The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said that integrity and accountability are needed for lawyers to make the desired impact in the lives of the people.
Osinbajo made the assertion at the inauguration of the Nigerian Bar Association House in Abuja on Friday. He expressed belief in the legal profession to save Nigeria from its troubles, adding that lawyers had the capacity to make meaningful inputs in the realisation of good governance in the country.
He urged legal practitioners in the country to imbibe the virtue of integrity in their professional dealings, saying that integrity and accountability were the hallmark of the profession.
“I believe that our profession has a lot to offer our nation, especially in its most difficult times.
“The most important aspect of that is integrity; our profession must demonstrate that we are capable of teaching integrity in this land.
“People should believe us for what we say we are; we must bear in mind that everyone is looking at us and that we are the example not just for our profession but for the entire country,’’ Osinbajo said.
He commended the NBA leadership for its unity of purpose in ensuring that the Bar House was not abandoned by successive NBA administrations.
“One of the important lessons we have seen in this edifice is the power of unity from Mr Olisa Agbakoba to the Presidency of Augustine Alegeh.
“We see the completion of the building which by every account is possibly one of the most important edifices in this city of Abuja.
“It is a building that demonstrates the unity of the legal profession; it demonstrates our capacity to start and to finish, which is by itself a very rare thing in this part of the world. He said that the completion of the building had set a good example not just for the legal profession but for the nation as a whole.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, in a good will message, commended the NBA for its foresight in putting up a befitting building for lawyers in the country.
Earlier, the outgoing President, Mr Augustine Alegeh (SAN), expressed gratitude to the vice president and governors of Rivers and Sokoto, for their invaluable contributions toward the completion of the building.
In an interview with journalists, Alegeh expressed confidence in the ability of the President-Elect of the NBA, Mr Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), adding that he would maintain the edifice.
