Preface to The Contribution of Chief Folake Solanke SAN, CON at the Pre-Swearing-In Induction Programme for the New Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) at the Pre-Swearing -In Induction for the New Senior Advocates of Nigeria at the Victoria Hall, Lagos Continental Hotel, Lagos, on the 10th day of November, 2022.
Learned friends and Eminent guests I offer apologies for my painful absence. I salute everyone here present. However, on Friday the 21st day of October 2022, I fell desperately ill after the grueling Ibadan/Lagos Express journey which left me completely traumatized. I could not even attend the BOSAN Reception for the Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the new Chief Justice of Nigeria where I was to speak as a Special Guest, and for which event I had travelled from Ibadan to Lagos. Our learned friend of the Silk — Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN kindly read my speech on my behalf, and I hereby offer my profound appreciation to him. I was evacuated to Ibadan on Sunday the 23rd day of October,2022 for treatment. I thank God for my survival, while still recuperating at home. In view of the foregoing, I hereby re-present my 2021 speech for my 2022 presentation “in absentia.” Thus, by the sheer powerful force of language, my 2021 speech has been transformed to my 2022 speech. I only add my copious congratulations and felicitations to the newly appointed Silks. I pray that God will bestow upon you all longevity in good health.”Deo volente ”. Please enjoy the speech The Contribution of Chief Folake Solanke SAN, CON at the Pre–Swearing–In Induction Programme for the New Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) at the Pre–Swearing –In Induction for the New Senior Advocates of Nigeria at the Victoria Hall, Lagos Continental Hotel, Lagos, on the 10th day of November, 2022. Protocol I thank Chief Felix Fagbohungbe SAN — Chairman of the Committee to Implement Recommendation on the Utilization of the SAN Leadership Fund and Prof. Olanrewaju Onadeko SAN — the Induction Coordinator — for their gracious letter dated the 19th day of November, 2021 inviting me to be a facilitator on the topic: “The Relationship of Senior Advocates of Nigeria with Other Lawyers” Relationship of Senior Advocates (SANs) with other Lawyers My focus in this Paper is to concentrate on the relationship of the SANs with junior lawyers. The SANs are well aware of how to relate to one another as learned friends of the Silk. It is always a source of joy for me to recall with nostalgia, the euphoria which I savoured forty (40) years ago when I became the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). The topic has powerfully reminded me of the tremendous professional impact which my elevation had on me. I am happy to share the experience with you. I believe that my mood of sheer euphoria and jubilation was captured in my Autobiography: “Reaching for the Stars” (Updated Edition),1 in the following words: Soon after my elevation, I had to appear in an appeal in the Supreme Court in Lagos. Having regard to my determination to show superb leadership at the Inner Bar, on the Sunday before the Monday court appearance, I took over a sitting-room in my home to refresh my mind on the details in the Record of Appeal, review the facts and the cases to be cited. A family friend, who came to visit us, was absolutely amazed to find me on a Sunday afternoon, surrounded by law-reports in my sitting room. On my first appearance in the Court that had just decorated me, my legal submissions must reflect my new status as a Silk! I confess that I enjoy the prose in a well- written judgment. The Inner Bar carries with it, not only immense professional dignity, but it imposes the awesome professional burden of leadership at the Bar so that the younger members can look up to the Senior Advocates to learn from them and be inspired by them. That also translates into the Senior Advocate demonstrating much learning and courtesy to the Bench and to learned colleagues. In short, a Silk must represent the best in professional ethics, tradition and history. I felt the heavy weight of that professional responsibility and still do. I am gratified that the Bar, both at the local and national levels, has acknowledged my modest contribution to the profession in many ways. I am a life patron of the NBA Ibadan and FIDA Ibadan and now decorated by the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria with the title of “Matriarch of the Bar’. I am most grateful. The relationship of the SANs with other lawyers is that of friendship at the Bar in the pursuit of justice. As SANs we must treat all lawyers with respect in our leadership role and help the juniors to develop. We should also collaborate with other lawyers to support the Nigerian Bar Association for the edification of our one and only learned profession. Section 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 acknowledges the right to the “dignity of the human person.” A Senior Advocate of Nigeria must always be conscious of this protected right by treating the other lawyers courteously and not contemptuously. As Ministers in the temple of justice, we owe a duty to assist and monitor the juniors in a manner that prepares them to be good Seniors in the future. The junior lawyers and lawyers in pupillage should be paid adequate remuneration and hours of duty must comply with the labour law which stipulates 40 hours per week. The learned juniors have a life beyond the law office . I expressed this opinion on the floor of the 2019 NBA Conference in Lagos. All people are equal before God and man. Thus the SAN must not debase the lofty status of a Silk by being rude to or oppress junior lawyers. Junior lawyers must not be bullied and treated as inferior lawyers. All lawyers are equal before the law without prejudice to the tradition that Juniors must be respectful to their seniors. It would amount to professional arrogance for SANs to bully junior lawyers. Mentoring the New Wigs As a SAN, you must not be too busy to monitor, counsel and train learned juniors. Every SAN started as a new
Speech Delivered by He (General) Abdulsalami A Abubakar, GCFR, Former Head of State of The Federal Republic of Nigeria At The 2021 Annual Dinner of The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria Held In Lagos On Saturday, 29 January 2022
Protocols I feel privileged to be amid so many learned and very distinguished Senior Advocates of Nigeria, men, and women who, through hard work and dedication have been recognized by their peers and elevated to the pinnacle of their Having spent all of my adult life in a regimented profession that is considered by critics not to be democratic in nature, I almost feel like fish out of water in your midst except that I have been blessed to have a lifelong partner, friend, confidant and companion who is as learned as you all are and had risen to the pinnacle of the judiciary in Niger State as the Chief Judge, and I am referring to my dearest wife, Her Excellency Fatima Abubakar, CON. Through her, I have been assimilated into the culture and practice of law and I therefore do not have the trepidation I would ordinarily have had having to face this distinguished gathering of most learned and distinguished gentlemen. Incidentally, my wife, Fatima, had planned to accompany me for this gathering, but we sadly had a clash of programs for today and, in a democratic manner, therefore agreed that while she would represent me in the other programs, I should represent both of us at this eminent gathering of distinguished Gentlemen of the Bar. She however sends her best wishes and regards to the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Let me start by wishing the Body and all its members, a Happy New Year and a most prosperous 2022, in good health with lots of celebrations in our personal and collective lives and, most of all, with Divine Grace and Given the amount of fees which I am told Senior Advocates deservedly charge for their services, perhaps, my prayer for prosperity for all of you in this New Year is superfluous. That, notwithstanding, I still pray for your continuing prosperity and good health in this New Year and beyond and for very good reason. We all need the legal institution, no matter our station in life. It is always said that the court is the only hope of the common man. In truth, it is the only hope for all of us, no matter our status in society. Beyond our personal needs for an assured legal institution, there is no gainsaying that the institution has been the mainstay of our corporate existence, notably, in some very perilous moments. The advocacy from the Bar and the judgments from the Bench have at critical moments saved our Nation from the precipice. And so, we all have a stake in the assured good health and prosperity of the legal institution and all its members, not least, the Distinguished Senior Advocates of Nigeria. My wife and I also rejoice with the new entrants into the league of Senior Advocates of Nigeria who we celebrate today. The rank, we all know, is the highest status amongst legal I am told that the process for attaining the rank is extremely rigorous and involves, amongst others, the candidates recording a minimum number of concluded cases in the various superior Courts of record or having distinguished and peer-reviewed legal publications, having befitting law offices and attending physical interviews where their comportment and fitness for the elevation are assessed by very distinguished panels of their peers from the Bar and the Bench. In the last two years, I understand that the number of newly elevated members has jumped from the traditionally conservative less than 20 for each year to the more liberal 70 and above for each of the two years. I see that as evidence of the abundance of talent that we are blessed with in Nigeria and proof that there is ample talent amongst us to make our country great. Even more impressive is the diversity in the newly elevated members of the rank – diversity in terms of gender, region, religion and much more. That diversity which mirrors our national polity is a strength which, if well harnessed, will produce bounteous benefits and results. In no instance or respect therefore should our national diversity, just like the diversity in your ranks, be viewed as a weakness or fault-line. It is a strength in nation-building that should weld us together in common purpose and focus. Wearing the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria automatically confers on each member of your Body the status of a leader and it therefore behooves you individually to provide the required leadership not only in the legal profession but nationally as Permit me to mention four areas of leadership in justice administration that I believe the Body and its members should be in the forefront of, thereby leading by example and setting the tone for national rejuvenation in that sector. First, it is always said, perhaps too glibly, that justice delayed is justice denied. This is true in all cases, be they criminal justice administration or in the resolution of civil disputes. Criminal justice administration has the greatest emphasis because the liberty of individuals is often involved not to mention the imperative for justice to be served for the victims of crimes and their families. It is disturbing that in Year 2022, criminal trials still take years to conclude with the attendant emptiness and anxieties in the lives of the victims of crimes as well as the complete disruption in and to the lives of the defendants who, in some cases, may ultimately be pronounced innocent but may never recover from the years of trauma and societal opprobrium that attend criminal trials. No less disturbing is the time that it takes for civil matters to be disposed of by our I was this week made aware of a civil dispute involving the one of our national institutions that was commenced in 1996 and was finally determined at the Federal High Court on 18 January 2022 – 26 years after the commencement of the Suit! Children who were born in 1996 and who have been blessed with uninterrupted
A Speech By The President Of The Nigerian Bar Association, Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud,OON, San At The Special Session Of The Supreme Court Of Nigeria To Mark The Opening Of The 2017/2018 Legal Year And The Investiture Of The New Senior Advocates Of Nigeria, At The Supreme Court Of Nigeria, Abuja On 18th Day Of September, 2017
Protocols My Lord, the Chief Justice of Nigeria My Lords, Justices of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal; Judges of other Superior Courts, Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Benchers, Members of the Inner and Utter Bar. Distinguished Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen; Introduction I begin by thanking the Almighty God for sparing our lives to witness yet another occasion of the opening of a New Legal year. I thank My Lord, the Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen for the privilege to speak at today’s special sitting of this Court to mark the beginning of the legal year 2017/18 and also the admission of 29 very distinguished colleagues into the inner Bar. I should also congratulate our noble justices for their well deserved vacations. One could glean from the looks of my Lords faces, that you have all had restful holidays and are well prepared for the year ahead. Let me also use this brief opening remarks to thank most sincerely, the Chief Justice for personally gracing our 2017 Annual General Conference which was held in Lagos from the 18th to 24th of August. My Lord we thank you most sincerely for being present and also delivering a speech at the opening. I should apologize too for the mix up in your subsequent participation in one of the sessions which you had mandated Hon. Justice Abdu Aboki JCA to represent you. I investigated the matter and found out that there was some miscommunication between your office and the Conference Planning Secretariat and hence the omission to properly schedule that presentation in our program. Please accept my apologies on behalf of the Bar. My Lords, distinguished colleagues, It has been the tradition that on occasion of the opening of the legal year we take time to reflect, take stock, and chart the way forward for the coming year not only for this Court, but indeed for the legal profession and the administration of justice in general. In keeping with this tradition, I crave your indulgence to, on behalf of the Bar, make some statements, on the state of the Bar, the legal profession in general and also state of the nation. The legal year 2016/2017 was in sense, to borrow the famous latin phrase, our own Annus Horribillis, a year on which we shall certainly look back with ‘undiluted displeasure’! We began early in September with scathing and uncharitable description of Senior Lawyers as ‘Vultures’, followed later in October by the now infamous raid and detention of justices of Superior Courts with all the ensuing controversies, then the tardy succession into the office of the Chief Justice and more lately the rumour of an on-going criminal investigation involving the leadership of the Court. I have no intention of stirring or raking up any wounds. I am sure, much has been learnt from these experiences and it is to the positive side I will later turn to. But now to our new Silks: New Senior Advocates of Nigeria Let me begin by congratulating our distinguished colleagues on their elevation to the rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria and admission into the inner Bar. On behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association, I extend our warm felicitations to all of you, your families and associates. Your admission to the inner bar is a recognition of the professional excellence that each and every one of you has attained. You have all made indelible marks in your various areas of endeavours as legal professionals. You now share with other leaders of the Bar the burden and responsibility for professional leadership that the rank imposes. By your new position, you are role models for the profession. Indeed the rank, I dare say is not just an honour bestowed by the legal profession, it is a national honour of the highest rank. We therefore owe a duty not only to fellow legal professionals but to our fellow citizens and indeed to the nation. Our country would expect from you provision of legal services with highest standards of excellence. Inherent in the rank, is a notion of quality assurance, but one in which the public duty is placed above every other consideration. Legal practice has always had a business side to it. As I said in my speech at the similar event of last year on 19th September, 2016, “….if the idea of the award of the rank to a few of us every year was merely to grant commercial advantage above our other colleagues, then there will be hardly any justification for it. I must therefore remind us on this solemn occasion that there are huge responsibilities that accompany this rank. The responsibility to promote justice delivery to fellow citizens on the basis of the highest ethical and professional standards. There is a solemn duty to mentor, groom and develop younger members of the bar who will carry forward the rich traditions of the legal profession. We have a duty to promote the independence and integrity of the legal profession. We must recognize that the prosperity of this country depends, amongst everything else, first and foremost, on our ability to promote the rule of law and guarantee justice and fairness to our communities and our fellow citizens”. Again, we are confident that the new members of the inner bar being sworn-in today will join other leaders of the profession in the task of not only maintaining the hallowed traditions of the bar, but also in the daunting task of nation building on the solid foundations of the rule of law. State of The Bar My lords, distinguished colleagues let me now make some remarks on the state of the Bar. The year has not been without its challenges. Much of these internally generated. Some of our branches have been mired in unnecessary leadership tussles. Some of the dramatis personae have rebuffed all efforts from our leaders to cooperate to resolve these issues. The national body was not spared. We have faced