#THROWBACKTHURSDAYThe History of the Nigerian Bar Association Part 1: Lagos, Ibadan and the Premier Bar.🚨🚨🚨🔈🔈🔈

Long before our courtroom practice of law in Nigeria, law lived in the customs of the people, delivered under trees by respected elders, chiefs, and Mallams. It was justice in its raw, community-based form. In 1862, the winds of colonialism blew in a new legal order. The British, with their gavel and parchment, established the first English-style court in Nigeria with licenses to “local attorneys” with no formal legal training. Over the next decade more courts followed.
On 20th February 1886, history was made. Mr. Nash Hamilton Williams, an English man, became the first formally qualified legal practitioner in Nigeria and the era of properly trained lawyers began. However, colonial authorities continued issuing licenses to “local attorneys” until 1913. In 1913, 42 Nigerians had trained abroad as lawyers, prompting the Chief Judge to stop licensing local attorneys altogether. 
Between 1886 and 1962, Nigerian lawyers were educated abroad, called to the English Bar. The three-year training provided by the English Inns of Court did not sufficiently address Nigeria’s needs, as those practitioners did not study Nigerian law prior to their enrolment. It was difficult, therefore, for them to render efficient service upon returning. Hence, in April 1959, on the eve of Nigeria’s independence, the Government appointed the Committee on the Future of Legal Education in Nigeria, chaired by Attorney General E.I.G. Unsworth. Following the Committee's recommendations, the Nigerian Law School was established to provide vocational training for legal practitioners in Nigeria. This led to the enactment of the Legal Education Act (1962) and the Legal Practitioners Act .
At the time of independence in 1960, Nigeria had 963 lawyers, of which 540 were indigenous and 423 were foreigners. Post-independence, foreign lawyers gradually disengaged, and the legal profession began to reflect Nigeria’s socio-political landscape.

The Lagos Bar and the Early Lawyers' Associations
Long before Nigeria’s independence, the oldest lawyers’ association in Nigeria emerged in the late 1890s as the Lagos Bar Association. It was made up of fewer than twenty legal practitioners and existed mainly to promote their professional interests. Meetings were called only when necessary—to protect the group’s interests or promote the profession’s image.
By 1911, the Nigerian Handbook referenced a “Local Bar,” led by the British Attorney General. It described its members as those admitted to practice as barristers and solicitors by the Chief Justice under sections 84, 86, and 87 of the Supreme Court Ordinance (1876). 
In 1924, the Lagos Law Society was founded within the dormant Lagos Bar Association. It promoted the interests of legal practitioners and focused on legal education. Meetings were held on the first Monday of each month, including moot court sessions and legal debates. When no moots were scheduled, discussions were held on points of law and practice. 
Elsewhere, in 1925, the Nigerian Provincial Bar Association was launched in Calabar. It welcomed all members of the legal profession, law officers, and those involved in the administration of justice in the provinces. Though independent of the Lagos Bar, it worked closely with the Lagos Bar on matters of shared interest. These associations did not endure but served as educational forums for the legal community while they lasted.

Proposals for a National BarIn 1925, under the inspiration of Barrister Adebesin Folarin, who had launched the Nigerian Law Journal in December 1921, elaborate proposals were made for the formation of a national bar association. Folarin envisioned a central association that would enforce ethical conduct, establish a law library, revise laws, and monitor new legislation. However, these forward-thinking proposals were considered too ambitious in the colonial context and had to be shelved.
Birth of the Nigerian Bar AssociationThe Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was formally established under Sections 2(a), 2(b), and 4 of the Legal Practitioner’s Ordinance No. 57 of 1933. The Ordinance named the Attorney General as President of the Bar. 
Therefore, in the early years, the Association had no elected President and only appointed Chairmen based on seniority. Until 1960, the Bar was under British colonial control, with the Attorney General doubling as its President.
In 1933, the Attorney General, Hon. A.C.V. Prior, became the first President and official leader of the Nigerian Bar Association. The Chairmanship, held for life and based strictly on seniority, was first held by Sir Kitoyi Ajasa who was the most senior member of the Bar alive at the time. Upon his death in 1937, he was succeeded by Mr. Eric Oluwole Moore, followed by Mr. E.J. Alex Taylor in 1944, Sir Adeyemo Alakija in 1950, and Alhaji Jubril Martin in 1952.
By 1952, under Sir Alakija’s tenure, younger lawyers, mainly from Ibadan, began demanding reform. They called for the Bar’s release from colonial dominance and the election of a President independent of the Attorney General. This was resisted by conservative members such as Alakija and Jubril Martins but it for very long.