The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, has called on lawyers in the country to be conscious of the strategic place they occupy in the nurturing of the nation’s democracy.
Noting that lawyers will be playing critical role during and after the 2023 general elections, Maikyau called on lawyers to shun practices and not to things that would short-change the coming generation of lawyers.
This was contained in his New Year message to the members of the NBA and Nigerians.
Maikyau said, “Having entered the New Year, I feel constrained to remind us of our place as members of the legal profession and the critical role we play in nation building. We must reawaken to our primary responsibilities to our nation, the people, and our clients.
“Our nation is going through challenging times, and there is no other body more equipped to bring it back on the path of recovery, reformation, and repositioning than the body of legal professionals.”
The NBA President stressed that lawyers have all it takes to rebuild Nigeria, adding that they must operate with that mindset.
He added, “2023 is a momentous year in our country, with the general elections coming up on 25 February and 11 March, 2023. As lawyers, we must remember that we have very important roles to play in determining the outcomes of these elections; either as voters alongside other Nigerians, or as counsel advising the political parties and candidates, or in handling the cases that may arise from the elections. Consequently, we owe Nigerians sincere and honest participation in all the stages of the electoral process.
“We also owe ourselves the duty to preserve the legal space for the next generation of lawyers. For this reason, we mu