GOODWILL MESSAGE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT AFRICAN WOMEN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION – AWLA
To:
FALILAT OLUWATOYIN ORIRE, ESQ. Country Representative, AWLA Nigeria Chapter & Her Exco.
NGOZI ENYOSIOBI ABAFO, Esq., chair of the 10th Anniversary AWLA Parley Planning Committee / AWLA Enugu State Coordinator and her team
Rivers State Coordinator
ZIGGY MUKOSOLU MCJOSSY, ESQ. Zonal Coordinator, South East Zone
CAROL OJUKWU, ESQ. Zonal Coordinator, South Zone
TOYIN NDIDI TAIWO-OJO, ESQ. General Secretary, AWLA Nigeria Chapter
And to ALL distinguished MEMBERS OF AWLA NIGERIA
My Dear Sisters,
Our Esteemed Male Allies, Partners and Sponsors,
With profound pride and gratitude, I bring you warm felicitations from the leadership of AWLA International on the occasion of AWLA PARLEY 2026.
A SISTERHOOD THAT ENDURES. A VISION THAT IMPACTS.
In 2016, we birthed Parley as a vision, a homecoming, a convergence, a covenant. Ten years on, that vision has not wavered. It has deepened. It has multiplied. It has become a movement.
I commend Falilat Oluwatoyin Orire, Esq., our exceptional country representative/national coordinator, and her ExCo for upholding the AWLA banner with excellence, courage, and unwavering commitment.
To our pioneer Founding Members of AWLA from Nigeria in 1997 at the inaugural meeting in Nairobi, Kenya: Amayo Joyce Offiah, SAN; Mabel Agbamuche; and others. Learned Silk Amayo Joyce Offiah was in the Coordinating Committee at the elections that brought in the Pioneer President and the Country Representatives of the various countries at the Inaugural meeting and our subsequent Country Representatives Hon. Justice Lati Folami, Roseline Akinbo, Ronke Sijuade, Mandy Demechi-Asagba, Adepeju Oduye-Quadri, and Efe Etomi. We thank you all for laying the foundation upon which we now build.
To Ngozi Enyosiobi Abafor, Esq., Chair of the Parley Planning Committee; Ziggy Mukosolu McJossy, Esq., South East Zonal Coordinator; Carol Ojukwu, Esq., South South Zonal Coordinator; Bola Animashaun, South West Zonal Coordinator; and Aisha Ado Abdullahi, North West
Prof. Idiat Akande, North Central Zonal Coordinator; Becky Samuel, North East Zonal Coordinator; Toyin Ndidi Taiwo-Ojo, Esq., General Secretary, and Rivers State Coordinator; and the entire planning team: your dedication is proof that when vision meets action, sisterhood becomes impact.
AWLA PARLEY 2026
Date: Monday, 24th August, 2026
Venue: Tokyu Grand Hotel, Annex 5, By Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt
Theme: WOMEN BEYOND LIMITATIONS
Chairperson: Her Excellency, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Key Speaker: Hon. Justice S. T. Bello
With a faculty of distinguished resource persons, this parley is poised to deliver insight, strategy, and solutions. Every AWLAN, Male Ally, and guest in attendance will leave transformed. This is one engagement you cannot afford to miss.
The heart of the parley remains unchanged: homecoming, equipping, and networking. It is our annual rendezvous for AWLANs across the 36 states of the Federation, the FCT, and the Diaspora to reconnect, to collaborate, to unwind, and to chart the course for the women and children we serve.
United, we dismantle barriers.
United, we amplify impact.
United, this Sisterhood endures.
This bond will not break. It will grow stronger in purpose, sharper in strategy, and bolder in legacy for our generation and for generations to come
It’s time to rise. It’s time to lead. It’s time to take that critical step.
Join us. Your seat at the top is waiting.
Beyond limits. Beyond borders. Beyond expectations.
See you on the other side! ✨
We welcome new members, male allies, partners, and sponsors. Law students are specially invited. A dedicated discourse on our theme will equip the next generation to take their rightful place at decision tables and lead. The march to parity demands intentional partnership with our male allies and empowerment of women and girls.
We are already seeing the fruits of that partnership. In the just-concluded NBA elections, history was made. 36 years after the first, a woman has emerged again as NBA president. I heartily congratulate Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, on this landmark victory. Let us rally round her and ensure her tenure is a resounding success for the Bar and for women in law.
Port Harcourt 2026 will be memorable, transformational, and futuristic. The future is not something we wait for. It is something we create. We are creating it. We are leading it.
This is not just another event.
This is where limits break.
This is where women rise.
This is where nations are built.
AWLANS! This is our time.
BE THERE. BE SEEN. BE THE CHANGE.
I look forward to seeing you all in Port Harcourt and later in Accra, Ghana, in November at the AWLA International Conference 2026.
With love, solidarity, and an unbreakable sisterhood.
AWLA, Voice For The Voiceless. Force for Justice.
CONGRATULATIONS, AWLA NIGERIA CHAPTER!
MANDY DEMECHI-ASAGBA, ESQ.
International President
African Women Lawyers Association – AWLA
Visionary, AWLA Parley 2016
16th August, 2026
