Legal Updates

YC MAIKYAU ADDRESS ON THE NATION: NBA

Published

1 year ago

February 1, 2023

Stella Charles Akupue

YC MAIKYAU ADDRESS ON THE NATION: NBA

STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, MR. YAKUBU CHONOKO MAIKYAU, OON, SAN, DELIVERED ON 31 JANUARY 2023 AT THE NBA HOUSE, PLOT 1101, MUHAMMADU BUHARI WAY, CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, ABUJA.

In my remarks at yesterday’s Dialogue, I did apologise to Nigerians for what I believe to be an abdication of responsibility on the part of the legal profession. However, it is my firm persuasion that if we had acted under the influence of the spirit behind the profound statements referred to in my remarks, particularly by Sir Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams (the first Nigerian called to the English Bar on 17 November 1879), who said “the legal practitioner lives for the direction of his people and the advancement of the cause of his country”, and also Sir Adetokunbo Ademola who said “The respect in which the Bar in any country is held is the best indicator of the freedom in that country”, our experience as a nation would have been different; we would certainly not have been faced with the current socio-economic and political challenges.

To a great extent, the legal profession has not held the Government accountable on behalf of the people of this nation, and this does not necessarily mean being confrontational with Government. While I agree that there are times when it is necessary and inevitable to go into confrontations to drive home specific points or achieve certain desired goals and objectives for the common good of the people, the place of purposeful engagement and, to a limited extent,
our direct involvement in the activities government, without losing sight of the ultimate objective of serving the people, cannot be over-emphasised and may yield more and better results. Like someone said, why spit fire when you do not need ashes around you.

YC MAIKYAU ADDRESS ON THE NATION: NBA

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