ACCEPTANCE AND THANK YOU SPEECH FROM NBA FIRST VICE PRESIDENT ELECT, SABASTINE ANYIA

Learned Silks, my respected Seniors in the bar and Distinguished Colleagues good morning.
Seven months ago, I came seeking your valued support to enable me serve you as your first Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). Today it ends in praise!

Let me first extend my unequivocal gratitude to Him who gives live and everything including the strength, human and material resources, finances and all that is incidental to the realisation of this lofty dream.

On behalf of my immediate family, I stand before you today deeply honored and humbled to accept the role of the First Vice President, which I graciously sought your support to achieve. The moment is not just a personal milestone but a profound responsibility to serve our esteemed Association and uphold the principles of justice, integrity and professionalism that defines our respected profession and which my manifesto captures.

I would like to express gratitude to the members of NBA across board for entrusting me with this position of leadership. Your support and confidence inspire me to dedicate myself in entirety to advancing the goals and interest of our association.

I extend my sincere appreciation to my esteemed colleagues and mentors whose guidance and wisdom snowballed into this great fit. Your counsel has indeed proven invaluable and I am committed to sustaining your legacies.

I am privileged to serve alongside a distinguished team of colleagues carefully selected and who share a commitment to upholding the rule of law and promoting access to justice for all Nigerians irrespective of status, ethnic background, and values. NBA.

Together, we still strive to foster a legal environment of fairness, transparency, accountability and sense of responsiveness to aspirations of Nigerians particularly in this trying moment of national challenge.

I appreciate past leaders, the outgoing leadership and the bar in general for laying a dependable foundation upon which we shall build never in disappointment but in continued enrichment of our profession in line with its sacred creed.

I will not forget to appreciate my opponents in the just concluded race. They are my source of strength and innovative thinking. I dare to state that they are indispensable. I cherish them and urge them to feel embraced in this journey. I urge them to see this victory as collective. I may not be the best but there is time for every man. This is my time to serve them in humility. I urge them to stay resilient, restrategise and built on the lessons learnt. Success is not only achieved by never failing but by rising each time we didn’t achieve set goals.

Finally, I pledge to serve with integrity, diligence and dedication. I can only do this under a collaborative environment, permit me to therefore seek it from you all so that together with my team we can deliver the giant strides NBA yearns for.
I look forward to working closely with relevant actors to pursue our shared vision for a just, dependable, and equitable society.
Thank you immeasurably!

SABASTINE U. ANYIA
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT ELECT,