The fourth edition of the prestigious Nigerian Legal Awards, last Friday in Lagos, once again served as an avenue to reward individuals and organisations who were deemed to have performed excellently in the Nigerian legal profession. The event which coincided with the 2016 Law Week of the Lagos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, recorded a huge turn-out.
In his opening remarks, Publisher of ESQ Legal Practice magazine and convener of the awards, Lere Fashola described the assemblage as an event to celebrate excellence, professionalism and integrity of the Nigerian legal profession.
He said: “Nothing brings us here again other than celebrating your huge impact to the growth of businesses and development of the nation’s economy. The history of the Nigerian Legal Awards is the history of transparency, credibility and openness. A lot of effort is being made yearly to ensure that the processes that produce winners for each category of the Nigerian legal awards is, without compromise, open, transparent and clear.”
According to him, over a thousand entries were received and the panel of judges critically assessed the deals, transactions, and projects which were contained in each of the entries.
This year’s edition, in addition to its focus on the corporate lawyers and lawyers in private practice, beamed its searchlight on young lawyers who would shape the future of the legal profession in Nigeria.
The awards in their variety and categories were received by reputable and deserving winners. The Editor’s merit award included the Business Icon of the Year, which went to Mr Yemi Adeola, MD/CEO Sterling Bank Plc; while Lifetime Achievement awards were given to Mr Asue Ighodalo, partner, Banwo & Ighodalo and chairman, Sterling Bank Plc.; Mr Bayo Ojo, Partner, Bayo Ojo & Co and former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Mr Augustine Alegeh, partner Alegeh & Co.
Also, the award for the Legal Icon was given to retired Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, former chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC. The law firm of the year award was won by Aluko & Oyebode, while the General Counsel of the Year went to Mrs Justina Lewa, General Counsel and Company Secretary, Sterling Bank Plc.
In the other category awards, seven deserving lawyers won the Outstanding Young Professional award, including Mr Dapo Olanipekun SAN, partner, Wole Olanipekun & Co; Mrs Dolapo Kukoyi, Partner, Detail Solicitors; Wolemi Esan, Partner, Olaniwun Ajayi; Mrs Donna Obaseki-Ogunnaike, Partner, Adepetun Caxton-Martins, Agbor & Segun; Ozofu Ogiemudia, Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo Osagie; Mr Oludare Senbore, Partner, Aluko & Oyebode and Mr Olamide Oladosu, General Counsel, Rand Merchant Bank Plc.
Other awards in the Corporate Counsel category include the Banking and Finance team of the year which was won by the Zenith Bank legal team; Insurance team of the year, which went to the legal team of Axa-Mansard Insurance Plc; Capital Market/Investment team of the year, which was won by the legal team of the Nigerian Stock Exchange; Manufacturing team of the year, which was awarded to the Unilever legal team and the Oil and Gas team of the year, won by Oando Plc. Other awards in the category include the Telecommunications team of the year, won by MTN Nigeria Communications Limited; Information Technology team of the year, won by Interswitch, and Energy team of the year which went to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc.
In the law firm category, the Private Equity team of the year, Intellectual property team of the year and Real Estate Team of the year went to Jackson, Etti & Edu, while the awards for the Mergers and Acquisition team of the year, Energy and Power Team of the year, Oil and Gas Team of the year and Project Finance Team of the year awards went to Templars. The Banking and Finance team of the year award was won by G. Elias; the Capital market team of the year award went to Banwo & Ighodalo; the Dispute Resolution Team of the Year award went to SPA Ajibade; the Telecommunications Team of the year went to Aluko & Oyebode; while the Labour and Employment Team of the year award was won by Royal Heritage.
Some of the dignitaries that graced the event were: Hon. Justice Ogungbesan of the Lagos State High Court of Justice; Kem Ihenacho, Partner and Head of Africa Practice at Lathman and Watkins, UK; Chris Utting, Partner, White and Case UK; Adeyemi Candide Johnson, Managing Partner, Stratchan Partners and President, Lagos Court of Arbitration, Dafe Akpedeye (SAN) Partner, Compos Mentis, Warri; Mrs Funke Agbor (SAN) Partner, ACAS-Law; Babatunde Fagbohunlu (SAN) Partner, Aluko & Oyebode; Asue Ighodalo Founding Partner Banwo & Ighodalo and Mrs Kofo Dosekun, Partner, Aluko and Oyebode, amongst others.
