Monthly Archives: September 2020

Dele Ogun: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 29 September 2020: This paper was delivered by Dele Ogun (Photo), Convenor of the Fatherland Group at the 19th anniversary celebration of the African Voice Newspaper on 19th September 2020. I was a boy of 7 when I came to Britain in 1969 from my [Read More] Dele Ogun: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 29 September 2020: This paper was delivered by Dele Ogun (Photo), Convenor of the Fatherland Group at the 19th anniversary celebration of the African Voice Newspaper on 19th September 2020. I was a boy of 7 when I came to Britain in 1969 from my home in Nigeria. I was part of the tail end of the Windrush Generation. I never imagined that 50 years on I would still be here. It was never the plan my parents had for me nor the dream that I harboured for myself.…

Background The practice of law in Nigeria is regulated by the Legal Practitioners Act 1990. The Nigerian Bar Association is the professional association of legal practitioners in Nigeria with a membership of over 120,000 lawyers across the country. The motto of the NBA which appears on its corporate seal is: Promoting the Rule of Law. Mr Abubakar Malami SAN is the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice of Nigeria. He is also a member of the Nigerian Bar Association. The Legal Practitioners Act 1990 established an entity known as the General Council of the Bar (the Bar Council) to be responsible for the general management of the affairs of the Nigerian Bar Association. (section 1(1)) This power of general management includes the power to make rules for the professional conduct of legal practitioners. The current form of these rules are…

Background The National Water Resources Bill is a proposed Act of the Nigerian National Assembly the stated purpose of which is to “provide for the equitable, beneficial, efficient and sustainable development, management, use and conservation of Nigeria’s surface and groundwater resources . . . and other matters connected thereto”. To this end it introduces the following regime: “All surface water and ground water, wherever it occurs, is a resource common to all people”. (section 2(1)) “the right to use, manage and control all surface water and groundwater affecting more than one state . . . together with the beds and banks thereof, is vested in the Government of the Federation”. (section 2(3)) “the Federal Government is the public trustee of the nation’s water resources”. (section 2(4)) “. . . the use of water shall be subject to licensing provisions” (section 96)