By Sylvester Udemezue
Fellow Nigerians, we all know the Herculean hurdles one had to go through to get a company registered in Nigeria. The experience was harrowing. Remembering it is saddening. But A.G. ABUBAKAR, ESQ took over at the CAC and transformed the institution and pulled it away from the doldrums of archaism, from the clutches of obsolescence and from the prescints of leadership cluelessness.
🅰️. Check out what the situation then became, and until today, under A. G. ABUBAKAR, ESQ:
From a fueling Station in Benin City, Edo State, with my smart phone, on a Sunday afternoon, I had begun and concluded *the process of appling for search and reservation of a company name*
I thereafter had a meeting in Benin, after which I proceeded to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the following morning.
2️⃣. Upon my arrival in Yenagoa, I opened my account with the CAC and saw that the a name had been approved and reserved for my client.
3️⃣. Then, later that day from a restaurant where I had gone to eat OPRU-FLO Soup (my favourite soup in Yenagoa), I started and concluded the process of application for registration of the proposed company, uploading all necessary information and documents and making necessary payments.
That was a Monday afternoon. By Wednesday morning of the same week, the process of incorporation was already completed with all necessary documents (including the Incorporation Certificate) delivered to my account, which I logged into and downloaded them and sent to my client in Lagos.
🅱️. On the other hand, final judgment in a suit arising from an argument between a tenant and a landlord [see PILLARS V DESBORDES (2021)], was finally delivered in November 2021 after the case (which began in the Lagos High Court) had lasted about 29 (twenty-nine) years in Court. PILLARS V DESBORDES is not an isolated case; in Nigeria, on the average, a lawsuit lasts at least 6-17 years at the Court of first instance, then between 5-10 years at the court of Appeal, and finally between 8-20 years at the Supreme Court of Nigeria before final determination. On the whole, a lawsuit in Nigeria takes a minimum of 20-40 years to get finally determined..
Towards reddressing the ugly situation, the CJN (Chief Justice of Nigeria) has achieved NOTHING; the CJ of the FHC has achieved NOTHING; CJ’S of the various states are busy making and amending Rules of Court which achieve ZERO; tje PCA (Presido of the court of appeal) has achieved NOTHING. Indeed, in the Legal Profession in Nigeria, leaders have achieved NOTHING.*Leaders of Nigeria’s legal profession are custodians of incompetence — NBA (national and branches), BOSAN, LPRC, LPDC, GCB, BOB, NJC, FJSC, S-JSC, Judiciary, etc.* We are running an incompetent system in the legal profession, and thereby endangering the present and the future of our nation.
*◾It takes only people who are doing well to recognize someone who is doing well.* The campaign of calumny against the immediate past REGISTRAR-GENERAL of the CAC, A. G. ABUBAKAR, ESQ, is being waged by faceless lawyers who are being sponsored by the same leaders who are the reasons the legal profession is down and stagnant. They’re pained that A.G. ABUBAKAR, ESQ has moved the CAC out of the doldrums of archaism, myopia, obsolescence, cluelessness, unpragmatism and incompetence.
Thank you, A.G. ABUBAKAR for the indelible marks you have left at the CAC, proving to all in the legal profession, that it’s not impossible to use ICT to transform the way we do things so that we can join the modern world and operate in line with prevailing 21-century benchmarks and global best practices. Before you came on board at the CAC, company registration was done MANUALLY, and could take up to three-four months to conclude. *Today, as you exit the seat of the RG of the CAC, company registration could be started from the scratch and concluded within 3-7 days.*
Thank, A.G. ABUBAKAR . It’s your type that should be CJN, PCA, CJ, NBA president, LPRC chairman, LPRC Chairman, Attorney-General, so that you can help us achieve the same type of transformation into modernity, that you achieved at CAC. We need you everywhere to change everything.
Look at the dilapidated state of the legal profession:
1️⃣. No enforceable charging standard in the Nigerian Legal Profession;
2️⃣. Justice Delivery in Nigeria maintains its lead as the slowest, the most indolent, the most corrupt, the most archaic, the most outdated, the most confused, the most subservient, the most ineffective and the most fruitless in the world
3️⃣. Judiciary leaders, from the CJN to the PCA, CJ’s and Presidents of both the NICN, CCA, to the Chief Magistrates are just there doing absolutely nothing but collecting salaries and allowances and waiting for retirement to collect between N2 billion and N3 billion as terminal benefits.
▪️Even tomato sellers association are more organized, innovative and pragmatic than leaders of the legal profession.
▪️Even *Lagos, Agberos, Louts, Touts, and Area-Boys Organization* are more coordinated, and innovative than leaders of the legal profession in Nigeria.
Sir, I am not saying you are perfect as a leader, but that you’re an innovator, pragmatic, sagastic, and an achiever.
See for example the promise made by the current CJN upon his confirmation:
_”I shall not let Nigerians down …we shall not fail Nigerians. *We shall make progress and advance the judiciary of Nigeria to benefit, not only the common man, all men and women.* We are *computerizing the Supreme Court already, and all other courts of records.* So, that the delay in filing cases will become a thing of the past. *We’re creating e-filing, we are creating e-diary* so that lawyers can stay in the comfort of their chambers and contact the court, and address the court via zoom. Computerization is already taking place, not only in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and other courts of record in Nigeria.”_
Source: *”Buhari swears in Ariwoola in as substantive CJN”* October 12, 2022
<https://tribuneonlineng.com/buhari-swears-in-ariwoola-in-as-substantive-cjn/>. Indeed, it was with high hopes, that *CJN Olykayode Arowoola* was sworn in, and he immediately promised giant strides and swift reforms to uplift the judiciary. See: *”New CJN, Ariwoola Promises Reforms to Promote Justice”* <https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y4SL-ioYd_c>. Today, nothing. Absolutely nothing!!!! No innovation. No achievements other than getting involved from one controversy after another. *Perhaps, he has forgotten his promises, or the promises were empty!!* He has been in office since 2021, when he succeeded *my Lord, Justice Tanko Muhammad , CJN,* who had achieved absolute zero! The story is the same with NBA leaders, LPRC leaders, LPDC members, GCB leaders, BOB leaders, NJC leaders, FJSC leaders, BOSAN leaders, etc.
▪️Zero achievements everywhere.
▪️Zero innovations.
▪️ Zero pragmatism.
▪️Zero foresight.
Just grandstanding and shenanigans
Thank you A. G. ABUBAKAR for showing that purposeful and fruitful leadership is possible in Nigeria. I know some lawyers and leaders of the legal profession who hate you, are spreading all manner of evil propaganda and outright lies against you. Don’t worry, it is because you are ahead of them in innovation, in pragmatism, in sagacism, and in foresight. You are an achiever, unlike they. They have nothing to show for their leadership of any sector of the legal profession. So, don’t mind them.
I wish you the best in your future endeavors. I am praying for more, higher leadership opportunities for you to continue to impact positively upon humanity. Amen🙏
Respectfully,
*Sylvester Udemezue (Udems)*
08109024556.
mrudems@yahoo.com.
(15/10/2023)
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