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Boma Ozobia is the boss at Sterling Partnership, a law outfit on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi . As you step into the peaceful atmosphere she welcomes you into her world. In a relaxed way, she talks about some of her achievements and challenges. Ozobia made history when she became the first individual of minority ethnic origin to become Chairman of the Association of Women Solicitor’s (AWS) in England & Wales.

That has never happened in the past 83 years and it is therefore a landmark that she cherishes so much. The amazon also saw this as an opportunity to provide positive role -model for members of other ethnic minorities in the UK be they Asian, Carribean or African descent. As Chairman, she is the official representative of the Group working with the Law society, the government, the general public and other organisation.

Ozobia also has her chambers in England, Paris and Accra. She is also the legal adviser, Nigeria in Diaspora, (European Region). With 21 years experience as a lawyer, she holds directorships in many off-shore companies involved in the oil and gas sector, telecommunications and the hospitality industry. She is the co-author of the book, "Sisters in Law", a career guide for Nigerian women lawyers.

The conversation then shifts towards the opportunities available for practitioners in the country."Our judges work under stress. I commend them. They work under critical condition. If you have been with them, then you will understand what I’m saying. I will give you an example in the Daramola Taylor’s case. The British police took 60 million pounds to investigate the murder of a youthful boy. The judiciary also spent almost the same amount."

She continues : "That level of investment is not available in Nigeria. It will be unfair to compare what Nigerian judges are doing with what judges in England are able to achieve because what the English government is able to give them, Nigerian government cannot afford. When a friend of mine was appointed a judge in Rivers State, as soon as she mounted the saddle 18,000 cases were already pending for her".

At the same time Ozobia does not blame the government alone. "The resources are limited and there are many areas the resources must be applied to when you consider the problem of infrastructure development in the country, you will find out that the court will take the back seat. These are some of the difficulties they are facing".

Intrestingly, she was one of the brains behind the third Business law conference of the Nigerian Bar association, section on business law, held in Abuja recently, and unassuming Ozobia told Daily Sun what she intends to achieve in that forum.

"We have some students in the law school, I have a passion for the junior ones in my profession, I really want to impact on their professional lives. We want to train them because we want to achieve the best standard in the world. We know they are intelligent, they are our children and we need to equip them. One of the things we have done with this conference is to set-up a youth monitoring unit where the students in the Law School will come in, we have experts who will talk to them from their wealth of experience about handling jobs in their profession.

The conference also aimed to get commercial lawyers interacting, looking at our legal services within the local context to provide the best services for our clients and also at the global context. Nigeria is part of the World Trade Organization (WTO), so we need to agree on a position from our perspective as lawyers and the networking oppourtunities for lawyers, mentoring young ones to try and agree on a position for the negotiation Nigeria will go and make on our behalf".