We’re sorry for neglecting our primary responsibility, NBA begs Nigerians

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has apologised to Nigerians for what it describes as the failure of lawyers to live up to their responsibilities of offering guidance for the advancement of the country.

Speaking at a National Dialogue on the State of the Nation organised by the association, NBA president, Yakubu Maikyau, said most challenges Nigerians faced were due to the failure of lawyers to provide direction and leadership to the people.

“I dare say, with the utmost respect, that to a large extent, our experience today as a country is a direct result of the legal profession’s abdication of the duty to provide direction and leadership to the people.

” I must therefore, as one who is privileged to lead the bar at this time, apologise to Nigerians for the abdication of our role.”

Highlighting the roles of the bar in the country’s advancement, the NBA president noted that it was pertinent to apologise to Nigerians.

“Today, as members of the Bar, we are reputed more for how much fees we charge our clients as opposed to the discharge of our primary call to offer guidance and/or offer ourselves for the advancement of the cause of our country.

“This apology is necessary because no other group of professionals is called to this privileged position as the lawyers, which also comes with a corresponding responsibility to provide leadership,” Mr Maikyau said.

Speaking on behalf of the federal government, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said the dialogue was apt, as it was a call to duty for legal practitioners.

“I thank the NBA under its new leadership for initiating this national dialogue.

“This shows that you are bringing back the responsibilities restored on us as members of the legal profession.”

Mr Mustapha said whatever came out of the dialogue should be transmitted to the federal government to enable them to transmit to the incoming government.

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed, who joined the conversation virtually said the objective of the UN was to ensure that a free and fair election was conducted in Nigeria.

For his part, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi said the dialogue was audacious.

“Looking at the state of the nation’s security, economy and administration of justice were taking a holistic look at the country to find the problem areas and proffer solutions as we approach the elections,” he said.

The theme of the dialogue is Security, Economy and Administration of Justice.

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PRESIDENT’S WELCOME REMARKS AT THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION STATE OF THE NATION DIALOGUE HELD ON MONDAY, 30 JANUARY 2023 AT THE NATIONAL SECRETARIAT (NBA HOUSE), PLOT 1101, MUHAMMADU BUHARI WAY, CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, ABUJA
PROTOCOLS
I welcome you all to this August gathering – the maiden edition of the Nigerian Bar Association State of the Nation Dialogue.
In my Inaugural Address on 26 August 2022, I noted amongst other things, that:
“There has not been any time in this country when Nigerians have looked more to the Bar as they do now, for a way out of the rather bleak situation, and they are certainly looking in the right direction. We are the ones who, by the privilege of our training and expertise, are positioned to ask the right questions, interrogate the system and call those saddled with the responsibility of providing security for the lives and properties of Nigerians, to account for their stewardship. Permit me to borrow from a biblical expression and to say that; just as the entire world is eagerly waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, so are Nigerians eagerly waiting for the discharge of the leadership responsibility and interventions of the members of the legal profession. We have what it takes to precipitate the leadership that will bring the succour and freedom Nigerians deserve and we cannot afford to shirk from that responsibility.”
I went on to say that there is need to continuously engage government at all levels to, amongst other things, generate discussions that will provide Nigerians with sufficient information to guide them in making their choice of persons to occupy elective offices in the upcoming general elections. Nigerians must be satisfied, given the concrete realities of our nation, with the practical solutions that are being proposed by those seeking elective offices with the current security, economic and political challenges. Consistent with our duty to the people, we cannot allow the nation to be misled, as Abraham Lincoln once said: “let the people know the truth and the country will be safe”.
The motivation for these statements stems from my modest understanding of the natural trailblazing attributes of lawyers in bringing about national development. As professionals privileged to have been formally instructed on the subject of Law, which is the instrument by which justice is dispensed to the people, we are naturally called to provide leadership. It is by justice that a people exist and as ministers in the temple of justice, our primary call is to serve the cause of justice. It was Sheikh Uthman Danfodio who said: “a people can exist without religion, but they cannot exist without justice”. That is to say, the existence of a people is directly connected with the presence or otherwise of justice, and if our primary call as members of the legal profession, serving on the Bench or at the Bar, is to serve justice, it then follows that our responsibility is intricately connected with the existence of our nation Nigeria. Righteousness exalts a nation, sin (one of which is injustice) is a reproach to any people! It is this leadership that we owe Nigerians.