By Onozure Dania
Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State has urged lawyers to rise and defend the rule of law in the country.
Lawyers
He made the call while declaring open the quarterly National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, which ended, Tuesday, in Uyo, the State capital.
He said that: “The NBA is a critical institution in our national fabric today. If not for lawyers, only God knows what those political hawks would have done to us. The NBA is the foremost organization in defence of the rule of law in Nigeria today. Therefore, lawyers should rise up and defend the rule of law.”
The governor said that a situation where the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, would declare someone victorious in an election, only for a report from a Divisional Police Officer, DPO, to annul the same election, was highly regrettable as, without the rule of law, democracy will die in Nigeria.
In his remark, the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Mr. Uwemedimo Nwoko, called for increased attention to the plight of young lawyers and hoped that the Legal Profession Regulation Bill would propose a remuneration and welfare committee to stipulate a minimum wage for young lawyers in private law firms.
“Every year, nearly 5,000 lawyers enrol at the Supreme Court as barristers and solicitors. They plunge straight into a most challenging professional practice without experience. More often than not, they are forced to confront realities that threaten their public and personal sense of nobility.
“This must be seen for the danger it represents to the profession and collectively addressed as such,” Nwoko said.
He stated that with a deep sea port, Akwa bom State will dominate the Gulf of Guinea and this is an achievable feat because the state has a deep sea port already and with just one Executive Order for International Oil Companies, OICs, to remain in their host states where they drill oil, the economies of the host states will automatically change
Governor Udom condemned the idea of laying pipes with billions of Naira to take crude oil to refineries while government and individuals can conveniently build the same refineries at the crude oil drilling locations in the oil producing states at a minimal cost. He urged lawyers to ensure compliance with the local content provision in our laws to enhance human capital and economic development of our people.
NBA President, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, in his earlier address, commended Akwa Ibom State Government for promoting smooth operations of Criminal Justice Administration and making dispensation of justice in the state easy.
Mahmoud said that his leadership of the lawyers umbrella body has succeeded in elevating the NBA as a credible partner for national development.
He said NBA had demonstrated keen interest in national affairs and supported the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
The NBA president said the association had, in the last few months, pursued the reform of the law profession and tried to enhance the governance framework of the association.
In his remark, the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Mr. Uwemedimo Nwoko, called for increased attention to the plight of young lawyers and hoped that the Legal Profession Regulation Bill would propose a remuneration and welfare committee to stipulate a minimum wage for young lawyers in private law firms.
“ Every year nearly 5,000 lawyers enrol at the Supreme Court as Barristers and Solicitors. Straight they plunge into a most challenging professional practice without experience. More often than not, they are forced to confront realities that threaten their public and personal sense of nobility.
“This must be seen for the danger it represents to the profession and collectively addressed as
such,” Nwoko said.
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source:
Vanguard