Goodwill Speech Delivered by Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya at the 2026/2027 GBA Annual Conference

_{Published September 15, 2026}

At the 2026/2027 Annual Conference of the Ghana Bar Association in Ada, Accra, President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, delivered a goodwill address reflecting on the responsibility of the legal profession to evolve with industry while remaining anchored in independence, integrity and service to society.

Drawing on the historic ties between the Ghanaian and Nigerian Bars, she also spoke to the significance of women’s leadership, opportunities for young lawyers and the need for greater collaboration among African lawyers as businesses and trade increasingly transcend national borders. 233 Legal publishes below her full address.

Good morning. 

The protocols have be so well established that it would be remiss of me to depart from them. All that is therefore left for me to do is to crave your indulgence to rely on them in to to. However, I will also crave your indulgence to specially acknowledge two special men. First the supportive husband of Madam President, and former Attorney-General of the Republic of Ghana, Mr. Joe Ghartey, without whom I am confident Mrs. Ghartey would never have become Madam President. I bring you greetings from your Nigerian coounter-part, my dear husband Mr. Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, aka YBO, PR practitioner par excellence. Thank you for the wonderful example you and other men like you show. Your support is critical to our leadership journeys. We celebrate you. 

Secondly, let me acknwledge a very special man, whom I have had the privilege of knowing since 2005, when I met him in Prague, Czech Republic at the IBA Conference. Since then, the entire Nigerian contingent to any international legal gathering, have adopted Uncle Sam Okudzeto as OUR Uncle Sam and I assure you, if you are not careful, we will whisk him off to Lagos  where we will treat him like the law profession royalty that he is. 

It is an honour in the extreme, to stand before you and have Uncle Sam in the audience. He is a shining exemplar of all that elders and mentors should be and he walks the talk of success in the law being a commitent to lifelong learning. He is still attending conferences and adding to his knowledge and he has just assured me that he will be at the IBA conference in Copenhagen!  Of late, he attends these gatherings armed with Ghanaian chocolate which he happily distributes to everyone he comes into contact with. This seeminly innoucuous act of generosity is another trait worthy of emulation and a challenge to us all. Everytime we promote Africa, in whatever little way – be it in our dress, our food or our products, we drop a little more of the colonial mentality that has tended to hold us hostage for decades. 

There is so much to celebrate about Uncle Sam, but this is not quite the occasion, I would however be grateful if you would grant me the privilege of joining me in a standing ovation to a reverred nationalist and leader of the legal profession not just in Ghana but on the entire African continent. Thank you.

Uncle Sam, we can never thank you enough for your selfless dedication to the legal profession and to Africa. God bless you sir. Almost exactly two years ago, on 11 September 2024, this Association made history by electing Mrs. Efua Ghartey as its first female President—opening a new chapter in its history. From Nigeria, I posted a congratulatory message to her. At the time, I had an aspiration of my own: to become President of the Nigerian Bar Association. So her victory had a special meaning for me. In January 2025, I visited Accra to attend the inauguration of the President of Ghana. While I was here, I sought Efua out, and we met at the Mövenpick Hotel, along with my old friend Mrs. Victoria Barth, your Vice President.

When we met, her aspiration had become a reality. Mine was still a hope. We talked, and I shared my dream with her. We have kept in touch ever since. And when I won my election, her excitement was such that you might have thought she had won another election herself! But she did more than send congratulations. She travelled from Ghana to Nigeria to attend my swearing-in. I had sent her a message to celebrate her victory. She crossed a border to celebrate mine.

And that touched me deeply. There are moments when a person’s presence speaks louder than any message could. That was one of those moments.It was during that visit that she told me about this conference and invited me to deliver a goodwill message. And so, Efua, here I am. You came to celebrate a milestone in my life. Today, I have come to celebrate a milestone in the life of your profession. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for showing up.

And thank you for making Ghana the destination of my very first international engagement as President of the Nigerian Bar Association. I bring you the warm greetings and goodwill of the Nigerian Bar. Between Ghana and Nigeria, we may never settle the question of who makes the better jollof rice. But on the importance of a strong, independent and forward-looking legal profession, I believe we can safely enter a consent judgment!

Distinguished colleagues, your conference theme is compelling: “150 Years of Ghana’s Legal Evolution: Transforming the Profession and Driving Its Future with Industry.” One hundred and fifty years. An anniversary of this magnitude invites us to look back. But your theme also compels us to look ahead. And that is fitting, because history should give us both roots and direction. Consider John Mensah Sarbah, one of the pioneers of your legal profession.

In the late nineteenth century, when proposed colonial land legislation threatened customary land rights, Sarbah and his colleagues in the Aborigines’ Rights Protection Society helped organise resistance. Here was a lawyer who understood what was at stake beyond the wording of a Bill. Land meant livelihood. It meant inheritance. It meant belonging. It meant the future of communities. He brought his legal knowledge to the successful defence of those interests. And that history asks something of every generation of lawyers:

What will we do with what we know? Will our knowledge help people secure their rights? Will it help businesses grow responsibly? Will it strengthen institutions? Will it give someone who has almost lost hope a reason to believe that justice is still possible? That is the inheritance of this profession. And that is the responsibility that comes with it.

Today, we are living another chapter of that history. After more than six decades, the Ghana Bar Association is led, for the first time, by a woman. And I stand before you as the second woman to lead the Nigerian Bar Association, and the first to be elected to that office. I am conscious of and humbled by the joy these milestones have brought to many women and men who supported us. But I am even more conscious of what must follow.

Being first is an honour. Making sure you are not the last is a responsibility. Somewhere, a young woman is watching Efua. Somewhere, another is watching me. Perhaps she is a law student. Perhaps she is a young lawyer still finding her voice. Perhaps she is an experienced practitioner who has quietly set aside an ambition because she thought the opportunity would never come. Our presence should help her imagine what is possible. Our leadership must help make it possible.

That means widening access to mentorship, professional opportunity and leadership. It means recognising ability wherever we find it. And it means building institutions in which every member—male or female—has a fair chance to contribute and to thrive. Distinguished colleagues, your theme brings the profession into conversation with industry. That conversation is urgent. A business developing a new product needs legal advice before the product reaches the market.

An entrepreneur seeking investment needs agreements that protect the enterprise without suffocating its growth. Creatives need to understand the value of their intellectual property. A technology company needs guidance on data, responsibility and trust. And communities affected by industrial activity need protection, representation and a meaningful voice. There is work for lawyers across this entire landscape. But to do that work well, we must understand the world our clients inhabit. We must be willing to learn how their businesses operate, how technology changes their risks, and how our advice can help them move forward. We cannot guide tomorrow’s enterprises with yesterday’s understanding. Yet, as we embrace new opportunities, we must keep our judgment and our conscience.

Industry needs our expertise. Society needs our independence. The future needs both. The lawyer who helps a transaction succeed must also be able to say, “This cannot lawfully be done.” The lawyer who advises a powerful client must remember the people affected by that client’s decisions. And the profession that embraces artificial intelligence must remain accountable for the accuracy, integrity and humanity of its work. As we adopt new tools and enter new areas of practice, we must ensure that these changes translate into more opportunities and better livelihoods for lawyers.Young lawyers should be able to see a future in the profession they worked so hard to enter.

Talent needs opportunity. Commitment needs a fair chance. Professional dignity needs an economic foundation. As Bar Associations, we have an opportunity to connect learning with livelihoods: to bring our members closer to industry, equip them for emerging areas of practice, and help them build sustainable careers. And Ghana and Nigeria can learn much from each other. The friendship that brought me here offers a simple lesson: relationships become meaningful when we show up and do something with them. Let us bring that same spirit to the relationship between our Bars and extend it to Bar Associations across Africa. As we seek to grow trade within our continent, our profession has a pivotal role to play: helping businesses navigate different legal systems, structure transactions, protect investments and resolve disputes.

Through collaboration, we can share expertise, build professional networks and equip our members to support African enterprises as they enter new markets. We can create opportunities for our lawyers while helping businesses trade across borders with greater confidence. Our entrepreneurs are looking beyond national boundaries. Our profession must be ready to accompany them. And if we want a more connected African economy, we must build a more connected African legal profession. That is what the next 150 years should look like.

Distinguished colleagues, the lawyers who shaped Ghana’s history could not have foreseen every challenge we face today. But they understood that their knowledge carried a duty. We, too, are being asked to rise to the needs of our time. So, as I join you in celebrating these 150 years, I honour the pioneers who gave the profession its foundations. I celebrate the courage that has brought it this far. And I urge us all to make room for the talent that will carry it forward.

For the young lawyers wondering whether there is a place for them. For the entrepreneur waiting for sound advice. For the citizen waiting for justice. For the generations that will inherit what we build. One hundred and fifty years from now, others will look back on us. They will read about what we celebrated. May they also have reason to celebrate what we changed.

May they see what we did with what we knew. On behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association and your Nigerian colleagues, I congratulate the Ghana Bar Association and wish you a fruitful conference.

Thank you, and God bless you.
Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN
President, Nigerian Bar Association