2022 NBA-SBL Conference will be bigger, better, says Adeleke

Mr. Adeleke Alex-Adedipe was the chairman,  Conference Planning Committee (CPC) of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) hybrid conference in Lagos. The conference was like no other in the history of the NBA. He tells us why John 

Unachukwu met him.

How do you feel about the outcome of the conference and why?

The last thing we expected was that the world will be hit with a pandemic so brutal that claimed millions of lives, impacted businesses and largely threatened the means of livelihood of millions worldwide. Yet, the irony of the success of the hybrid NBA-SBL Conference would be that it is a foretelling event of the new beginnings and new possibilities that we can see already occurring and we also envision, especially in a world that looks hugely different from what was obtained just a little over a year ago. I am pleased with how the conference turned out and look forward to new beginnings and possibilities hereon.

What was the secret of the success of the conference?

I would say one of the secrets to the success of the conference is tied to the theme of the conference – Re-tooling Business for Change: Leveraging the Tech Explosion. The explosion of technology has opened up vast possibilities, for example, we were able to run a seamless Conference leveraging on the power of teleconferencing/virtual attendance.

In addition to implementing successful strategies realized over the years from previous conferences under past leadership, the cumulative effort of the entire NBA-SBL Conference Planning Committee (CPC) also led to the success of this years conferences  and in addition and most importantly, the Council of the SBL under the leadership of Mr. Ayuli Jemide. The ability of the Committee members to work together jointly as a clear, capable, and supportive team was truly a powerful force. I cannot thank them enough for their service to the NBA-SBL.

What lessons if any, did you pick from the conference for further attention and What do you we expect from the section in next years conference?

A major lesson which cannot be emphasized enough is the realities of technology in our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic has ignited and accelerated the importance of leveraging technology and predominantly transformed the way we operate. We need to pay more attention to technology and continue to build the capacity of our members and lawyers in general to leverage on the raw and largely untapped potential of technology. It is high time we respond to this paradigm shift and embrace new practices.

Next year, I am confident that the NBA-SBL Conference will be bigger and better and will feature more thought-provoking conversations.