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The Nigerian Bar Association, Epe Branch, congratulates Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, on her election as President of the Nigerian Bar Association and congratulates the newly elected National Executive Committee.

Today is not merely a day for congratulations; it is a day to remind the new leadership of the enormous responsibility that comes with the mandate.

The Nigerian Bar is at a crossroads. For too long, lawyers have watched the erosion of the rule of law, attacks on constitutional freedoms, intimidation of citizens, abuse of state power, declining professional welfare and challenges to the independence of the legal profession.

The Bar cannot afford to remain a spectator.

Madam President, the election is over, the campaign is over and the camps must now disappear.

We urge you to immediately extend your hand of fellowship to every candidate who contested the election against you and to their supporters. Bring them into the fold, listen to them, harness their ideas and give them a place in the rebuilding of the Bar.

They were not enemies; they were fellow lawyers who believed they could serve the profession differently. Their participation must not end with the announcement of the results.

A truly democratic Bar must have room for dissent, criticism, alternative ideas and constructive opposition.

The Nigerian Bar Association must cease to be merely ceremonial. We need a Bar that will challenge power when power violates the law, defend the weak when the strong abuse their authority, stand between the citizen and oppression, speak when silence becomes complicity and fight for the independence of the judiciary and the sanctity of the legal profession.

When lawyers are harassed, detained, assaulted or intimidated for performing their legitimate professional duties, the NBA must not arrive after the damage has been done; it must be there from the beginning. The Bar must be feared by impunity, not because lawyers possess power, but because the NBA possesses courage, unity and moral authority.

Government must know that the Bar will applaud good governance but challenge unconstitutional conduct. Institutions must know that lawyers will defend the rule of law regardless of whose interest is involved. Members of the public must know that when their rights are threatened, the Nigerian Bar will not abandon them.

A profession cannot be called strong when its practitioners are struggling to survive.

The welfare of young lawyers, remuneration, working conditions, access to justice, professional development and the dignity of practice must occupy the centre of the NBA’s agenda.

A lawyer who cannot survive cannot effectively defend society.

Madam President, build a Bar bigger than your election. Your greatest achievement will not be how decisively you won the election; it will be how successfully you unite those who did not vote for you. Do not build a Bar around personalities; build institutions. Do not silence critics; engage them. Do not create camps; create bridges. Do not merely manage the NBA; reform it. Do not simply speak for lawyers; give lawyers a reason to believe in the Bar again. The Nigerian Bar Association needs a new culture of accountability, courage, transparency, professional excellence and service. The Bar must become a formidable institution capable of confronting injustice without fear, favour or political convenience. This is the challenge before you. The election has given you the office; your actions will determine whether you earn the confidence of history.

NBA Epe Branch therefore offers its congratulations, but also its challenge: unite the Bar, defend the Bar, reform the Bar, empower the Bar and make the Nigerian Bar Association once again an institution that Nigeria cannot afford to ignore.

Madam President, the Bar is watching, the nation is watching and history is watching.

Congratulations. Now, lead.

Yakubu Eleto, Esq
Publicity Secretary
NBA, Epe Branch
08038629319

NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, EPE BRANCH For an Independent, Fearless, United, Welfare-Driven and Virile Bar.