The Nigerian Bar Association Women Forum (NBAWF) said it is poised to redefine the meaning of success for female lawyers in Nigeria.
[ad]
This, it intends to do during its yearly conference in Lagos this week.
Chairperson, NBAWF, Chinyere Okorocha at a pre-conference briefing in Lagos said the forum was created to cater to the needs of Nigerian female lawyers through empowerment programmes, seminars, workshops, mentorship initiatives, collaboration with sister bodies, locally and internationally, and to empower the Nigerian female lawyer for success.

“Sometimes female lawyers’ careers are truncated in some way owing to stereotypical biases and cultural nuances.
“So, we empower ourselves through the yearly conference that speaks to issues that are important to us,” she said.
[ad]
The theme of the conference, she said, is: “Beyond the Balance Sheet: Redefining Success for Women in Law” and would be held on March 21 and 22 in Lagos.

“The theme was carefully chosen to redefine the meaning of success for the female lawyer, because success means different things. It could be in leadership, mentorship or finances. We want to explore those different areas in great detail.

“We have so many distinguished members of the society, both lawyers and non-lawyers who will grace the occasion as speakers and panelists. Our keynote speaker will be founder of BAP Productions and Terra Kulture, Mrs Bolanle Austen-Peters.
[ad]
“We’ll have a dinner and a gala night, which will be chaired by Mrs Funke Adekoya (SAN). The guest speaker at the dinner will be CEO of the Bank of Industry, Dr Olasupo Olusi.

“We urge those who have not registered for this special event billed to hold at the Oriental Hotel to do so. The NBAWF has a governing council and is structured around 11 committees through which we carry out our activities. These include mentorship, advocacy, external relations, membership, young lawyers, in-house counsel, public sector, among others,” she stated.

Okorocha explained that the forum has 125 branch facilitators across the country domiciled in each NBA branch.
[ad]
“We also have a state lead in each of the 36 states of the federation and Abuja. This way, we’re able to reach the grassroots to empower Nigerian female lawyers,” she explained.

Chairperson, Conference Planning Committee, Folashade Alli (SAN) said success for women is not about money.

“We are multi-talented, so success for us is about personal fulfillment. We’ll discuss this in detail too.

“If you look at the legal profession, there are about 720 SANs, and less than 35 are women, that’s 4.2 per cent. That’s the gender disparity we are talking about, and that’s why we are clamouring for gender equality. We’re not there at all!
[ad]
“In governance, we have never had a female president or female vice president. In terms of population, about 49 per cent are women, but where are we? The gender bill that was rejected would have been an affirmative action had it been passed,” she remarked.

According to her, there will be a pre-conference cocktail at the Boat Club on Awolowo in Ikoyi.

She said: “We expect a lot of delegates from all over the federation. We’re looking forward to a great conference. We have put in a lot of work and have lined up about 30 excellent speakers. There will be six plenary sessions and health checks during the conference.”

Head, Hospitality, Logistics and Protocol Committee, Kemi Adefisoye said there are arrangements for hotel discounted rates and bus shuttles, while the Head, Finance and Fundraising Committee, Ifeoma Ben stated that registration was still on.

Her words: “We have young lawyers’ and senior lawyers’ categories. The fee is N10,000 for young lawyers and N20,000 for senior lawyers. We hope to conclude the registration process a day before the conference at nbawomenforum.org.ng.”
[ad]