Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Olumide Akpata yesterday berated lawyers who stormed the accreditation centre and carted away conference bags and other items.
Akpata, who apologised for his lateness to the President’s Dinner held on Tuesday night as one of the highlights of the ongoing NBA annual general conference, expressed displeasure over the behaviour of the conferees.
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The NBA president said he was held up by the chaos that broke out on Tuesday evening over delivery of conference bags.
He said it was not in his character to be late for such events.
To buttress his position, Akpata beamed a clip of the riot on the wide screen.
He said:
It is a sad commentary. But this is really who we are. We must not delude ourselves. We are as good as our weakest link.
The NBA president said the Technical Committee on Conference Planning (TCCP) had explained that it insisted on top quality bags for the conferees, leading to its rejection of the low quality bags supplied by the vendor.
He wondered why the conferees were not patient, more so when the quality bags had been supplied.
On Tuesday, TCCP Chairman Tobenna Erojikwe had said the committee rejected the bags because they did not meet the agreed standards.
Erojikwe had pleaded with his professional colleagues to exercise patience, promising that they would all get quality bags.
Also, collection of conference materials by delegates at the ongoing 62nd annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) resumed yesterday.
This followed Tuesday’s looting and vandalisation of the accreditation centre at Eko Atlantic City in Lagos by conference delegates.
Reports had it that collection of materials resumed around 2 p.m at Best Western Hotel on Victoria Island, opposite Eko Atlantic.
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Delegates who presented themselves at the new collection centre were attended to in batches of 80, and the process appeared seamless.
Akpata had ordered the resumption of the collection of conference materials earlier in the day.
The NBA president confirmed that the registration centre for the collection of materials by delegates was broken into, vandalised, and looted by some delegates with most of the conference materials carted away and lawyers/registration officers injured.
He described the incident as “a national embarrassment as some of our members conducted themselves in a most despicable manner not expected of members of the profession”.
