As the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) gears up for its Annual General Conference billed for August 2023, the association had appointed former The Nation Newspaper’s Legal Editor, John Austin Unachukwu as chairman of the conference Sub Committee on Media and Publicity.
An ace journalist and lawyer, Unachukwu is expected to bring his wide experience that spanned several years to bear on the success of the conference adjudged as the largest gathering of lawyers in Africa.
Already, former General Secretary of the Association, Mazi Adam Osigwe SAN is the Chairman of the conference planning committee while Mrs Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya is the alternate chairman.
In an announcement made by Badejo-Okusanya, Ms. Theodora Kio-Lawson was appointed as the Alternate Chair of the Media Sub-Committee while Ms. Naomi Bankyu, is the Secretary.
An experienced media and legal practitioner, John Austin as he is popularly known within NBA circle, was National Publicity Secretary of the Bar 2016-2018 under the presidency of AB Mahmoud SAN. He was disqualified over discrepancies in his name by the electoral committee headed by Ken Mozia SAN, but he tenaciously fought for his mandate.
His appointment as head of the Media Sub Committee in the current AGC structure, according to NBA pundits is seen as a result of his success in the media, and a clear indication that the AGC Committee Chairman, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN is healing old wounds as a man with large heart.
Unachukwu is a graduate of Lagos State University Ojo (LASU).
He is an active bar man and a resourceful media and intellectual property lawyer. He is a native of Akpo Town in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. He is married to Mrs. Unachukwu Echezone Hope Chinwe and blessed with children.
Unachukwu holds a Master’s Degree in Maritime and Commercial Law (LL.M), from Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo, in 2008. He obtained his first Degree, (LL.B) Hons. from the same University in 2003. He attended the Nigerian Law School, Bwari, Abuja from November 2003 to October 2004, where he obtained his Barrister of Laws (BL) Certificate and was called to the Nigerian Bar in October 2004.
Above all, John Austin a consummate communicator, holds a Diploma in Journalism from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Ogba Lagos in 1994, Associate Professional Certificate in Public Relations from the Professional Exams Clinic/Nigerian Institute of Publications (NIPR) and was inducted a member of NIPR in 2012. He obtained membership of the Business Education Examination Council (BEEC) in 2013. In 2020, he was inducted a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (FICMC).
He has attended several local and international conferences including Commonwealth Lawyers Conferences in Sydney, Australia and Cape Town in South Africa and Scotland in the UK and the IBA Conferences in Dubai, Boston, USA, Austria in Europe.
He was employed as a legal Officer/Correspondent in 2005 by Vintage Press Limited (Publishers of The Nation newspaper) and promoted the Legal Editor of The Nation in April, 1, 2012.
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