Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, the newly inaugurated president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has promised to uphold discipline and credibility in the legal profession in Nigeria.
Badejo-Okusanya, who was sworn in as the 33rd president of the NBA in Port Harcourt, said the country needs a responsive judicial system to strengthen its democracy.
She said, “We will not be indifferent to delay, conflicting decisions, corruptions, or conduct that diminishes public confidence. Respect for institutions does not require silence about their shortcomings; true respect requires the courage to help them become better.
“We will engage governments constructively, but we will not be captured by any government, party, region, religion, interest, or individual. Our loyalty is to the Constitution, to justice, to the rule of law, and to you, the members, whose mandates we hold in trust.
“We will collaborate where collaboration advances the public good. We will challenge where challenge becomes necessary. And in both, we will act with facts, fairness, discipline, and boldness,” she said.
Badejo-Okusanya also promised to ensure effective service in the legal profession. She said, “Universal suffrage has come to stay. Our task is just to make it work better. And I invite my co-contestants, our regional bar forum, branches, past leaders, young lawyers, old lawyers, and every concerned member, not to sit in their homes and offices or hide behind their keyboards, but to participate constructively in this process.”
She further called for synergy with colleagues to strengthen and improve law practice in Nigeria.
Badejo-Okusanya said, “With the collective strength of the Nigerian Bar, what appears ambitious today can become the inheritance we leave tomorrow. That bar is possible. But it will not be built by the President alone; it will be built by national officers who understand that office is service. By branches that carry the NBA into every community. By elders who lend us wisdom without closing the door behind them. By young lawyers who bring energy, innovation, and honest impatience. By every member who chooses participation over cynicism and contribution over complaints.
“In 2002, I entered this profession and watched the baton pass to a new President. Today, that baton has come into my hands. I receive it with gratitude for those who ran before me, with respect for those who ran beside me, and with a solemn determination to run my own leg faithfully.
“When our tenure ends, may it not be said merely that a woman became President. May it be said that the bar became bolder. May it be said that lawyers felt seen, protected, and empowered. May it be said that we restored faith in what collective professional leadership can achieve. May it be said that we helped our members earn better, live better, and practice better. May it be said that we put members first, and we delivered. May it be said that we left the Association stronger than we met it,” she said.
Afam Osigwe, immediate past president of the NBA, urged members to support Badejo-Okusanya to succeed, while calling on the new president to bring her wealth of experience to bear on her new task.
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