LAGOS—The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN), yesterday called on lawyers in the country to endeavour to specialize in any of the various branches of law practice, as a way of remaining relevant and meeting the challenges of the rapidly developing and changing world, particularly to ensure that jobs meant for Nigerian lawyers are not given to foreigners.
Speaking at the inauguration of the NBA’s Business Law and Legal Practice Sections, in Lagos, Chief Ojo said, "the challenges facing the legal profession today is ever increasing. The wind of globalization is blowing. We as practitioners cannot afford to left behind. Our association therefore needs to re-invent itself in order to continue to be relevant and meet the yearnings and aspiration of its ever increasing members".
Commenting on the use of foreign lawyers by the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), he said "though the NBA is opposed to this development, and the BPE is doing something about it, we must accept the challenges it posses to us, in the sense that had we been able to showcase ourselves in specialized areas of practice, the thought would not have occurred in the first place. I believe by creating sections with an aim to encourage specialization, we would have provided partial answers to this problem".
According to him, "besides, a rapidly developing and changing world is having in its wake myriads of intricate legal transactions for which special knowledge is required on the part of a legal practitioner. Even though the universities curriculum tends to teach in subject areas, it is in practice that lawyers truly get to choose what areas to specialize".
On the Sections that were inaugurated, Chief Ojo said "it will lead to creating professional depth within the profession; We would be able to reach our members who on account of the way the association was structured had always felt they had little or no role to play. This category include our members who work as in-house counsel in industry; and it would lead to the creation of a more effective interaction with similar association within and without our sub-region in mutually beneficial areas".
According to him, "the sections will function through committees, whose chairmen will be appointed by each of the respective section chairmen. Every NBA members must belong to at least one committee. I encourage every member of the association, especially the younger ones to take full advantage of the existence of these sections to improve their knowledge of the law".
![[Image]](http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/..\..\..\images\vlogo.gif){kind=small}
