Wednesday, June 10, 2015

LETTER OF INTENT TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF THE NBA - LAGOS BRANCH



                                                STEPHEN O. OBAJAJA LL.B (Benin), LL.M (Lagos), BL

Block 36B, Ogudu Road, LSDPC Estate, Ogudu Ojota, Lagos, Nigeria
Mobile: 08052066172
Blogsite: random-stephens@blogspot.com

            “A new kind of Leadership – for the Premier Branch”

My Dear Learned Colleague/Bar Leader

LETTER OF INTENT TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF THE NBA -  LAGOS BRANCH

My sincere greetings.

I pray you lend me your ears for a minute or two.

In a few weeks you will be called upon again as has become customary with the NBA, Lagos branch, to elect leaders who will pilot the affairs of the premier branch for the next two years. The branch has achieved some stability in the last few years and the next crop of leaders you elect will be crucial in realizing the manifest destiny of the branch amongst the 109 branches of the Nigerian Bar Association nationwide.

I have made deliberate and wide consultations over two years and the feedback I got gives me a clear idea of the new crop of Leaders the branch needs. Towards achieving that end, I have decided to offer myself for service to the branch and I now use this medium to canvass your support and votes as Secretary of the Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association in the forthcoming elections for the 2015-2017 administration.

May I briefly let you know the man who seeks to be your next Secretary? I Stephen Onimisi Obajaja holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Benin and a Post Graduate Degree of the University of Lagos. I am a Legal Practitioner in Lagos, Nigeria, where I am a Partner at the Lagos Law firm of Fountain Court Partners.

Since 2003, when I was called to the bar, I have been an active member of the Lagos Branch and have dutifully and consistently discharged my duties to the branch.  I am committed to the good and growth of the profession and that informs my active participation at bar activities both at the branch and national level.

I have delivered important papers and lectures at intellectual fora and I have many scholarly publications, legal opinions and incisive articles on contemporary local, national and international issues and my papers have severally been published in all of Nigeria’s leading daily newspapers such as the Guardian, the Thisday, the Punch, the Moment newspapers and even in the New York Times amongst others. I also teach Public International Law at the National Open University of Nigeria Study Centre, Yaba, Lagos and I regularly blog. You can access my writings at random-stephens@blogspot.com under the blog name, ‘random musings’.

These are good qualities but I know that anyone who will be Secretary at this critical juncture in the branch’s history must have even more – qualities of leadership, experience, honesty, integrity, competence, compassion, efficiency and empathy.  He must communicate clearly and unequivocally, he must be erudite and above all he must be someone who writes well and understand the nuances and use of language efficiently and effectively.

I am currently the Secretary General of the Pension Lawyers Association of Nigeria (PLAN), a position I have held for Six years now and I am eager to place the experience, energy, resourcefulness and drive at the disposal of the branch for the next two years. Let us elect a new crop of Leaders, a new kind of Secretary. That is what the branch needs at this moment in history.

I therefore solicit your endorsement, support and votes on Election Day.

Thank you for listening.

One last bit:  I firmly believe as President Theodore Roosevelt aptly puts it, “Everyman owes some of his time to the upbuilding of the profession to which he belongs.”

This is my creed and my charter, “to build this profession of ours” with abiding faith that it can be done.

I remain sincerely yours.


STEPHEN O. OBAJAJA

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