First Lady Urges First Female NBA President to Inspire Women Leaders

(Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya. Photo by Nation News)

The first elected female president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN), has been asked by First Lady Sen. Oluremi Tinubu to establish a high example and open doors for other aspirational women.

The first lady, who welcomed Badejo-Okusanya and a group of female lawyers on Tuesday at the State House in Abuja, said that her rise was a reflection of the increasing awareness of gender inclusion and an example of women standing behind other women.

She urged Badejo-Okusanya to use her term to create a footprint that would enable more women to earn people’s trust for leadership positions.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Badejo-Okusanya had earlier visited President Bola Tinubu at the State House ahead of her official assumption of office.

The First Lady noted that while the legal profession was quite conservative, her role was simply to wish Badejo-Okusanya well and to thank all the women who had stood by her.

Stressing the importance of women supporting one another and expressing hope that her tenure would draw more women into the profession, urging her to set the bar high.

She further pledged her support to the association in whatever way it might need.

Badejo-Okusanya had earlier thanked the First Lady for receiving her and her team, acknowledging that members of the Nigerian Bar Association were proud of her efforts to alleviate poverty in society through the Renewed Hope Initiative.

She said her emergence as NBA president was made possible by the selfless support of other women within the bar, noting that everyone had played a part in ensuring her victory at the polls, and commending the First Lady for setting a good example for others to follow, while affirming that the legal profession also had a role to play.

She said the association looked forward to partnering with the Renewed Hope Initiative.