President Muhammadu Buhari Sunday has urged Nigerian lawyers not to
\nsacrifice the integrity of the country\u2019s legal system in a bid to cover
\nthe misdeeds of their clients, no matter how lucrative the brief may be.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the opening of the 55th Annual General Conference of the
\nNigerian Bar Association (NBA), President Buhari called on Nigerian
\nlawyers to support his administration\u2019s war against corruption and help
\nthe country return to the path of rectitude by making Nigerian courts
\nfunctional and effective again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am convinced that law, law-makers, lawyers, law courts and the law
\nenforcement agencies all have pivotal responsibilities to discharge, if
\nthe change we seek is ever to materialize.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you all know by now, this administration has taken on the challenge of
\nimproving security, fighting corruption and revamping the economy, among
\nmany others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fight against corruption is in reality a struggle for the restoration
\nof law and order. Corruption and impunity become widespread when
\ndisrespect for law is allowed to thrive in society. Disrespect for law
\nalso thrives when people get away with all sorts of shady deals and the
\ncourt system is somehow unable to check them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbility to manipulate and frustrate the legal system is the crowning
\nglory of the corrupt and, as may be expected, this has left many legal
\npractitioners and law courts tainted in an ugly way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a gathering such as this, I do not need to elaborate on the way that
\ncorruption and impunity have damaged our economy. But I would like to say
\nmore on what, I believe, should be your role as legal practitioners, in
\nhelping us back to the path of rectitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, we need to make our courts functional and effective again. This
\nmeans that we must have lawyers who take the ethics of the profession very
\nseriously; lawyers who will not frustrate the course of justice, even
\nthough they defend their clients with all legitimate means and resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria needs ethical lawyers who always keep the end of justice in mind
\nand will never sacrifice the integrity of the legal system to cover the
\nmisdeeds of their clients, no matter how lucrative the brief may be,\u201d
\nPresident Buhari told the country\u2019s lawyers.<\/p>\n
Noting that lawyers are often in the vanguard of the defense of human
\nrights, President Buhari urged them to view corruption too as a gross
\nviolation of human rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the masses of our people, the millions still wallowing in want and
\ndiseases, corruption is a major reason why they cannot go to school; why
\nthey cannot be gainfully employed; and why there are few doctors, nurses
\nand drugs in their hospitals and health centers. It is the reason why
\npensioners are not paid and potable water is scarce.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn effect, corruption diverts public resources meant for millions of
\npeople into the private pockets of a greedy few, thereby causing a lot of
\nsuffering, deprivation and death. In my view, there can be no greater
\nviolation of human rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cViewed in this way, I think we can all fully appreciate the gravity of
\nthis oppressive and destructive evil. This should rouse us to fight it
\nwith the same zeal and doggedness as we deploy in the defense of
\nfundamental rights,\u201d President Buhari said.<\/p>\n
The President also urged Nigerian lawyers to work for a more efficient and
\neffective legal system which, he said, will help to attract more
\ninvestments to the country and accelerate the pace of national economic
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncreased engagement with the outside world is called for as we seek
\npublic private partnerships in our quest for enhanced capital and
\nexpertise.\u00a0 \u00a0 There is no doubt that all these depend on enforceable
\nagreements and a reliable legal system.<\/p>\n
\u201cContracts are only good to the extent that they are enforceable without
\nundue delay. If by the default of lawyers or the law courts, it is found
\nthat cases take ages to conclude or that the judicial system is somehow
\ncorruptible, we obviously cannot attract the kind of partnerships which we
\nneed or which our large vibrant economy would ordinarily have attracted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world today has been correctly described as a global village. Capital
\nand expertise are readily mobile. Comparisons will inevitably be drawn
\nbetween our country and others when the choice of where to do business is
\nbeing made. Our current position in this respect is not good enough. Our
\nprocess for obtaining licenses and permits are too slow. It takes too long
\na time to enforce contracts in our law courts and our regulatory and
\nadministrative processes are not noticeably predictable or efficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn all these lawyers have a key role to play, whether in the reform of
\nour laws and regulation or in the integrity of our judicial systems. It is
\nmy fervent hope that this conference and other fora of lawyers and
\nnon-lawyers will closely and quickly work out ways of making our legal
\nsystem much improved in terms of integrity, the human touch, efficiency
\nand rigorous dedication to the cause of justice,\u201d President Buhari said.<\/p>\n
The President assured the gathering that his administration will give its
\nfull support to the implementation of\u00a0 the required legal reforms if it is
\nconvinced that they are in the best interest of the nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari Sunday has urged Nigerian lawyers not to sacrifice the integrity of the country\u2019s legal system in a bid to cover the misdeeds of their clients, no matter…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n