The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata said that the association has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with some banks in the country in a bid to ensure that its members have access to finance.
According to Akpata, the new scheme is in line with the agenda of his administration to ensure that the welfare of lawyers is taken care of. He said the partnership will help increase lawyers’ capacity and expand their practice.
This was made known while speaking with journalists: “the well-being of our members is critical, it’s uppermost in our own consideration and this is one of the ways we know we will impact and will affect the lives, the professional lives of our members.”
On the procedure for accessing the loans, he stated that by visiting the branches and liaising with the finance committee of the NBA, Lawyers can access finance for their legal practice, for those who want to buy books and anything that is related to the practice of law.
He also noted that with 70,0000 financial members, it may be too much for one bank to provide the needed finance. He declared NBA’s readiness to partner with more than one bank for the scheme.
On the risk of not paying back the loans Mr. Akpata noted: “even with best intentions, even if the individual means to pay back, anything can happen. So, we have put structures in place to ensure that this is why we are standing in the gap, it’s all about risk allocation. NBA is carrying some risk, the bank is carrying some risk, the individual is carrying some risk.”
“I think we have had it pretty much worked out. We want to approach this with that mindset that since we have done our homework, all will be well.”
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