The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has flayed senior lawyers who are fond of analysising courts’ proceedings and judgments on the television and social media even before reading them.
The president of the association, Mr Yakubu Maikyau, called the attention of members to the development in Abuja yesterday while declaring open the yearly conference of the NBA holding at the Chief MKO Abiola Stadium.
Maikyau said there are avenues provided for legal practitioners to express their grievances if they were dissatisfied with the judgment of a court instead of going to the media to make derogatory remarks about courts’ decisions.
“Most times, you will see even senior lawyers analysing judgments that they have not even read to understand the full reasons given by the court, in a very derogatory manner. If judgment does not favour you, you describe it in a derogatory manner but when it favours you, it is a 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,” he said.
Maikyau challenged anyone who has any evidence of corruption or misconduct against any judge to “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,” he added.
On the issue of access to justice, the NBA president said 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 a need to guarantee access to justice and quick dispensation of justice. This is why we talk about the need for law reforms,” he declared.
Speaking earlier at a pre-conference briefing, the NBA president said the aim of the conference is to galvanise lawyers to effectively play their role in nation building.
“Nigeria has all it takes to be a great nation and we believe that with the right leadership, we will get it right,” he said.
He announced that the conference would focus on security, economy, and the administration of justice.
“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.”
He also said over 17, 000 lawyers had registered to attend the event physically while “there are also others who 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 5,000 participants, about 3,000 of them must be Nigerians. As it stands today, we have a total of 139,000 lawyers that have been called to the Nigerian Bar so far.
“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,” he added.
