christian. The victims appear to have been targeted either because of their presumed religious affiliation or for attending western-styled schools. Some of the victims were threatened with death if they refused to convert to Islam. One young woman held in a camp near Gwoza described how combatants placed a noose around her neck and threatened her with death until she renounced her religion; others were repeatedly threatened with whipping, beating, or death unless they converted to Islam, stopped attending school, and complied with Islamic dressing rules, such as wearing veils or the hijab.
When one of the victims, a 15-year-old girl, complained to a Boko Haram commander that she and the other abducted girls were too young for marriage, he pointed at his 5-year-old daughter, and said: “If she got married last year, and is just waiting till puberty for its consummation, how can you at your age be too young to marry?”
Women and girls interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that some Boko Haram commanders appeared to make some effort to protect them from sexual violence. However, Human Rights Watch documented eight cases of sexual violence perpetrated by Boko Haram combatants; most cases of rape occurred after the victims were forced to marry. Social workers who have worked with some of the victims in Borno and Adamawa states told Human Rights Watch that the rape of women and girls abducted by Boko Haram has been underreported because of a culture of silence, stigma, and shame around sexual abuse in Nigeria’s conservative North.
The increase in the number of abductions since mid-2013 appears to mark a change of strategy by Boko Haram. From 2009 through early 2013, the group did not appear to target women and girls specifically. Instead, it primarily launched assaults against those it considered part of an unjust and corrupt system: members of the security services, politicians, civil servants, and other symbols of authority. By early 2012 schools and students became increasingly targeted for attacks, worsening already dire education indices in the Northeast, which has the lowest primary and secondary school net attendance ratio in the country.
From 2009 to early 2013, according to Human Rights Watch’s research and monitoring of abuses, Boko Haram abducted individual women and girls from their homes or from the street during attacks on their communities. These abductions took place most often in Boko Haram’s then-strongholds of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, or Damaturu, the capital of neighboring Yobe State. In most of the documented cases, married women were abducted as punishment for not supporting the group’s ideology, while unmarried women and girls were taken as brides after insurgents hastily offered a dowry to the families, who feared to resist.
The abduction of 276 schoolgirls from in Chibok is the biggest single incident of abduction by Boko Haram at time of writing. The relative ease with which it carried out the Chibok abductions appears to have emboldened Boko Haram to carry out more abductions elsewhere.
Videos released by Boko Haram’s leaders in January and May 2013 suggest three key motives for the initial abductions: to retaliate against the government for its alleged detention of family members, including the wives of the group’s leaders; to punish students for attending Western schools; and to forcefully convert Christian women and girls to Islam. Some of the victims and analysts interviewed by Human Rights Watch have suggested women and girls are also being used for tactical reasons, such as to lure security forces to an ambush, force payment of a ransom, or for a prisoner exchange.
Residents of villages and towns ravaged by Boko Haram attacks during which women and girls were abducted complained about inadequate government response to prevent attacks and protect victims, often in imminent danger, and to provide adequate medical and psychological support for victims.
Many of the victims and witnesses who spoke to Human Rights Watch recounted instances when the security forces had been overwhelmed because insufficient troops had been deployed to a given town or because they appeared to have run out of ammunition during the course of an attack. Others described how members of their community had informed authorities about impending attacks, but were met with a feeble response.
Many of the victims and their family members expressed the ongoing anguish resulting from their ordeal, including deep fears of re-abduction, sleeplessness, and frustration for insufficient support from the government. However, of the victims interviewed, only the Chibok students who escaped from Boko Haram captivity had received limited counseling and medical care. None of the other victims of abduction or other violations, all from desperately poor families, had received or were aware of any government supported mental health or medical care. The federal and state funds, set up with support from international agencies and foreign governments in the wake of the high-profile Chibok abductions, have targeted the escaped Chibok girls but appear not to have widely benefitted the many other victims of Boko Haram abuses.
The abuses against women and girls documented in this report occurred against the backdrop of a dramatic increase in the pace and intensity of Boko Haram’s attacks against civilian targets from mid-2013, after the federal government imposed a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states. Based on credible media reports and field investigations, Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 4,000 civilians have been killed in over 192 attacks since May 2013 in northeast Nigeria and in the federal capital, Abuja. At least 2,053 civilians were killed by Boko Haram in the first half of 2014.
Human Rights Watch has previously documented the widespread abuses carried out by the Nigerian security forces in responding to the attacks by Boko Haram. Since 2009, security forces have used excessive force, burned homes, engaged in physical abuse, “disappeared” victims, and extra-judicially killed those suspected of supporting Boko Haram.
Few members of the security forces implicated in serious violations of humanitarian and human rights law, including violations against girls and women, have been prosecuted. To ensure accountability, Nigerian authorities should investigate and prosecute, based on international fair trial standards, those who committed serious crimes in violation of national and international law during the conflict, including members of Boko Haram, security forces, and pro-government vigilante groups. In addition, the government should provide adequate measures to protect schools and the right to education, and ensure access to medical and mental health services to victims of abduction and other violence. The government should also ensure that hospitals and clinics treating civilian victims are equipped with medical supplies to treat survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
The international community should encourage and support transparent investigations and prosecution of perpetrators of human rights abuses by Boko Haram as well as violations by government security forces and allied groups, and should assist the Nigerian government to provide protection for schools as well as physical and mental health care to all victims of abductions and other violations perpetrated by Boko Haram.
The Nigerian government and the international community should ensure that women participate fully in all national and international efforts to maintain and promote peace and security in Nigeria. The Nigerian government failed to include women in its delegations to Paris Summit on Security in Nigeria in May 2013 and the London Ministerial on security in Nigeria in June 2014. Participants at both meetings committed to civilian protection and human rights and to the prevention of sexual violence in conflict. Human Rights Watch urges the Nigerian government to comply with its National Action Plan for the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 and other related resolutions in Nigeria, which commits the government to take special measures to include women at all levels of peace processes.
Human Rights Watch urges Boko Haram to comply with the principles of international humanitarian and human rights law and to end immediately the killing, maiming, rape, and abduction of Nigeria’s civilian population including students, which has suffered greatly over the past five years.
Source- www.hrw.org
CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF CONTESTING GOVERNORSHIP ELECTIONS

CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF CONTESTING GOVERNORSHIP ELECTIONS


Cross-section of Nigerian Governor Forum (From vangaurdngr.com)

This is the second post in a
series of articles informing about the requirements for contesting elections in
Nigeria. Last time, I wrote on the requirements for contesting presidential  elections in Nigeria, while this post will be treating the constitutional
requirements for contesting Governorship elections in Nigeria. 

The position of a State of
Governor is provided for by the Constitution in Section 176. It provides that –
there shall be for each State of the Federation a Governor and the Governor
shall be the Don Dada Chief Executive of that State. The only persons
qualified to be Governors are- Citizens of Nigeria by birth; persons who have
attained the age of 35 years; members of a political party & sponsored by
that party; and such candidate that has been educated to at least School
Certificate Level or its equivalent. 

It should also be noted that the
following persons are not qualified for election to the position of the
Governor-

  • Persons who have voluntarily
    acquired the citizenship of another country;

  • He has elected to the position 2
    previous times;

  • A lunatic or person of unsound
    mind;

  • Persons under a death sentence;

  • Persons who have been convicted
    and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty within the past 10 years of
    the election or has contravened the Code of Conduct;

  • An undischarged bankrupt;

  • Persons employed in public
    service;

  • Member of a secret society;

  • Persons who have been indicted
    for embezzlement or fraud; and

  • Persons who presented a forged
    certificate to INEC.

It is the duty of INEC to appoint
the date for the elections though such elections must be held on a date not
earlier than 60 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the
term of office of the last holder of the office. Section 178 states that a candidate
for the Governorship elections shall be deemed to have been duly elected where,
being the only candidate nominated for the election –

  1. He has a majority of YES votes
    over NO votes cast at the election; and 
  2.  He has not less than one-quarter
    of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two –thirds of all the
    local government areas in the State, but where the only candidate fails to be
    elected in accordance with this provision of the law, then there shall be fresh
    nominations.

Where there are 2 or more
candidates, one will be deemed duly elected if –

  • He has the highest number of
    votes cast at the election; and

  • He has not less than one –quarter
    of all votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all the local government
    areas in the State.

If no candidate is elected by
virtue of the foregoing provisions, there shall be a second election at which
the only candidates shall be – the candidate who secured the highest number of
votes and one among the remaining candidates who secured majority of votes in
the highest number of local govt areas.
Section 185 states that the
Governor shall not begin to perform the functions of office until he has
declared his assets/liabilities and subscribed to the oath of allegiance and
Oath of office.  
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq. 
@adedunmade 
dunmadeo@yahoo.com
#OPINION #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS: TO WHAT EXACTLY?! by Chika Maduakolam

#OPINION #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS: TO WHAT EXACTLY?! by Chika Maduakolam

Credit- Google 
 As I am prone to do with my opinion pieces, I state a disclaimer; these are simply ramblings of an overworked lawyer who gets her brain fried under the hot Lagos sun daily. Permit me to exercise my inherent right of freedom of expression.

Having gotten that out of the way, I will dive straight in; this piece is not to remind us about the length of time the abducted Chibok girls have been gone, neither is it about how well or not the Nigerian government has performed or even about all the humanitarian and human rights activists’ efforts that have been contributed towards ensuring their freedom by various organisations. Far from it, I have an impression that we have all been inundated with the on-goings of all the above; 
This piece is simply an avenue to air out a gnawing train of thought that has made this writer have stray thoughts one time too many- We all clamor for our girls to be brought back altruistically and nobly, however, I would like to ask a question many of us do not think is important: Bring back our girls to what exactly?!!!!
Credit – amnestyinternational.org 

Before I have the crowd calling for my head, take a minute and think:

It will be agreed, myself being female, that the predicament of women is somewhat fragile in the society, this has nothing to do with the strength or mental acuity of women; it is a simple fact of being! Bearing this in mind, we have a group of young girls, unprotected, impressionable, young in soul and mind in an environment such as a terrorist camp; it can only be imagined the extent of horror to which they are prone to; rape, slavery, mistreatment and all sorts of inhumane treatment. Some of them will be pregnant, some of them will have their once innocent souls ripped out, replaced by hardened minds and spirits that have been molded different either through false doctrines or untold psychological hardship!
The girls who were taken away, I assure you, are not the same girls who are to be brought back.
Now, stating the stark reality before us as a nation: We are simply not equipped to handle this situation! What institution has been set up to provide the requisite psychological, physiological and mental support that these girls require? What schools will these girls attend when they return to us; a school that will nurture them, cocoon them, recalibrate their minds, a school that we will all admit we need because their impression of what a school was before they were taken, I assure you, is not the same impression they have now!! What medical help and assistance is on ground to provide healthcare to these girls? Who will stitch those who have been sore, who will give the requisite medication if they arise to treat any ailments, what tests will be carried out to ensure that the good health of these ladies have not been compromised?
Most importantly, to cut my ramblings short; to what society are you bringing them back to? I am sorry to say but as much as I am Nigerian, I do not have the requisite faith in Nigerians to say we can shoulder the necessary responsibility of providing a supportive society to cushion the effects of the trauma these girls must have been through; our society is prone to creating stigmas and labels, this is not to say we are not empathic people, we just have not learnt to be any better; if your son says he has found a wife who was a victim of the chibok kidnap ,would the average Nigerian parent embrace his decision? The community to which these girls will return, will they treat them like outcasts? What of the children of these girls for those who are pregnant or are mothers, will they be embraced wholly? Will the very relatives of these girls be patient and empathetic enough to accommodate any of the girls who have been radicalized bearing in mind that only time can heal deep wounds?
I could go on and on but I believe enough is contained here to foster a train of thought as to the structural aid we need to rehabilitate these girls and indeed, rehabilitation is what is required. To not be a doomsayer, I will attempt to voice out a solution I harbor in mind no matter how implausible it may seem: If we cannot provide the requisite structure to restore these girls, can we at least agree that we should invest in moving these girls to an environment where this can be provided? I already foresee the unpleasant reactions to this piece. Nonetheless, the truth is the truth!! We have cried #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS, let’s begin to also cry, more importantly: #RESTOREOURGIRLS!!

Young Lawyer Shares What She Wished She Knew Before Law School by  Victoria Pynchon

Young Lawyer Shares What She Wished She Knew Before Law School by Victoria Pynchon

I started law school a decade ago. At the time, the post 9-11 economy was on a major decline and law schools across the country were seeing a huge surge in the number of applicants. Hundreds of thousands  of college grads were seeking a J.D. and I was one of them.

Like many people before me, I hated law school. I remember reading Scott Turow’sOne L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School. I could relate. But I was not at Harvard, and my law school’s name alone was not going to open up doors for me. Still, it all turned out well.
Do I regret going down my chosen path? Not at all. But would I change things if I had the opportunity? Absolutely!. If I could go back in time, I’d give the following advice to myself and to all law students, at Harvard or elsewhere.

Play Nice With Your Classmates – One Day They Will Be Your Opposing Counsel
The cut-throat atmosphere of many law schools brings out the worst in people. This is unfortunate but understandable. You’re constantly stressed. You’re worried about the attrition rate. You’re worried about passing the bar. You’re worried about getting a job.
It’s very easy to start seeing your classmates as enemies and treat them accordingly. But this is a big mistake. Be nice to your classmates because one day they will become your colleagues, referral sources, and even opposing counsel. Being nice in law school will help guard your reputation and will pay off in spades long after you graduate.
Discover Your Lawyering Personality
Take all the classes that pique your interest. Take advantage of internships and summer associate positions to discover what type of law practice fits your personality best.
You may think that I’m crazy to say this. You may be thinking that law grads should consider themselves lucky to get any legal job in this economy.
But realize that most lawyers who hate their job feel that way because it does not suit their personality.  Trust me, I am speaking from experience.
My first job out of law school involved many administrative hearings and depositions. I was in an adversarial position day in and out, and I hated stepping into a court room knowing that someone would win and someone would lose.
Clearly, I neglected my lawyering personality, which is geared more towards transactional law and counseling clients. It was only when I switched to a position that optimized my personality, that I finally started to enjoy practicing law.
Stay true to your lawyering personality and look for a job that best suits it.  Doing this may just put you in a small minority of lawyers who actually love what they do.
Fill Your Rolodex
With so much competition for legal jobs these days, how do you guarantee one after you finish law school? Start seeking job opportunities while you’re in law school.
A great perk of being a law student is your ability to join many local and national bar associations for free.
Take advantage of this and attend bar association events in practice areas that interest you. It’s a great way to meet local attorneys and it will give you an advantage when searching for a summer associate or an attorney position later on.
Reach out to attorneys you admire and ask them for an informational interview or lunch.  This may seem daunting, but trust me, most attorneys love to talk about themselves and their practices.
And they’ll likely pick up the lunch tab – a great bonus for a starving law student.
Look for a Mentor
You should realize that successful professionals aren’t born that way.  They got to be at the top of their game because they had a mentor. Someone who believed in them. Groomed them. Pushed them to be better.
Look for a mentor in your summer associate position, a local bar association, or other local attorneys.  Having a good relationship with a mentor is invaluable to your long term success.
Nurture it by meeting with them regularly and asking lots of questions. Then listen and follow their lead.
Get High Teched
Lawyers are creatures of habit.  I still know law firms that use WordPerfect, and gasp, typewriters.
To differentiate yourself, learn the latest technology and tools. Attend legal technical trade shows (which are typically highly discounted for law students). Sharpen your researching skills while you have free and unlimited access to Westlaw and Lexis Nexis.
Get certified in these programs and put your new credentials on your resume. Once you start practicing, these skills will become your secret weapons to becoming the next superstar associate.
Source:- www.forbes.com
CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTESTING ELECTIONS: OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY

CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTESTING ELECTIONS: OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY

General elections in Nigeria are
fast approaching, political parties, candidates, party thugs agents, INEC
and the whole country is immensely interested in how events at the elections
will play out. This post is a first in a series of articles informing about the
constitutional requirements for contesting elections in Nigeria, here we shall
be talking about the office of the President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. 

The Constitution provides for the
law regarding eligibility into the position of the President and other electoral
positions such as the position of the Governor, Senators and members of the
National and State Assemblies. Section 130 of the 1999 Constitution says that “there
shall be for the Federation, a President” and such “President shall be the Head
of State, the Chief Executive of the Federation and Commander- In –Chief of the
Armed Forces of the Federation”.
Qualification to the position of
the President is provided for in Section 131, which states that – A person
shall be qualified for election to the office of President if –
  • he is a citizen of Nigeria by
    birth;
  • he has attained the age of forty –
    years.
  • he is a member of a political
    party and is sponsored by that political party; and
  • he has been educated up to at
    least School Certificate level or its equivalent.
There have been comments on the
age qualification of the President, some believe that the age qualification
should either be reduced to 35 or totally removed from the qualifications for
the position of the President, do you agree? Other also comment that
Independent candidates who are not members of political parties should also be
eligible for candidacy. 

It is the duty of INEC to appoint
a date for election into the office of the President and the elections must
hold on a date not earlier than sixty days and not later than thirty days
before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of that office
as provided in Section 132.  
A candidate for an election to
the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected to such
office where, being the only candidate nominated for the election – 
  1. he has a majority of YES votes
    over NO votes cast at the election; and
  2. he has not less than one –
    quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all
    the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, but
    where the only candidate fails to be elected in accordance with this section,
    then there shall be fresh nominations. (section 133)
Section 136 provides that if the
person elected as President dies before taking the Oath of Allegiance and oath
of office, or is for any reason is unable to be sworn in, the person elected as
his Vice-President shall be sworn in as President. However, when both die
before the inauguration of the National Assembly, INEC will have to conduct
fresh elections. 
As stated in the Constitution,
the following people are disqualified from seeking elections into the office of
the President- 
  • persons who have voluntarily
    acquired the citizenship of another country other than Nigeria
  • he has been previously elected as
    President twice
  • he is under a death sentence
    imposed by a competent court of law or tribunal
  • within 10 years before elections,
    he has been found guilty and sentenced of a crime involving dishonesty or
    contravention of the code of conduct.
  • he is an undischarged bankrupt  
  • he is employed into the civil or public
    service of the Federation or of any State, he has not resigned or retired from
    the employment.
  • he is a member of any secret
    society
  • he has been indicted for
    embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative
    Panel of Inquiry.
  • he has presented a forged
    certificate to INEC
  • he has been adjudged a lunatic or
    person of unsound mind.

The position of the President is a very sensitive one as such person is the leader of the nation, he determines a lot about policy development and execution and as such must be a person with a heart to serve and the drive to move the nation forward. Everyone who is eligible to vote in the coming election is urged to vote wisely and not sell their votes. 

Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq
@adedunmade
Adedunmade is a lawyer who
practices in Lagos, Nigeria.
PROFILE:- CHIEF WOLE OLANIPEKUN, OFR, SAN, FCIArb

PROFILE:- CHIEF WOLE OLANIPEKUN, OFR, SAN, FCIArb


Chief Oluwole Oladapo Olanipekun, SAN was born on 18th
November, 1951 at Ikere-Ekiti. He attended Amoye
Grammar School, Ikere-Ekiti, Ilesa
Grammar School, Ilesa, the University
of Lagos and the Nigerian
Law School, Lagos.
Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, is the founder and principal partner of
Wole Olanipekun & Co. He was conferred with the prestigious rank of a
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 1991
in recognition of his invaluable
contributions to the advancement of the Legal Profession in Nigeria
, about 15 years after he was called
to bar. Arguably one of Nigeria’s leading barristers he has been involved as
counsel and amicus curiae in many of Nigeria’s landmark cases. He is also in
top demand internationally as an expert in Nigerian law.

Chief Olanipekun has presented over 100 papers on diverse topics on
Law, including; Economics, Politics, Literature and Corporate Governance in and
out of the country and within and without several universities
. His practice areas include
constitutional law, pre and post election dispute resolution, arbitration and
alternative dispute resolution, labour law, commercial litigation, criminal law
and general practice.

He is
presently the Pro-Chancellor and chairman of the Governing Council of Nigeria’s
Premier University, the University of Ibadan. He was President of the Nigerian
Bar Association (NBA) between 2002 and 2004. Where
He
displayed quintessential characteristics and took the Association to an
enviable height. He exuded brilliancy, diligence, enthusiasm, industry,
probity, conscientiousness and unparalleled patriotism to the Nigeria Bar
Association (NBA). Under him, NBA identified and stood for justice, rule of
law, constitutionalism and with courage, opposed all forms of oppression,
repression, brutality, ruthlessness and injustice.
He has at
different times served as a member of the National Judicial council (NJC),
Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), Council of Legal Education,
Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee and General Council of the Bar among
others. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, he was also
conferred with the national honour of the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR)
in 2012.
He is happily married to Princess Omolara Olanipekun and the marriage is
blessed with two boys and two girls, three of whom are Lawyers.

IS YOUR LAW FIRM “THE ONE”? by Barb McGivern

IS YOUR LAW FIRM “THE ONE”? by Barb McGivern

Are you doing all you can to make sure your law firm is irresistible to potential clients? Because when it comes to legal consumers, it seems that love at first sight really does exist.
FindLaw’s 2014 U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Surveyasked respondents how many attorneys they contacted or seriously considered before making a selection, and the answer was astonishing: 72% replied, “one.” Either legal consumers are extremely open to positive first impressions, or they’re doing an excellent job of finding legal representation that matches their needs. (To be honest, it’s probably a bit of both.)

It begs the question: What are you doing to ensure that you are “The One” consumers are looking for? In a romantic context, advice for finding a good match would go something like: put yourself out there, be yourself and focus on the other person. Obviously, dating and legal marketing aren’t exactly analogous, but there’s something to be said about those tips:
  • Putting yourself out there is about being in the right place at the right time. For law firms, it means having a well-designed website, strongsocial media presence, and enough activity to ensure you get noticed in relevant circles and search results.
  • With that done, the advice of, “Just be yourself” is the easiest of all. Legal consumers desire resolution of their cases. By presenting yourexpertise and practice areas in a clear manner, you’ll help potential clients understand who you are, and how you can help.
  • Focusing on the other person makes them feel like they’re being heard and eventually leads to trust. Use the right language online to highlight your empathy, understanding and ability to advocate for your clients.
Remember that none of these tips are about beating the system. Good attorney/client relationships aren’t built on manipulation. And legal marketing isn’t about playing the field. It’s about finding the right match. After all, a client who views your firm as “The One” can have a positive impact on your business for years to come.
Think about that number again: Nearly three out of four legal consumers select the first attorney they contact. Clearly online tools and old-fashioned word-of-mouth referrals can have a huge influence over your potential clients. Make sure you’re using them to your advantage. By focusing on meeting the right clients and presenting your best self online and in-person, you’ll up your odds of becoming “The One.”
Source – http://www.lawyermarketing.com
INSURBODINATE BEHAVIOUR IN THE MILITARY

INSURBODINATE BEHAVIOUR IN THE MILITARY


Credits – sunnewsonline.com

This is the 3rd
article in a series of posts relating to offences under the Nigerian Armed
Forces Act, the first was an article on the law on “Mutiny
under the Armed Forces Act
” while the second was about “Disorderly
behaviour among Soldiers/Service men
”.
If you have
ever lived in a military barracks, attended a military school or know a thing or
two about the military, you will know the rule that the chain of command is
unbreakable and anyone who breaks it, gets broken, lol. The chain of command or
respect to seniority is sacred and it’s a big deal. Now imagine if a service
man strikes his superior officer, wow, make we just talk say him own don end
 such soldier will definitely be
disciplined. 
I attended a military
high school, Nigerian navy to be precise and I remember a day I was beating for
no reason by a senior student, I was so sure I didn’t deserve the treatment I
got and angrily walked off to report the senior student to one of the military
officers on deck. The military officer listened and asked me to go call the wicked
senior, he berated the senior for beating me for no apparent reason and asked
me to give the said senior 6 strokes from a horse whip. Oboy, did I gladly lash
the senior’s buttocks. After acting out my vengeance, the military officer asked
the senior to get up and said “this boy could come and report you to me because
you did not beat him well enough, now take him away”.
Immediately I
heard those words, I knew it was time to draw up a will and last testament, I was
definitely going to die, the senior student just looked and said “follow me” as
he walked off to the senior dormitory. 

I didn’t die
that day, obviously, else I won’t be typing this article many years after but
let’s just say, I have never forgotten that experience and I doubt if I ever
will. If my secondary school could be that devoted to the chain of command
without minding if a senior student had killed me that day, imagine what it
must mean to actually strike a superior officer in the military, serious
gbege i am sure
.
Imagine a
scenario where a Major barks orders at a Sergeant to carry out a directive,
only for the Sergeant to slap the Major because the Major is his younger
cousin. Obviously, that will happen only in a Nollywood movie because Insubordinate
behaviour is completely frowned upon by the military; Section 54 of the Armed
Forces Act states that-
Any person subject to service law
who strikes or otherwise uses violence to, or offers violence to, his superior
officer; or uses threatening or insubordinate language to his superior officer,
is guilty of an offence under this section and liable, on conviction by a court
– martial, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or any less
punishment provided by the Act
.
It states further in subsection 2
that a person convicted for the offence stated above shall only be liable to be
imprisoned for no more than two years if the offence was committed on active
service or involved the striking or other use of violence, to the superior
officer exercising authority as such. A superior officer means an officer, a
warrant officer or its equivalent in rank, non – commissioned officer subject
to service law under the Act of superior rank, and includes an officer, a
warrant officer or its equivalent rank,or non – commissioned officer so subject
of equal rank but greater seniority while exercising authority as that person’s
superior. 
Adedunmade Onibokun
@adedunmade
HOW TO BE A MORE EFFECTIVE LAWYER  by Simon Harper

HOW TO BE A MORE EFFECTIVE LAWYER by Simon Harper

Lawyers need to squeeze every drop of personal fulfilment they can out of their working day, says Simon Harper of Lawyers on Demand.
This week I was in a roomful of lawyers when we were asked when was the last time we’d got lost in the moment.  When were we so absorbed in a task that we didn’t notice anything or anyone around us? Answers were fascinated and varied – playing football, sketching, building Lego and even contract drafting.  (By the way the occasion was not just a spontaneous group overshare but the LOD-hosted Life With Law, the latest in a series of talks on how to live a more fulfilling life whilst practising law. This time the topic was mindfulness and flow.) 

“Flow”, the speaker and flow expert Dr. Kate Hefferon advised, is the formal expression of what we might describe as being in “the zone”.  We all seem to love being in the zone, when we are at our most focussed and at the top of our game.  We like its aftermath too, when we feel fulfilled and happy  The key to flow seems to be (sorry Kate for the layperson interpretation) balancing skill and challenge so that we are at once absorbed and stretched by a task at hand.  
We’re apparently more likely to be “in flow” when we are doing sports or physical activity, studying, being creative and, yes, working too.  The key steps for fostering flow at work, Kate explained, were providing autonomy, clear goals and feedback, as well as creating elements of challenge and using a variety of skills.  
This got me thinking about how we lawyers can get more flow in our lives.  After all we spend so much of our lives working we owe it to ourselves to squeeze every last drop of personal fulfilment out of our working day. lawySo, here goes:
1) Focus on one activity at a time: forget about multi-tasking, it’s a myth.  “Continuous partial attention” (as multi-tasking has been described more accurately) is not aspirational. Allow yourself to be drawn into a particular task or project and immerse yourself completely without distraction (whilst writing this I’ve closed my inbox and it feels good).
2) Create challenge every day: one of the lawyers present at Life With Law spoke about how he set himself stretch goals and interesting work-arounds to help him get satisfaction from even the most mundane drafting.  I sometimes set an imaginary word count on written documents to help me focus.  The end result is more succinct and powerful and I’ve enjoyed the challenge of saying more with less.
3) Increase your autonomy (and that of your team): autonomy is frequently cited as a key factor in work satisfaction and it seems that it’s also integral to operating at your peak.  Where you can, take ownership of how, when and where you work, and give the same privilege to others.
4) Set yourself clear goals: whether that’s what you want to achieve in the next 10 minutes, the next day or the next week.   Don’t just look at what you think has to be done, think about what you want to do and how you want to get it done.  I try to spend half an hour on a Monday morning mapping my week and always feel better for it.
5) Tap into a range of your skills: just because you are a lawyer doesn’t mean you have to stay chained to your Word documents.  If you enjoy drawing, problem solve with a blank page and a marker pen instead of your keyboard.   If you love running, think through a tricky issue when you are pounding the streets.
Hopefully by making these small “flow hacks” (as Buzzfeed might put it) we can be better lawyers too.
Simon Harper is Co-Founder of Lawyers On Demand, the UK’s original alternative legal service. For more information about Lawyers On Demand visit www.lod.co.uk.

Source:- globallegalpost.com