Attorney-client privilege: Whatever you tell your lawyer is completely confidential.

Do you know that your lawyer is under a strong obligation not to divulge or leak any confidential information or anything at all you told him as a client? This is called the Attorney-Client Privilege and it is also regarded as the rule of confidentiality under the Rules of professional conduct for legal practitioners.

The attorney-client privilege is a rule that protects the confidentiality of communications between lawyers and clients. Under this rule, an attorney or a lawyer (as we preferably called in Nigeria) cannot divulge his clients’ secrets or any confidential information confided in him by the client to a third party.

This rule was provided for in clause 19 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners in Nigeria and it states thus:

19. —– (1) all oral or written communications made by a client to his lawyer in the normal course of professional employment are privileged.

19(1a) a lawyer shall not reveal a confidence or secret of his client.

This is not just a rule for legal practitioners in Nigeria, it is a global rule which any lawyer or legal practitioner in any legal jurisdiction of the world is expected to uphold.

This rule was made in order to protect clients’ secrets because, at the cause of a professional relationship between a lawyer and client, a client is expected to tell the lawyer everything or expose some confidential information to the lawyer. So assuring the confidentiality of that information, the privilege rule encourages clients to make “full and frank” disclosures to their attorney, who are then better armed and fully  able to provide candid advice and effective representation to the client.

Therefore, by the purport of the Attorney-client privilege or the rule of confidentiality, Whatever you tell your lawyer is completely and entirely confidential.

If by any means, what you told your lawyer or any information you confided with your lawyer leaked to the press or to the next person you can sue your lawyer for breach of confidentiality or the breach of attorney-client privilege.

The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria in partnership with the Korean government has disclosed its tech plan targeted to train over 200,000 civil servants on the e-Government initiative within the next five years to fast-track the migration to paperless government by 2030.

Already, about 1400 civil servants had reportedly been trained under the first phase of the project.

Speaking at the flag-off of the Project for Building Foundations towards Digital Governance in Nigeria (2021-2026), the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami observed that the Ministry in August 2021, signed the agreement with the Korean government through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for the implementation of Phase 2 of the e-Government development for Nigeria.

He stated that Phase 2 of the e-Government development project was developed to enhance capacity for the execution of the e-Government Master Plan with consulting services to the Presidential Council on e-Government.

The project also seeks to expand the delivery of government digital services through the enhancement of the services portal to create increased access to National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment.

Pantami, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, William Alo, would among others, create increased access to NIN enrolment for ordinary people across the Nigerian State.

He explained that the first phase of the project for the e-Government development in Nigeria commenced in 2013 with the support of KOICA as part of bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and the government of the Republic of Korea, during which the e-Government master plan that would guide the adoption and implementation of the e-Governance programme in the country, was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in August 2019.

Pantami noted that the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, under the first phase, embarked on the process of developing policies, frameworks and strategies for robust implementation of e-Governance initiatives in federal government institutions and the country at large.

The minister further notified that in order to attain the goals of the project, the Ministry facilitated the President’s approval for the Presidential Council for Digital Economy and e-Government to serve as a high-level body towards the attainment of the Digital Economy Agenda and the implementation of the Government Digital Strategies.

According to him, the project, which would be funded by the KOICA’s grant, was expected to enhance capacity for the further execution of key initiatives of the National e-Government Master Plan, competencies for the e-Government service delivery, and the development of the Government Service Portal.

Speaking at the event, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Kim YoungChae noted that the project signified the friendly and thriving bilateral relations between the Nigerian Government and the Korean Government which had existed for over 40 years.

He observed that Korea’s success in e-Government development was portrayed as one of the world’s best success stories, adding there were many aspects of unique Korean experiences that could be adapted to suit other partner countries.

The envoy noted the continued partnership in this field between Nigeria and Korea had provided an active platform for both countries to collaborate and make the most of the experiences Korea had thus far gone through.

On his part, the Programme Director of the KOICA, Nigeria Division, Hung Kook-Park, said Korea was hoping that by 2026 Nigeria should have moved from the 140th position in the e-government ranking to be among the first 100.

“Currently Nigeria is ranked 140 in the world’s e-Government index ranking but we want Nigeria to be below 100 by the year 2026.” The professor disclosed.

This kind of initiative, which deserves sustenance, ought to be given the actual support it requires to excel. Taking into cognizance that the world is gradually leaving the manual pattern behind, any country that truly needs to grow shouldn’t be informed or reminded of the compelling need to fully key into the digital pattern.

In view of this, the government is expected to expedite actions towards ensuring the lofty initiative isn’t only taken to the peak level, but becomes a thorough indigenous affair without involving collaboration of any foreign expertise.

The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria, on Thursday 26th May 2022, claimed that the ‘conducive business environment’ provided by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had led to the formation, and flourishing of indigenous blue-chip companies in the country.

This was made known by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, while on a media tour of the 5-million tonnes per annum (mtpa) BUA Cement Factory in Sokoto State, in the company of over 30 newsmen.

Mohammed listed the blue-chip businesses to include the BUA Cement Factory being inspected, the $2.5 billion Dangote Fertilizer Plant expected to produce 3 million tonnes of Urea every year and the Dangote 650,000 barrels per day oil refinery in Lagos State due to open later in the year.

Others were reportedly the Lekki Deep Sea Port, one of the most modern seaports in West Africa and the 5,000 barrels per day Modular Refinery in Ibigwe, Imo.

Mohammed pointed out that the aforementioned indigenous giant businesses, which were established and had grown during the tenure of Buhari, were stable, profitable, long-lasting and safe for investments.

He said, “All these projects are beneficiaries of the conducive business environment created by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, under the auspices of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

“PEBEC has implemented more than 150 reforms since 2016, as well as the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA 2020) – Nigeria’s most significant business legislation in three decades.’’

Specifically, the minister noted that the conditions that made BUA cement to flourish since 2015 when the Buhari administration assumed office included the pioneer status granted to the company, adding the ban on importation of cement, the government’s divestment from the cement industry as well as the backward integration policy, helped the company to flourish.

The Minister further stated, “Thanks to these conditions, BUA Cement has recorded a 300 per cent increase in production between 2015 and now.

“That’s from 3.5 million Tonnes per annum in 2015, to 11 million tonnes per annum presently. For its part, the Sokoto plant is operating at over 90 per cent of installed capacity.

“Because of its location, which is just 100 kilometres to Niger Republic, the plant exports to Niger and Burkina Faso, earning Nigeria much-needed forex.’’

Mohammed, however, clarified that only excess of the cement production was exported, especially during the rainy season while?the majority of the product was for local consumption

He hinted, “The three million tonnes per annum line (IV) of the BUA Cement facility that we have just visited was commissioned by Buhari in January this year. This is one of the most modern cement plants anywhere.

“The plant is the first cement plant in Nigeria to use Liquefied Natural Gas to generate 50MW of power, thereby replacing coal in its kiln. This has made the plant environmentally friendly to also curb climate change.’’

It’s noteworthy the Buhari-led administration had moved to improve the business environment in the country with the creation of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

PEBEC was set up in July 2016, barely a year after his emergence as President, to remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria and make the country a progressively easier place to start and grow a business.

The action plan of the initiative is targeted at ensuring that perishable agricultural produce earmarked for export is allowed to move freely through Nigeria’s ports.

In 2020, Nigeria reportedly ranked 131 on the global Ease of Doing Business index, up from 145, which was her rank as at 2019.

However, Mohammed obviously failed to intimate the newsmen during the tour the reason the country was still lagging behind as regards electricity supply in spite of all the efforts apparently put in place by the FG.

Or perhaps, he forgot that an environment cannot be classified as conducive or business friendly if power supply, and other factors such as adequate road networks, apt policies and what have you, are nothing to write home about.

More so, the Information Minister equally forgot, or intentionally decided not, to notify the newsmen that only the same set of individuals in Nigeria still had the privilege or ‘license’ to excel their business ideas in the country. Doesn’t it entail pranks?