Professor Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, SAN, OON, a renowned human rights lawyer, legal scholar and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, will speak at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, from August 21 to 28, 2026.
The conference, themed “Beyond Limits,” is expected to bring together thousands of lawyers and other stakeholders for discussions on legal practice, justice, governance, professional development and contemporary issues affecting the profession. The NBA has confirmed Port Harcourt as the venue and August 21–28 as the conference dates.
Ezeilo’s participation is expected to bring a strong human rights and international-law perspective to the conference, drawing from her decades of work in legal scholarship, advocacy, gender justice, trafficking in persons and access to justice.
A professor of public law at the University of Nigeria, Ezeilo is the founder of the Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), an organisation established to promote and protect the rights of women and young people. Through WACOL, she has supported vulnerable women and children with legal aid and other interventions.
She served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, from 2008 to 2014, giving her extensive experience in international human rights advocacy and accountability mechanisms.
Ezeilo was also appointed in 2023 as a member of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, alongside other international experts, to contribute to efforts addressing human rights violations in the conflict-affected country.
Her record also includes service as a former Dean and Head of the Department of Public Law at the University of Nigeria, former Commissioner for Gender and Social Development in Enugu State, and membership of several national and international bodies. She has received multiple recognitions for her contributions to human rights, legal scholarship and social development, including the Nigerian national honour of Officer of the Order of Niger and the 2019 National Human Rights Award.
Her appearance at the NBA conference comes as the association prepares for what it describes as a major gathering of the legal profession under the theme “Beyond Limits.” The conference is expected to feature intellectual sessions, policy discussions, professional engagements and networking opportunities for lawyers from Nigeria and beyond.
With Ezeilo’s extensive experience spanning Nigerian legal institutions, academia, human rights advocacy and the United Nations, her contribution is expected to add an international dimension to discussions at the 2026 NBA Annual General Conference.