Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative appoints Mrs. Sandra Oyewole, two others as Governing Council Members.
At a meeting of its Board of Trustees held on November 1st 2020, Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative appointed three new council members:
Mrs. Sandra Oyewole – Chair
Sandra Oyewole is a Partner at Olajide Oyewole LLP. She leads the Firm’s Intellectual Property & Technology practice and co-leads the Employment & Global Mobility practice.
Sandra advises on intellectual property rights including protection & enforcement and the strategic management, valuation & monetization of intellectual property and brands. She also advises on employment and global mobility laws, employment contracts and disputes. In her nearly 3 decades in practice, Sandra has extensive experience in advising clients on sponsorship & financing of intellectual property, commercial contracts and media rights; strategic transactions for clients in the media, sports and entertainment industries; and regulatory & compliance matters in fintech & data protection.
Sandra represents, the talent, content aggregators & distributors, concert & festival promoters & organizers, sponsors, financiers & investors, independent production & distributions companies, film makers, media companies, record labels, music publishers, traditional and emerging tech companies/platforms and related ministries, departments & agencies.
Sandra started her career in the Chambers of the Late Chief Rotimi Williams SAN where she spent almost a decade honing her dispute resolution skills. Sandra is listed as one of fifty women in Techcabal’s first Tech Women Lagos series. She is one of the IPT Champions for DLA Piper Africa. She also sits on the board of trustees of educational and tech organizations in Lagos.
With her in depth knowledge of Nigeria’s creative and tech sectors Sandra is often invited to speak at seminars, conferences, masterclasses and workshops in and outside Nigeria. She has written a number of articles and papers on IPT and coordinated the publication of the book Through the Fire, a legal, financial and emotional guide for dealing with bereavement. Sandra is committed to the creation of structure within the creative and innovative industries and this includes the strengthening of Nigeria’s anti-piracy and intellectual property laws and policies.
Sandra is married with children. She loves reading, listening to music, swimming, walking, hanging with family and friends and enjoying life.
Dr. Uchenna Jerome Orji – Member
Dr Uchenna Jerome Orji is an Attorney admitted to the Nigerian Bar. He holds an LL.B (Hons.) degree from the University of Nigeria, and an LL.M from the University of Ibadan, with specialization in cybersecurity and information technology law. He also holds a PhD in Law from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria, with specialization in telecommunications law
He is the author of: Cybersecurity Law and Regulation (Wolf Legal Publishers: The Netherlands, 2012), International Telecommunications Law and Policy (Cambridge Scholars Publishing: United Kingdom, 2018), and Telecommunications Law and Regulation in Nigeria (Cambridge Scholars Publishing: United Kingdom, 2018), in addition to peer reviewed papers on cybersecurity, data protection, telecommunications regulation, and other aspects of law. Uchenna is a Fellow of the African Center for Cyber Law and Cybercrime Prevention (ACCP), located within the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime in Kampala, Uganda and also a Digital Identity and National Security Fellow with the Center for African Affairs and Conflict Research (CAACOR) based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Uchenna has worked as an expert for the Council of Europe, the Commonwealth, the Dutch Government and the Government of Nigeria’s Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption on notable projects relating to the control of cybercrime and the governance of ICTs. In 2016, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) appointed him as professor of cybersecurity law and policy for the 2016 African Cybersecurity Governance Institute in Dakar, Senegal. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Law at the American University of Nigeria, Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Dr. Ifeoma Elizabeth Nwafor – Member
Dr. Ifeoma Elizabeth Nwafor has a Ph.D in International Criminal Law (Cyber/Internet Technology Law) from the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus in 2019. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2006.
She was awarded the overall Best Candidate of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb) Fellowship Training in 2017. She is also the Winner of the Aare Afe Babalola Price at the NICArb Fellowship Training in 2017. She is a member of the Stakeholders Committee on Standards and Regulations for Gas Piping in the Nigeria National Building Code and a member, Drafting and Review Committee, Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, Guidance Note for Virtual Hearing.
Dr. Nwafor wrote a book chapter in the Compendium of Legal Essays’ in honour of Dr Michael E Ajogwu, SAN in March 2020 titled ‘‘Cybercrime in Nigeria: An Analysis of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Preventive) Act 2015’’
She made paper presentations on “Effect of Covid-19 on Arbitration and ADR Practice: A Peep into the Future” at the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators Webinar in April 2020 and “Debunking the Lawyers’ Lethargy to ADR in a Litigious Environment” at the Annual Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association, Enugu Branch in December 2019. She also presented on “Cyber Threats to Law Firms in Nigeria” at the South-East Cyberspace Security Conference and Exhibition 2019, Enugu Nigeria in September 2019 and “Cybercrime in Nigeria: The Role of Internet Service Providers in Enhancing Cybersecurity” at South-East Cybersecurity Conference & Exhibition 2018, Enugu Nigeria in September 2018.