In a high-impact breakout at the Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) 65th Annual General Conference in Enugu, legal practitioners, disability and human-rights advocates, and senior jurists convened under the session titled “Breaking the Chains of Exclusion” to map a practical, rights-based blueprint for inclusion across Nigeria’s political, social and economic life.
The session, which was held at the ICC Multipurpose Hall, maintained that for the NBA to “stand out” and “stand tall”, it must lead sustained legislative lobbying, focused training on inclusion through the Continuing Legal Education (CLE), expanded pro bono representation, and law-reform partnerships with statutory agencies.
Supported by the NBA Lawyers with Disabilities Forum, the session brought together an interdisciplinary roster of speakers: Amb. Dr Jake Epelle, a long-standing disability and inclusion advocate; Mrs Andem-Ewa, SAN, Life Bencher, former Attorney General of Cross River State, and former Council member of the Human Rights Commission and 1st Alternate in-country representative for Nigeria UN CEDAW member office; Ikem Uchegbulam, Esq., lawyer and justice-reform campaigner; and Hon. Ayuba Burki Gufwan, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD). The panel was moderated by Hon. Justice Simon W. Amaduobogha.
Speakers highlighted that exclusion is a multifaceted outcome of discrimination against gender, age, race, religion, ethnicity, and physical or mental disability. They stressed that exclusion is not accidental but historical and systemic, requiring deliberate dismantling. They also maintained that lawyers, as agents of change, must intentionally entrench inclusion mechanisms.
The session emphasised that exclusion is not only a moral failure but also an avoidable governance deficit which undermines national progress and capacity mobilisation.
Key Recommendations
Key recommendations emerging from the session included:
- Legislative lobbying for an Inclusion and Social Integration Commission to be established as a Federal Executive Body in the Constitution. The Commission would act as an independent statutory body to track and enforce compliance with laws and policies that entrench inclusivity across governance, political representation, and public services.
- Mentorship and curriculum-driven training via NBA-ICLE, using the Institute of Continuing Legal Education to mainstream gender-responsive justice training and produce practical protocols for inclusive legal practice.
- Expanded pro bono representation — a targeted push to assist women, persons with disabilities, and other marginalised groups facing discrimination in politics, the workplace, or corporate governance.
- Transforming the law through inter-agency collaboration — partnering with bodies such as the National Human Rights Commission and the NCPWD to ensure implementation of existing statutes like the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018.
The session underscored the scale of the challenge for persons with disabilities, reiterating the need to implement the 2018 disabilities law and improve access across education, employment, and public facilities. Delegates were reminded that more than 35 million Nigerians live with disabilities, stressing the urgency of inclusive planning and enforcement.
Lead Paper and Testimonies
Mrs Nella Andem-Ewa, SAN, who presented the lead paper, urged lawyers to persist with HP1349 sponsored by Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu, seeking to amend Sections 48, 49, 71 and 91 to provide special seats for women at the Senate, House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly. She concluded that inclusion is a strategic necessity for national development, social integration, and cohesion.
Amb. Dr. Jake Epelle and Ikem Uchegbulam amplified lived-experience testimony, calling for the Bar to mainstream disability perspectives in CLE content, courtroom practice, and branch activities.
Conference Context
The session dovetailed with wider NBA programming across the AGC, which ran in Enugu from 22–28 August 2025 and featured thematic plenaries and multiple breakout sessions on child protection, data privacy, artificial intelligence, and prosecutorial accountability.
Delegates described “Breaking the Chains of Exclusion” as among the conference’s most action-oriented discussions because of its policy-driven recommendations and clear implementation pathways.
The Way Forward
Panelists and delegates resolved as follows:
- The NBA should adopt the Inclusion Commission proposal as a priority advocacy item in its post-AGC policy agenda.
- NBA-ICLE should fast-track module development to equip young lawyers with gender-responsive and disability-inclusive advocacy skills.
- NBA branches should institutionalise targeted pro bono clinics and data collection on exclusion.
- The Bar should open formal collaboration channels with the NCPWD, the National Human Rights Commission, and CEDAW to prepare joint implementation plans and legal reform proposals.
The Lawyers with Disabilities Forum was singled out as a crucial partner for sustaining momentum, given its recent zonal summits and advocacy work on the Disabilities Act across Nigeria. Panel coordinators announced that follow-up workshops and curated CLE offerings would be rolled out through branch channels and the NBA’s ICLE portal.
As the NBA’s conference theme urged lawyers to “Stand Out, Stand Tall”, the “Breaking the Chains of Exclusion” session moved the conversation from rhetoric to a concrete agenda, to legislate for inclusion, train a rights-aware Bar, expand pro bono access, and convert legal expertise into structural reform. Delegates left the hall with a clear charge: to make inclusion measurable, enforceable, and central to the profession’s public mission.
#NBAAGC2025 #BreakingExclusion #InclusionMatters #StandOutStandTall #LegalReform
Read More:
NBA 65th AGC: Justice O. R. Haruna Calls for Women’s Inclusion in Leadership
