Ex-Lagos Gov’s Counsel, TNP Boss, Baba Alokolaro Sworn in as 10th NBA-SBL Chairman, Vows to Redefine Business Law
Mary Nnah
The power shifted in Nigeria’s boardrooms on Wednesday as Baba Alokolaro, Managing Partner of The New Practice (TNP), was sworn in as the 10th Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law, NBA-SBL.
In a ceremony that signaled a new era for corporate law in the country, he takes over from Mrs. Ozofu ‘Latunde Ogiemudia, after spending the last two years as her Vice Chairman and learning the ropes from the inside.
According to a press release made available to THISDAY, the handover in Port Harcourt was more than ceremonial. It was the passing of the baton in the most influential legal room in Nigeria’s business space.
For 22 years, the NBA-SBL has been the country’s principal forum for business law policy, practice standards and cross-border investment dialogue.
Founded in 2004 by Mr. George Etomi, it has grown to be a standout in the legal community, hosting an Annual Business Law Conference that brings together government officials, regulators, investors, and leading commercial lawyers across the region.
Now that room has a new voice at the head of the table. Alokolaro steps into a lineage that reads like a who’s who of Nigerian law: Etomi, Mfon Usoro, Gbenga Oyebode MFR, Asue Ighodalo, Olumide Akpata, Seni Adio SAN, Ayuli Jemide, Adeoye Adefulu, and now Ogiemudia. The expectations are massive, and he isn’t pretending otherwise.
Speaking after his swearing-in for the 2026 to 2028 term, Alokolaro declared that Nigerian business law is at an inflection point. His mission, he said, is to drag practice standards into the future by modernizing how lawyers transact, by embedding technology and ESG into everyday advisory work, and by making sure the next generation of lawyers are carried along in the shift, not left behind while the established names take the lead. But he went further.
He wants the NBA-SBL’s voice to matter where it counts, in how investors and businesses read Nigeria’s regulatory landscape.
“When businesses and investors look at Nigeria, what they will see should reflect the seriousness and sophistication of how we actually practice here. That is the NBA-SBL standard and one I am holding myself to”, he said.
The resume behind the promise is weighty. As Managing Partner at TNP, Alokolaro leads the firm’s Corporate Finance and Business Advisory Groups.
He previously headed the Corporate Commercial Africa Service Line at Andersen Global, TNP’s collaborating firm. He earned his LL.B from the University of Warwick in 1997, his LL.M from the University of East Anglia in 1998, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2001.
Between 2007 and 2011, he served as General Counsel to the Governor of Lagos State, advising on policy, strategic investments, infrastructure, asset optimization, and concessions at a time when Lagos was redefining public-private partnerships.
His practice cuts across finance, capital markets, infrastructure, private equity and M&A, with deep footprints in power, transportation, manufacturing, financial services and TMT.
He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the International Bar Association and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
He has also served on the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce’s Professional Services Group and on the Governing Board of the Lagos State Law Reform Commission. For the NBA-SBL, the message is clear.
After two years as Vice Chairman under Ogiemudia, Alokolaro is not coming in to keep the seat warm.
He is coming in to raise the bar, to make Nigerian business law louder, sharper, and more globally competitive. And if his words in Port Harcourt are anything to go by, the next two years will be about one thing: making sure that when the world looks at Nigeria, it sees a legal market that practices at world-class standards.
