Nigeria has advocated a concerted response to xenophobia in South Africa.

It has asked the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to take the issue from the regional bloc to the continental body, the African Union (AU).

Nigeria and Ghana, two leading members of ECOWAS, are among the countries worst hit by attacks on fellow Africans by mobs in South Africa, while the Cyril Ramaphosa government looks on.

Nigeria, like other countries whose citizens living in South Africa came under attack, had citizens killed, maimed or deprived of their means of livelihood through the looting of their shops, and subsequently evacuated many of them.

Citizens of Southern African countries neighbouring South Africa – Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Botswana, among others – were also not spared by the rampaging mobs.

Yesterday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu told the 69th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Lungi, Sierra Leone, that xenophobia stands condemned.

“Nigeria condemns in strong terms the recent Afrophobic attack on its citizens and other fellow Africans in the Republic of South Africa.

“As already mentioned by His Excellency, the President of Ghana, ECOWAS should present this matter before the next meeting of the Authority of the African Union to send a clear message that this type of behaviour is unacceptable.

“South Africa should be reminded that the freedom the country currently enjoys is due to the liberation efforts of African countries such as Nigeria.

“The Nigerian Government has evacuated one thousand, four hundred and ninety of its citizens in seven batches and is prepared to engage on this matter,” the President said in an address delivered by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

This position further expands the hint given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, that Nigeria would take retaliatory measures against South Africa.

She said the National Assembly would make recommendations in this regard.

The National Assembly has condemned the attacks on Africans and is already reviewing the development to come up with its position.

The management of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) has dissolved all Students’ Union (SU) activities with immediate effect, directing all elected student leaders to relinquish union property and prepare to appear before an investigative panel to account for their stewardship.

The directive, contained in an official memorandum issued by the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs, was signed by the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. G. N. Woke, on the instruction of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Chike, Princewill R. Chike.

The memorandum, referenced UPH/SADean/26 and dated July 19, 2026, announced the immediate dissolution of the three arms of the Students’ Union, Hall Representatives, and all other Students’ Union activities until further notice.

“I am directed by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Chike, Princewill R. Chike, to notify the Three Arms of the Students’ Union, Hall Reps. and all other Student Union activities that you have been dissolved with immediate effect until further notice,” the memorandum stated.

Following the dissolution, the university directed all executive members of the Students’ Union to immediately hand over every item belonging to the union to the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.

According to the directive, the officials are expected to surrender all union property, official documents, financial records, keys, identification materials, and any other items in their possession.

“Consequently, all Executive members are directed to immediately hand over all Union property, official documents, financial records, keys, identification materials and any other item belonging to the Students’ Union in your possession to the Dean of Student Affairs,” the memorandum added.

The affected student leaders were also instructed to make themselves available whenever invited to appear before an investigative panel constituted by the university to provide an account of their administration.

The university warned that failure to comply with the directive would attract disciplinary sanctions.

“All affected officers are expected to comply with this directive promptly. Failure to do so will attract appropriate disciplinary action,” the memorandum stated.

The notice was copied to the Vice-Chancellor; the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration and Advancement); the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic); the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development); the Registrar; the Chief Security Officer; the Bursar; all Deans of Faculties; all Heads of Departments; and the entire University Community.

The university, however, did not disclose the reasons behind the dissolution of the Students’ Union leadership or the specific issues being investigated by the panel.

Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN) made history at the weekend as the second female president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), 35 years after Dame Priscilla Kuye assumed the role in 1991.

Mrs Kuye became president from her position as First Vice President after the then president of the association, Chief Clement Akpamgbo (SAN), was appointed Attorney-General and Minister of Justice by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Senior female lawyers, including Senior Advocates Funke Adekoya, Yinka Omorogbe, Ronke Adeyemi, Funke Agbor, and former Education Minister, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, publicly endorsed her candidacy.

Their support reflected both confidence in her professional credentials and the symbolic importance of a woman returning to the presidency of the NBA after more than three decades.

In her endorsement, Mrs Adekoya argued that the NBA had historically achieved some of its most significant reforms under presidents who emerged from outside the traditional circle of national NBA politics.

“She is open to refreshing the NBA and the legal profession, absent preconceived views from holding a national office previously.”

Omorogbe described her as a lawyer with the experience, courage, and temperament required to lead the Bar at a critical period, while also highlighting her commitment to mentoring younger lawyers.

Adeyemi said her record reflected competence, consistency, and dedication to institutional development.

“I have every confidence that Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN) will lead with wisdom, integrity, and an abiding commitment to the continued growth of our Association.”

Ezekwesili, who endorsed her candidacy before the election, described her as a lawyer whose engagements frequently focused on professional ethics, arbitration, governance, and improving conditions for young practitioners.

Badejo-Okusanya’s victory followed a fiercely contested three-way election in which she defeated fellow Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe and Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro.

She secured 12,317 votes out of the 26,106 ballots cast, representing 47.18 per cent. Akangbe came second with 7,934 votes, while Akinboro received 5,855 votes.

The NBA president-elect, a founding partner of Africa Law Practice NG & Company, has built a legal career spanning litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and serves on the board of the Lagos Court of Arbitration.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in English from the University of Lagos before pursuing a law degree at the same institution. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002.

The senior lawyer was appointed Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reform to then Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, whom she also served as General Counsel.

But her victory cannot be explained by gender alone, as one perceived advantage she held over her opponents was her relative distance from the NBA’s traditional national political establishment.

Unlike some past NBA presidents and her opponents in the election, she had not previously held a major national elective position within the association.

Her campaign also appeared to resonate strongly with lawyers who wanted the NBA to focus more directly on the economic and professional welfare of its members.

Her message, “A Bolder Bar That Works for Everyone,” was built around the promise that lawyers should “earn better, live better and practise better.”

She also signalled her intention to make the NBA more responsive to the realities faced by lawyers outside traditional centres of influence.

This could be significant in a profession whose members operate across private practice, government, academia, corporate organisations, and other specialised fields of law.

In her acceptance speech, Badejo-Okusanya pledged to lead with “integrity, courage, humility, fairness, and accountability.”

She also promised to work with her former opponents, saying the election was over and that members remained united by their commitment to advancing the profession, justice, and the rule of law.

Before the election, Badejo-Okusanya received significant support from prominent women in the legal sector.

Her election has therefore raised expectations beyond the symbolic fact that a woman is leading the NBA for only the second time.

Her victory followed an election delayed by several hours after the NBA Electoral Committee announced that its electronic voting platform had been hacked.

The process was subsequently moved to a new domain, and lawyers also reported technical and authentication issues.

Her two defeated opponents rejected the result and raised concerns about the conduct of the election.

Consequently, one of Badejo-Okusanya’s immediate tasks will be to unify a Bar that has emerged from a highly polarised electoral process.

The main challenge will be whether she can turn her promise of a “Bolder Bar That Works for Everyone” into tangible improvements in lawyers’ professional and financial prospects while also uniting a profession emerging from a deeply divisive election.