We can’t fold hands, watch country deteriorate, CJN tells judiciary

Abuja, NIGERIA (Guardian) —Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, yesterday, urged jurists and legal professionals not to sit by and watch the country degenerate but rather wake up to their role of charting a course for national development.

Ariwoola, who said this, while declaring open the 2023 Nigerian Bar Association- Section on Legal Practice (NBA-SLP) conference, urged lawyers to embrace honesty, transparency and integrity, saying they must distinguish themselves and not be afraid to fight for a just society.

Also, in his remarks, NBA chairman, Yakubu Maikyau, said a new code of conduct for legal practitioners would be launched January 1, 2024, to fight corruption within the Bar.

Urging senior advocates and top lawyers to mentor younger colleagues, he said: “It is tyrannical for a senior advocate not to allow juniors have access to them because they are supposed to be mentors. If junior lawyers don’t see you, how can they be mentored?”

In his welcome address, chairman of the planning committee for the conference, Paul Harris Ogbole, urged lawyers to take advantage of the event and deepen their knowledge of globalisation in the practice of law. He said there are varieties of opportunities for lawyers on the global scene, which would be unveiled at the conference.

In a welcome address, chairman of NBA-SLP, Chief Ferdinand Orbih, noted that the age of artificial intelligence has widened legal space, and lawyers should take advantage of it.

He added that the theme, ‘Legal Practice Without Borders’, was chosen to engage global issues of transformation in the legal profession.