Partners in Every Way - Paul & Mfon Usoro

How many law partners live and work together – from bedroom to boardroom and back again? How many partners have woken up one morning to find their physical office space completely decimated? How many partners have had to deal with one of them taking a role in the public sector and nine months later being unceremoniously removed after a public probe? And how many partnerships can lay claim to being a part of one of the most public and lengthy corporate reorganisations in recent Nigerian history? Meet the Usoros, partners in Paul Usoro & Co, in this interview with Ayisha Osori where they share what you will not find on the firm’s website - their personal experiences, their opinions and their state of mind.

The Characters
Fiery, driven, passionate, straight talker. Mfon Usoro is the kind of person that draws you in within minutes. Unashamedly feminine and ambitious, this maritime law expert and recipient of over twenty awards – Mfon should be studied: the archetypical female professional – balancing a happy, well run home and a successful career.
Astute, smooth talking charmer. Paul Usoro, the author of several academic papers is measured in his speech and manner, but when it comes to discussing law and his practice, he is transformed – the consummate legal practitioner. Paul, called to the Nigerian bar twenty seven years ago has experienced boardroom politics and worked closely on the actualisation of the one thing most Nigerians agree is at least one measure of progress the country has made over the last ten years: the telecommunication revolution.

The Practice
It is no coincidence that twenty five years after their marriage, Paul & Mfon are partners in Paul Usoro & Co, a twenty four year old law firm. With them as two out of four partners, anyone could be forgiven for wondering if such a partnership was too close for comfort but they have an obvious solid working relationship where roles and responsibilities are clearly demarcated.
Paul is clearly the captain of the ship in all respects. He takes ultimate responsibility for the quality of professional services and as a senior advocate of Nigeria, leads the Litigation Section of the firm assisted by another partner. Mfon, thirteen years post call, handles the Transactional Section along with the fourth partner and in addition, is the managing partner responsible for the administration of the law firm. These are the two main business streams of the firm and rarely do the two mix. It is this same demarcation and discipline which ensures that in the office, Mfon & Paul interact on a purely professional basis or as she puts it ‘he has mentally removed me from issues related to his comfort and tummy in the office’.
The reputation of the firm is not unconnected to the role Paul Usoro & Co. has played in several legal transactions of national importance. However, in 2006 they woke up and had literarily lost everything but the name and reputation of the firm when the Bank of Industry building where they were located was partially destroyed. This could have set them back a couple of months but in what displays more clearly than words can the steely determination of this couple, work continued the very same day as they set up base in their house and continued to handle client issues. And nothing speaks louder about the esteem in which they are regarded by their clients, than the offers which came streaming in for the firm to take up space within their buildings and within a week they had started setting up in their current location in Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island Lagos.

In PAUL’s Words
On his most interesting transactions
Number one is undoubtedly the GSM Auction in 2001 where I was head of the Legal team and one of only two Nigerian members of the Auction Control Team, the other being Ernest Ndukwe, DG NCC. The novelty of the exercise and the fact that I was privileged to head the legal team that knit the legal template for the process together including the drafting of the license and auction documentation made the experience most unique and interesting. A closely related transaction was working with the National Assembly to prepare the Nigerian Communications Act 2003. This legislation has provided the underpinning for Nigeria’s communication industry and six years on, it remains a model legislation locally and, I daresay, internationally.
The third gives me away as being biased towards communications practice because concluding the Celtel Transaction in 2006 was one of my more challenging but fulfilling assignments. I was privileged to be the lead negotiator on behalf of the Selling Shareholders for the transaction and this taxed all the skills I have: my people skills, my negotiation skills and my legal skills. The fact that it was concluded at all was most exhilarating and momentous.

On being on the board of Econet/Vmobile/Celtel/Zain
It has been a most educative experience, the type one cannot get from the Law School or any business school. One of the more fundamental lessons I’ve learnt from the Zain Board is that your start-up partners and the initial agreements between the partners could make or mar your business. The partners are even more critical and important for one’s business success, more important than the initial agreements. If you have the right partners and commonality of interests and trust, it is easy to straighten out everything else and run a successful and profitable enterprise. Otherwise, you’ll spend more time in court and looking over your shoulders than you’ll spend running the business.
It becomes a challenge to the business where the objectives of partners are different and the parties are selfish, vicious and/or desperate. That is when irreconcilable gulfs develop amongst the partners and issues spill over to the public domain and a show is made of otherwise private corporate matters. Reports are leaked to the newspapers, publications are sponsored and in some instances, the parties end up in the law courts, all of this to the detriment and extreme cost to the business and the absolute titillation and amusement of the general public. In summary, the key is to select the right business partners, consult regularly and build the required consensus. At a personal level, the challenge is to ensure that one rises above the fray and acts in the best interest of the company.

On the primary issues for consideration when picking members of a board
Integrity is critical and of utmost importance. There must also be some threshold knowledge-base both in business operations generally and also in the specific business of the company. Even where such working knowledge is lacking on the specific business of the company, the person must be willing and ready to do a crash-program to update his knowledge and skills. Without understanding the intricacies of the specific business sector, it would be difficult to add sensible value to the enterprise as a Board member.

On legal education in Nigeria
I think that the education sector generally is in a very poor state of repair and needs urgent revamping, right from the primary school level up to the tertiary institutions. The general ailments of the education sector of course impact directly on legal education. The results show in the quality of those who turn up for interviews in Law Firms and companies generally; it shows in particular in the quality of their written and oral presentations and the level of brushing-up that is required for newly employed persons to fit into corporate and law-practice environments. I must however mention that one still comes by sparks of brilliance amongst the newly-churned out graduates even though the majority is not always remarkable. Whether this minority brilliance is attributable to the persons or the institution remains a debatable point. I, however advocate for an improved system of education that ensures that the brilliant sparks are in the majority rather than the current reverse situation. My comments, by the way, are targeted at the primary to tertiary levels of education and do not include the professional Law School program which I believe is still run very well and professionally too even though, it surely must suffer the effects of the generally maladjusted educational system.

On the constitutional review process
I think we need electoral reform far more urgently than a constitutional review. If we can institute electoral reforms that would ensure that popular and credible candidates emerge through a free and fair party selection process. This is dependent on a national electoral process which is free and fair and devoid of rigging and manipulations; where elected officials are held accountable for their electoral promises and the parties are punished in subsequent elections for the non-performance of their candidates; only then would we be on the way to a reformed and better Nigeria.
When elected officials understand that they and their parties could be voted out in the next elections because of non-performance and failure to fulfil electoral promises and that they could consequentially end up in the black books of history, both the elected officials and their parties would have incentives to perform. And with that incentive and the performance in office, several other beneficial things would follow including but not limited to constitutional review when and if necessary and more importantly and urgently, adequate and uninterrupted electric power supply, good healthcare delivery system, revamping of the educational sector etc. – all of which today, constitute electoral promises that haven’t been kept over the years and for which nobody has been punished or sanctioned. From that perspective, I truly don’t believe that a constitutional review should be Nigeria’s priority right now.

In MFON’s Words
On challenges to women in practice
I think business oriented networking which translates into job generation is a major challenge for women in the legal profession. Unfortunately this is not helped by the somewhat negative perception of a female ‘go getter’. However, women need to learn to create or seize opportunities to generate business in the same way male colleagues do. It does not seem to occur naturally to women to exploit friendship for business purposes; instead, we tend to separate friendship from business unlike men, who have no difficulty in cultivating a friendship with a business objective as the goal.
Another challenge is the fine balancing act between career and home, especially to fulfil what is still considered the primary and natural role of women: wife and mother, and to be a successful female lawyer climbing up the partnership ladder. It is difficult to be a good wife, good mother and an accomplished career woman and even if you manage to achieve that, it is a constant challenge to maintain the balance and ensure that the power structure at home is not threatened.
To succeed, women must first decide on what they want most and then arrange their personal lives, with the support of their husbands, to accommodate their drive and ambition. The husband has to be carried along and should understand and support his career driven wife. Only then can a woman organize her working life such that the husband, the children and the housekeeping are given sufficient attention. Pay for the services that you can such as laundry and school runs but market the restructuring to the ‘oga’ so that he appreciates that it is not a dereliction of duty but an expression of love.

On being appointed DG NIMASA
I had mixed feelings taking the role as Director General (DG) of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration (NIMASA). This was because I was keenly aware of the reputation risk attached due to the suspicion and disdain most professionals have for public servants especially on the corruption issue. I recall a congratulatory call from a female principal of a law firm on the day news of the appointment was released to the press. She wondered why my voice did not sound excited and my response was that I was not sure whether I had made the right decision by accepting the appointment knowing the terrain. But I was convinced I was qualified and capable of performing the tasks associated with the job. I reasoned that if government was sincere in establishing a world class maritime safety administration, I was prepared to chip in my bit.

On her removal from NIMASA
I was already aware prior to the investigation that the Minister of State had a fractious relationship with the senior Minister who appointed me and as such wanted me out of the system as soon as the senior Minister left Government. I expected that he would keep trying and was not surprised in the least. I was however disappointed at the disingenuous method they adopted. Dr Oyedepo, the same Oyedepo who is now facing criminal charges on the health ministry corruption scandal was sent to investigate NIMASA funds trapped in failed banks. These funds were placed in banks between 2002 and 2004, well before I came on board in August 2006. In fact, CBN’s recapitalization exercise had been completed and the affected banks liquidated before my appointment. Yet by some magic, Dr Oyedepo held me culpable and recommended that I be replaced by a DG ‘who is well-versed in the knowledge and working of the public service’.
The Minister of State smuggled Oyedepo’s report to President Obasanjo without going through the senior Minister and without the report being reviewed by another independent committee as is the custom. The President then referred Oyedepo’s report to the senior Minister for re-investigation. The Committee set up by Minister Cornelius Adebayo to review Oyedepo’s report completely exonerated me from any wrongdoing and in addition, to the Glory of God, the letter of exoneration also conveyed Mr President’s commendation.
However, all this happened too late as the Minister of State hurriedly replaced me before the report of the Ministerial Review Committee was issued. But this is all water under the bridge as I have settled back into my practice.

On going back to the public sector
That is a tough question. People may expect me to say ‘never’ but you know what, I will not say that because if I say so, then the bad people would have succeeded in scaring not just me, but several public spirited, well accomplished Nigerians from contributing their quota to the Nigerian project.
In the intense nine and a half months I spent as DG NIMASA I made strides to solve some of the issues I knew about from experience in the sector and to make enduring changes. For instance the legal regulatory framework was completely overhauled with five new Acts and two subsidiary legislations, the most important to me being the Merchant Shipping Act 2007 (MSA). The amendment of the MSA had been completed since 2001 by a ministerial committee set up by Chief Ojo Madueke then the Minister of Transport but it did not start its legislative journey until I arrived on the scene. In May 2007, the same month I was booted out, the MSA Bill became an Act of the Federal Republic and through this Act Nigeria domesticated about twenty international maritime conventions on account of which we are amongst the countries with the highest degree of domestication of international maritime conventions. Until then Nigeria was operating the 1962 MSA which was a replica of the 1894 British Merchant Shipping Act. The MSA is perhaps the most single important reason Nigeria was re-admitted into the International Maritime Organisation Council including, of course, the Navy/NIMASA Maritime Guard Force I instituted to monitor and enforce maritime related laws at sea.
I am also proud of the smiles I brought to the faces of NIMASA employees and the hope they say I embodied. I inherited a very demoralized team. People had not been promoted for between eight to twelve years and funds for housing and vehicle loans were trapped in banks. I set things in motion to redress these issues and obtained an enhanced salary package from the Salaries and Wages Commission for all employees. My feeling was and is that the fight against corruption in the civil service should begin with reform of their remuneration package so that they can afford a decent standard of living for themselves and their children. It is unacceptable to expect poorly remunerated employees to work hard at generating revenue and acting as regulators of businessmen in government or politician contractors.
Bearing in mind these modest achievements in so short a period, if we, the professionals keep away from government, then it will never get better and we would have lost our right to complain. Besides, other professionals may be lucky to work with people whose primary desire is actually to serve the public. I must mention a very important qualification to going back to the public sector if the opportunity arises, that is, provided my husband would be able to forget the deep pain that my persecution as DG NIMASA caused him.

On the constitutional review process
To be honest, I do not think there is a pressing urgency to review the Constitution at this time. Someone should convince me and other Nigerians that the reason we have not progressed into the group of emerging economies is because of the inadequacy or deficiency of the Constitution. How much of the opportunities and rights guaranteed by the present Constitution have truthfully and comprehensively been implemented or exploited?
From where I stand, what we need now is a leap from government to jump start the economy, not the distraction of tinkering with our Constitution.

Mfon & Paul in Sync
Although Mfon and Paul were interviewed separately due to their busy schedules, their responses show how much in sync they are; they both think their principal defect is impatience, they both abhor dishonesty and are both living in their dream country: Nigeria.
With a daughter studying law in order to execute the ‘designs’ she has had on her dad’s law firm since she was six, it is no wonder that Mfon’s state of mind is content and she says she is living her dream of happiness. As for Paul, his state of mind is focused on work deadlines and he does not have to dream of happiness, he is already happy.