2023 NBA-AGC: ‘No other profession can fix the Country more than the Legal Profession’ – Maikyau

The President of the NBA, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, has stated that No other profession can fix the country more than the legal profession.

Maikyau made this statement during a pre-conference press briefing, noting that the event would be the largest gathering of lawyers in the world.

According to him, as at press time, over 17, 000 legal practitioners in the country have registered to physically participate in the conference that would be held at the National Stadium in Abuja.

“The theme of the conference is ‘Getting It Right, Charting The Course Of Nigeria’s Nation Building’.

“The aim is to galvanize lawyers to effectively play their role in the building a nation that we will all be proud of.

“Nigeria has all it takes to be a great nation and we believe that with the right leadership, we will get it right.

“Security, economy and the administration of justice are the key thematic areas of the national guide.

“Without peace and security in the nation, we are not going to experience any national growth.

“Therefore, discussions at the conference will focus on these three thematic areas. They are all interwoven and they are elements responsible for the recovery and repositioning of the country.

“Already, we have registered over 17, 000 lawyers that indicated the desire to attend the conference in person. There are also others that registered to participate virtually.

“It is going to be the largest gathering of lawyers in the world and it is remarkable to note that in any legal gathering in the world where you have 5000 participants, about 3000 of them must be Nigerians.

“This is why I have continued to say that no other profession can fix the country more than the legal profession. This is because the country is a function of the law.

“That privilege, however, comes with responsibility. We are simply telling Nigerians that this is who we are and we must make ourselves available for the responsibility.

“Lawyers must be ready to provide the needed leadership,” Maikyau, SAN, added.

He said the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, had assured the legal body of his maximum cooperation.

Meanwhile, the NBA said it was worried about the derogatory manner that some senior lawyers analyse court proceedings and judgements on television stations and the social media.

“If you disagree with judgement of a court, there are avenues that have been provided by the law to challenge same. It is not through social media or TV stations.

“Most times, you will see even senior lawyers analysing judgements that they have not even read to understand the full reasons given by the court, in very derogatory manner.

“If judgement does not favour you, you describe it in derogatory manner but when it favours you, it is victory for democracy.

“As lawyers, we should not forget the fact that we are Ministers in the temple of justice.

“It is justice that will guarantee our continued existence and growth as a nation. Justice must always be within the ambit of the law.

“Let us respect the fact that the judiciary is one institution that has kept us going as a nation.

“I have said it before that anyone that has any evidence of corruption or misconduct against any judge should bring it to us and we will escalate it.

“It is not enough to just go out there to raise spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against judges. We are hurting the nation through such actions.

“On the issue of access to justice, we have said it before that there is the need to increase the number of judges. Look at the issue of our prisons for instance, we need the appropriate legislative actions to check cases of awaiting trial inmates.

“Also, look at the Supreme Court for instance, there should be a constitutional amendment to ensure that not all cases go to the Supreme Court.

“We seriously need to decongest the court. There is need to guarantee access to justice and quick dispensation of justice. This is why we talk about the need for law reforms.

“As an association, part of what we do is to engage the government. For instance, in this conference, we have a section on subsidy removal.

“Other issues to be discussed will include the new rules of professional conduct for lawyers which was last reviewed in 2007. We will also look at the Anti-money laundering guidelines.

“As it stands today, we have a total of 139, 000 lawyers that have been called to the Nigerian Bar, so far,” the NBA President added.