WHO IS IKECHI OGBONNA NWANNUNU?
I was born on 5th July 1967 at Umuacha Village, Isiala Ngwa South LGA of Abia State of Ngwa (Igbo) parents.
I attended Umuacha/Amuzu Central School, Umuacha, Isiala Ngwa South LGA, Abia State and obtained my First School Leaving Certificate at Credit level.
I then proceeded to the Grammar School, Nbawsi, Isiala Ngwa North LGA, Abia State and obtained the West African School Certificate in 1983. Because that result was delayed, I enrolled at St. Ephraim’s Secondary School, Owerrinta, Isiala Ngwa South LGA, Abia State and obtained another West African School Certificate in 1984. I then proceeded to Ngwa High School, Abayi, Aba, Abia State where I obtained the West African Higher School Certificate (HSC) in 1986.
I then gained admission into the University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State and obtained an LL.B. (Hons) degree in 1991 which qualified me to be admitted to the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos. I was called to the Nigerian Bar on December 16, 1992 and was duly enrolled at the Supreme Court the next day. I did my National Service (NYSC) at Guyuk LGA and U.J. Yohanna & Associates, Mubi Road, Yola, Adamawa State and passed out in October 1993.
I then joined the law firm of Chief C.O.C. Izima & Co., Aba in 1993 and later established Ogbonna Nwannunu & Co., Aba in 1998. I am now a principal Partner in the law firm of Agomuo, Nwannunu, Nwannunu & Co., 15, Asa Road, Aba, Abia State. Between 1999 and 2003, I was legislative aide at the senate of the National Assembly, Abuja.
I am a Christian, a Knight of St Christopher in the Anglican Communion and the pioneer Registrar of the Anglican Diocese of Isiala Ngwa South. I am currently the Charter President of Aba Metropolitan Lions Club, the Assistant State Scout Commissioner for Abia State and the President General of The Elite Movement, a pan-Ngwa socio-cultural organization in Aba.
WHAT ARE YOUR ANTECEDENTS IN THE NBA?
I joined the NBA, Aba branch immediately I started law practice in Aba in 1993. I was later appointed to several committees over the years including Law Week and Dinner Planning Committees, Human Rights committee, Disciplinary Appeal Rules Committee and Judiciary Monitoring Committee to mention but a few.
Upon the establishment of Isiala Ngwa Branch, I joined the young branch and became a pillar in its development. I served in the Byelaw Drafting Committee and later as the secretary of the Branch Transition Committee. I later became Branch Secretary and later Branch Chairman a position I relinquished after the most memorable and democratic election in the history of the branch. I am currently the Branch NEC Representative. During my tenure as chairman, the population of the branch grew to what it is today and our Temporary Bar Centre was established at Nbawsi. My administrative and communication skills and innovations brought the branch to limelight at both state and national levels.
DO YOU AGREE THAT THE POST OF PUBLICITY SECRETARY IS LARGELY DECORATIVE IN NBA?
A million times NO! I do not agree! The NBA Constitution is clear on the position of the NBA Publicity Secretary. He is to, inter alia, ensure adequate and prompt publicity of NBA activities, present a good and progressive image of NBA to the public and issue statements and releases on sundry matters of general public and professional interest.
To my mind, the issue of interpretation may have been the bane of the NBA Publicity Portfolio over the years. The Publicity Portfolio means much more than passing microphones at NEC meetings! Rather than being ornamental, I see the position as very daunting and challenging if the occupier must perform well and in accordance with the constitutional provisions. How does the Publicity Secretary present a good and progressive image of NBA if he does not actively manage the information machinery of the organization? Any material going out to the public from NBA is a serious concern for the Publicity Secretary. It is his job also to manage reactions to such information from the public. Same goes for internal information.
I see the position of the Publicity Secretary as a multi-facetted one in that he manages both internal and external information of NBA as he must publicize the activities of NBA to both members and the public. My vision is to interpret the functions as tailored towards the best good for the members as well as the best-synthesized information about the Bar to the public. For instance, our plan of using the NBA website as our primary organ of publicity and information management and dissemination may sound revolutionary but it is actually easy, practicable and cheaply achievable. If we post all the raw judgments and decisions of our superior courts on our website, imagine what that will achieve. Regular law reports still remain relevant and essential as they ease and fasten legal research and their editorial inputs are invaluable. If we make our database of Nigerian lawyers NBA Branches-driven and have only the duly registered and licensed lawyers posted on the website, imagine what that would achieve for both the NBA and the global public.
Following events and matters as they unfold and issuing constructive and well-considered statements and releases on them cannot be seen as a mean vocation. Do you know that ideally speaking, the Publicity Secretary must be part of anything the President of NBA has to release to the public at any point in time? The President, as a major spokesperson of NBA, issues the policy thrusts and statements (the hard news) while the Publicity Secretary as the spokesperson and image maker distils these into analytic details and analysis (the news analysis). The Publicity Secretary will make the difference between the news and the features of any NBA activity, issue or matter.
So, the position could never correctly be described as decorative.
CAN YOU EXPATIATE HERE ON YOUR KEY PROGRAMMES FOR THE NBA?
Our main programme is to bring the NBA Publicity Portfolio to the correct digital pedestal that today’s practice at the bar demands and requires. The out-going administration did well to re-brand the NBA and elevate her practices to a level that a measure of global best practices seem to be employed. The Secretariat has been overhauled but the publicity office seems to be in the woods as to how best to cope and keep up with the changes. The President has been functioning as both President and Information/Foreign Minister. We intend to change this and effectively manage the information and publicity table to support a modern re-branded NBA and give the President the support he needs in thinking out cogent solutions to the myriad problems of the Nigerian lawyer and society by promoting the rule of law in its entire ramification. Thank God that the man returned already as the Assistant Publicity Secretary is a tested and proven hand in journalism and journalistic management.
We intend to redesign and/or update the NBA website to reflect today’s realities on the global web as it relates to professional organizations such as ours in line with our mission statement. I must note that there is some recent improvement in this area but a lot still needs to be done. Along this line, we intend to galvanize the expansion of the Computerize Nigeria Project in the legal sector to ensure that every serious legal practitioner can acquire an internet-enabled computer terminal for his use with the consent and authority of our ebullient president who is very ardent about these developments.
We also intend to make the judgment depository already established by the outgoing administration relevant to lawyers by posting the judgments on a section of the NBA website designed for it. This will ensure promptness in the information of lawyers concerning new trends and directions as enunciated by our superior courts of record. I believe this would serve practitioners well and increase their appetite for law reports where such judgments may be dissected with very piquant editorial embellishments and innovations that will sharpen our skills and widen our horizon. Since the judgments of courts are public documents, the service we need perform here is to bring them to your law office without suffering you a trip to the relevant registry.
We also intend to update the database of Nigerian Lawyers making it more relevant to today by making it NBA Branches-driven. What this means is that only those who are duly registered in NBA branches as cleared by such branches will make it to the database of Nigerian lawyers every year. This definitely will assist the branches grow and monitor their membership in a closer fashion while eliminating the situation where you have the name of more dead lawyers than living lawyers on the database. With the take-off of the Practice License regime, this should be dynamic and routine..
There are so many things to be done and we hope to accomplish as much as possible especially given the progressive disposition of the incoming president.
IN YOUR VIEW HOW CAN LEGAL EDUCATION BE STRENGTHENED AND LAW PRACTICE MADE MORE LUCRATIVE?
I believe legal education can be strengthened if it is made more prosaic and forensic in nature. By this, I mean that the study of the law should be made less classical or poetic if you like, and made more simplified with the everyday language of a modern Nigerian. To this end, a degree should be made the minimum qualification for the entry point to study the course. The curriculum and course content should be more practical and reality-oriented rather than outright academic in nature. I believe that this way, the budding lawyer realizes early in his study how deep and serious the course is and ideally throws himself into it.
With better education and the mandatory continuing legal education for lawyers already in place, practitioners are bound to gravitate towards specialization and build more and better capacity thus making practice more manageable and lucrative. With a stronger regulation of members by NBA branches, sharp and fraudulent practices are bound to be minimized and quackery checked. A closer implementation and monitoring of practice in such areas as estate agency and land instrument preparation and registration may also ensure and enhance lawyers’ earnings. Most importantly, a sincere adherence to the rule of law by all concerned will no doubt restore public confidence in the legal process and conflict resolution procedures that will enhance lawyers’ earnings considerably.
CONSIDERING THE FORMIDABILITY OF YOUR OPPONENTS, CAN YOU WIN THIS RACE?
Yes, I have all it takes to win the race. I believe that my opponents are eminently formidable in their own rights, but as Shakespeare would say, good reasons will always give way to better. I am the only candidate that has taken time to study the requirements and challenges of the NBA Publicity Portfolio and articulated programmes that will enhance the running of the NBA in today’s world with a robust information and publicity apparatus. I have been involved in information management both at the University and outside of it including at the Senate of the National Assembly of Nigeria. Information management is important and we must not subject Akeredolu, SAN to what Agbakoba, SAN went through as both president and publicity secretary in one bundle. We must grow and for that growth to be meaningful and even phenomenal, the publicity portfolio must be knowledgeable and robust. I am the candidate with that poise and promise and lawyers, being discerning learned individuals, I have no doubt in my mind that they will go for the best quality at the polls. There lies my assurance.
Thank you for this opportunity.
I then gained admission into the University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State and obtained an LL.B. (Hons) degree in 1991 which qualified me to be admitted to the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos. I was called to the Nigerian Bar on December 16, 1992 and was duly enrolled at the Supreme Court the next day. I did my National Service (NYSC) at Guyuk LGA and U.J. Yohanna & Associates, Mubi Road, Yola, Adamawa State and passed out in October 1993.
I then joined the law firm of Chief C.O.C. Izima & Co., Aba in 1993 and later established Ogbonna Nwannunu & Co., Aba in 1998. I am now a principal Partner in the law firm of Agomuo, Nwannunu, Nwannunu & Co., 15, Asa Road, Aba, Abia State. Between 1999 and 2003, I was legislative aide at the senate of the National Assembly, Abuja.
I am a Christian, a Knight of St Christopher in the Anglican Communion and the pioneer Registrar of the Anglican Diocese of Isiala Ngwa South. I am currently the Charter President of Aba Metropolitan Lions Club, the Assistant State Scout Commissioner for Abia State and the President General of The Elite Movement, a pan-Ngwa socio-cultural organization in Aba.
WHAT ARE YOUR ANTECEDENTS IN THE NBA?
I joined the NBA, Aba branch immediately I started law practice in Aba in 1993. I was later appointed to several committees over the years including Law Week and Dinner Planning Committees, Human Rights committee, Disciplinary Appeal Rules Committee and Judiciary Monitoring Committee to mention but a few.
Upon the establishment of Isiala Ngwa Branch, I joined the young branch and became a pillar in its development. I served in the Byelaw Drafting Committee and later as the secretary of the Branch Transition Committee. I later became Branch Secretary and later Branch Chairman a position I relinquished after the most memorable and democratic election in the history of the branch. I am currently the Branch NEC Representative. During my tenure as chairman, the population of the branch grew to what it is today and our Temporary Bar Centre was established at Nbawsi. My administrative and communication skills and innovations brought the branch to limelight at both state and national levels.
DO YOU AGREE THAT THE POST OF PUBLICITY SECRETARY IS LARGELY DECORATIVE IN NBA?
A million times NO! I do not agree! The NBA Constitution is clear on the position of the NBA Publicity Secretary. He is to, inter alia, ensure adequate and prompt publicity of NBA activities, present a good and progressive image of NBA to the public and issue statements and releases on sundry matters of general public and professional interest.
To my mind, the issue of interpretation may have been the bane of the NBA Publicity Portfolio over the years. The Publicity Portfolio means much more than passing microphones at NEC meetings! Rather than being ornamental, I see the position as very daunting and challenging if the occupier must perform well and in accordance with the constitutional provisions. How does the Publicity Secretary present a good and progressive image of NBA if he does not actively manage the information machinery of the organization? Any material going out to the public from NBA is a serious concern for the Publicity Secretary. It is his job also to manage reactions to such information from the public. Same goes for internal information.
I see the position of the Publicity Secretary as a multi-facetted one in that he manages both internal and external information of NBA as he must publicize the activities of NBA to both members and the public. My vision is to interpret the functions as tailored towards the best good for the members as well as the best-synthesized information about the Bar to the public. For instance, our plan of using the NBA website as our primary organ of publicity and information management and dissemination may sound revolutionary but it is actually easy, practicable and cheaply achievable. If we post all the raw judgments and decisions of our superior courts on our website, imagine what that will achieve. Regular law reports still remain relevant and essential as they ease and fasten legal research and their editorial inputs are invaluable. If we make our database of Nigerian lawyers NBA Branches-driven and have only the duly registered and licensed lawyers posted on the website, imagine what that would achieve for both the NBA and the global public.
Following events and matters as they unfold and issuing constructive and well-considered statements and releases on them cannot be seen as a mean vocation. Do you know that ideally speaking, the Publicity Secretary must be part of anything the President of NBA has to release to the public at any point in time? The President, as a major spokesperson of NBA, issues the policy thrusts and statements (the hard news) while the Publicity Secretary as the spokesperson and image maker distils these into analytic details and analysis (the news analysis). The Publicity Secretary will make the difference between the news and the features of any NBA activity, issue or matter.
So, the position could never correctly be described as decorative.
CAN YOU EXPATIATE HERE ON YOUR KEY PROGRAMMES FOR THE NBA?
Our main programme is to bring the NBA Publicity Portfolio to the correct digital pedestal that today’s practice at the bar demands and requires. The out-going administration did well to re-brand the NBA and elevate her practices to a level that a measure of global best practices seem to be employed. The Secretariat has been overhauled but the publicity office seems to be in the woods as to how best to cope and keep up with the changes. The President has been functioning as both President and Information/Foreign Minister. We intend to change this and effectively manage the information and publicity table to support a modern re-branded NBA and give the President the support he needs in thinking out cogent solutions to the myriad problems of the Nigerian lawyer and society by promoting the rule of law in its entire ramification. Thank God that the man returned already as the Assistant Publicity Secretary is a tested and proven hand in journalism and journalistic management.
We intend to redesign and/or update the NBA website to reflect today’s realities on the global web as it relates to professional organizations such as ours in line with our mission statement. I must note that there is some recent improvement in this area but a lot still needs to be done. Along this line, we intend to galvanize the expansion of the Computerize Nigeria Project in the legal sector to ensure that every serious legal practitioner can acquire an internet-enabled computer terminal for his use with the consent and authority of our ebullient president who is very ardent about these developments.
We also intend to make the judgment depository already established by the outgoing administration relevant to lawyers by posting the judgments on a section of the NBA website designed for it. This will ensure promptness in the information of lawyers concerning new trends and directions as enunciated by our superior courts of record. I believe this would serve practitioners well and increase their appetite for law reports where such judgments may be dissected with very piquant editorial embellishments and innovations that will sharpen our skills and widen our horizon. Since the judgments of courts are public documents, the service we need perform here is to bring them to your law office without suffering you a trip to the relevant registry.
We also intend to update the database of Nigerian Lawyers making it more relevant to today by making it NBA Branches-driven. What this means is that only those who are duly registered in NBA branches as cleared by such branches will make it to the database of Nigerian lawyers every year. This definitely will assist the branches grow and monitor their membership in a closer fashion while eliminating the situation where you have the name of more dead lawyers than living lawyers on the database. With the take-off of the Practice License regime, this should be dynamic and routine..
There are so many things to be done and we hope to accomplish as much as possible especially given the progressive disposition of the incoming president.
IN YOUR VIEW HOW CAN LEGAL EDUCATION BE STRENGTHENED AND LAW PRACTICE MADE MORE LUCRATIVE?
I believe legal education can be strengthened if it is made more prosaic and forensic in nature. By this, I mean that the study of the law should be made less classical or poetic if you like, and made more simplified with the everyday language of a modern Nigerian. To this end, a degree should be made the minimum qualification for the entry point to study the course. The curriculum and course content should be more practical and reality-oriented rather than outright academic in nature. I believe that this way, the budding lawyer realizes early in his study how deep and serious the course is and ideally throws himself into it.
With better education and the mandatory continuing legal education for lawyers already in place, practitioners are bound to gravitate towards specialization and build more and better capacity thus making practice more manageable and lucrative. With a stronger regulation of members by NBA branches, sharp and fraudulent practices are bound to be minimized and quackery checked. A closer implementation and monitoring of practice in such areas as estate agency and land instrument preparation and registration may also ensure and enhance lawyers’ earnings. Most importantly, a sincere adherence to the rule of law by all concerned will no doubt restore public confidence in the legal process and conflict resolution procedures that will enhance lawyers’ earnings considerably.
CONSIDERING THE FORMIDABILITY OF YOUR OPPONENTS, CAN YOU WIN THIS RACE?
Yes, I have all it takes to win the race. I believe that my opponents are eminently formidable in their own rights, but as Shakespeare would say, good reasons will always give way to better. I am the only candidate that has taken time to study the requirements and challenges of the NBA Publicity Portfolio and articulated programmes that will enhance the running of the NBA in today’s world with a robust information and publicity apparatus. I have been involved in information management both at the University and outside of it including at the Senate of the National Assembly of Nigeria. Information management is important and we must not subject Akeredolu, SAN to what Agbakoba, SAN went through as both president and publicity secretary in one bundle. We must grow and for that growth to be meaningful and even phenomenal, the publicity portfolio must be knowledgeable and robust. I am the candidate with that poise and promise and lawyers, being discerning learned individuals, I have no doubt in my mind that they will go for the best quality at the polls. There lies my assurance.
Thank you for this opportunity.
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