President Muhammadu Buhari Sunday has urged Nigerian lawyers not to
sacrifice the integrity of the country’s legal system in a bid to cover
the misdeeds of their clients, no matter how lucrative the brief may be.
Speaking at the opening of the 55th Annual General Conference of the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), President Buhari called on Nigerian
lawyers to support his administration’s war against corruption and help
the country return to the path of rectitude by making Nigerian courts
functional and effective again.
“I am convinced that law, law-makers, lawyers, law courts and the law
enforcement agencies all have pivotal responsibilities to discharge, if
the change we seek is ever to materialize.
“As you all know by now, this administration has taken on the challenge of
improving security, fighting corruption and revamping the economy, among
many others.
“The fight against corruption is in reality a struggle for the restoration
of law and order. Corruption and impunity become widespread when
disrespect for law is allowed to thrive in society. Disrespect for law
also thrives when people get away with all sorts of shady deals and the
court system is somehow unable to check them.
“Ability to manipulate and frustrate the legal system is the crowning
glory of the corrupt and, as may be expected, this has left many legal
practitioners and law courts tainted in an ugly way.
“In a gathering such as this, I do not need to elaborate on the way that
corruption and impunity have damaged our economy. But I would like to say
more on what, I believe, should be your role as legal practitioners, in
helping us back to the path of rectitude.
“First, we need to make our courts functional and effective again. This
means that we must have lawyers who take the ethics of the profession very
seriously; lawyers who will not frustrate the course of justice, even
though they defend their clients with all legitimate means and resources.
“Nigeria needs ethical lawyers who always keep the end of justice in mind
and will never sacrifice the integrity of the legal system to cover the
misdeeds of their clients, no matter how lucrative the brief may be,”
President Buhari told the country’s lawyers.
Noting that lawyers are often in the vanguard of the defense of human
rights, President Buhari urged them to view corruption too as a gross
violation of human rights.
“For the masses of our people, the millions still wallowing in want and
diseases, corruption is a major reason why they cannot go to school; why
they cannot be gainfully employed; and why there are few doctors, nurses
and drugs in their hospitals and health centers. It is the reason why
pensioners are not paid and potable water is scarce.
“In effect, corruption diverts public resources meant for millions of
people into the private pockets of a greedy few, thereby causing a lot of
suffering, deprivation and death. In my view, there can be no greater
violation of human rights.
“Viewed in this way, I think we can all fully appreciate the gravity of
this oppressive and destructive evil. This should rouse us to fight it
with the same zeal and doggedness as we deploy in the defense of
fundamental rights,” President Buhari said.
The President also urged Nigerian lawyers to work for a more efficient and
effective legal system which, he said, will help to attract more
investments to the country and accelerate the pace of national economic
development.
“Increased engagement with the outside world is called for as we seek
public private partnerships in our quest for enhanced capital and
expertise. There is no doubt that all these depend on enforceable
agreements and a reliable legal system.
“Contracts are only good to the extent that they are enforceable without
undue delay. If by the default of lawyers or the law courts, it is found
that cases take ages to conclude or that the judicial system is somehow
corruptible, we obviously cannot attract the kind of partnerships which we
need or which our large vibrant economy would ordinarily have attracted.
“The world today has been correctly described as a global village. Capital
and expertise are readily mobile. Comparisons will inevitably be drawn
between our country and others when the choice of where to do business is
being made. Our current position in this respect is not good enough. Our
process for obtaining licenses and permits are too slow. It takes too long
a time to enforce contracts in our law courts and our regulatory and
administrative processes are not noticeably predictable or efficient.
“In all these lawyers have a key role to play, whether in the reform of
our laws and regulation or in the integrity of our judicial systems. It is
my fervent hope that this conference and other fora of lawyers and
non-lawyers will closely and quickly work out ways of making our legal
system much improved in terms of integrity, the human touch, efficiency
and rigorous dedication to the cause of justice,” President Buhari said.
The President assured the gathering that his administration will give its
full support to the implementation of the required legal reforms if it is
convinced that they are in the best interest of the nation.