Enugu, the Enugu State capital, was at its resplendent best as it laid out the welcome mat for the cream of Nigeria’s legal fraternity on the occasion of the 2025 Annual General Conference.
NEWSWIRE Law Events Magazine correspondent in Enugu reports that the Conference, which was tagged, ‘Stand Out, Stand Tall,’ was graced by eminent personalities from all walks of life – from Senior Advocates of Nigeria and other senior lawyers, to Honorable Justices and Judges from jurisdictions across the country, including from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and High Courts. Others included captains of industry, accomplished professionals across sectors, political players, as well as special guests from beyond the shores of Nigeria.
Among them was the Chief Host of the Conference, HE, Peter Mba, Governor of Enugu State; the Chairman of the event and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar; the President of the NBA, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, who was joined by a number of his predecessors – namely, Chief OCJ Okocha, SAN, Augustine Alegeh, SAN, and Olumide Akpata; the Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ossai and his Benue State counterpart, Dr. Sam Ode; the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Hon. Justice Afojulu Ozoemena; the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Professor Abdulkadir Abikan; the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education, Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN; the General Secretary of the NBA, Dr. Mobalaji Ojibara, the Chairman of the NBA National Conference Planning Committee (CPC), Dr. Emeka Obegolu, SAN; the former Attorney General of the Federation, Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN; the Chief of Staff, Government House, Enugu, Chief Victor Udeh, prominent human rights lawyers, High Chief (Prof.) Mike Ozekhome, SAN; and Femi Falana, SAN.
Among the welcome speeches and goodwill messages delivered at the Opening Ceremonies was one by His Eminence Alhaji Saad Abubakar, who noted that law was crucial to society because it protects social order. “Without the law,” he asserted, “society risks descending into chaos.”
Also welcoming the assembled guests to his state, Gov. Peter Mbah said that the Enugu State was determined to stand out on the scales of justice so that no one operates above the law.
The NBA President, Mazi Osigwe, SAN, who also spoke at the Opening Ceremony, urged all his colleagues to stand out by embracing excellence, and to stand tall by showing courage, especially in these times when, he said, Nigeria needs principled voices and resilient leadership more than ever.
NEWSWIRE’s correspondent reports that the highlight of the opening ceremony was a fiery, no-holds-barred Keynote Speech by the South African politician, Julius Malema. Malema, a former anti-apartheid militant with the now-ruling African National Congress (ANC), who later broke with the ANC in 2013 to form the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), put on the front-burner, the issues of Africa’s place in the global scheme of things, and the role of Nigeria (and South Africa) in the continent’s resurgence as a global player. A member of the South African parliament whose party is now a minority partner in government, Malema harked back to the dark days of apartheid, and Nigeria’s solidarity with anti-apartheid forces, to stress the bond between the two nations, and the urgent imperative that they both rise to the occasion of rescuing Africa from its current predicament.
While condemning the continuing exploitation of Africa’s resources by foreign powers and their local agents, and the civil conflicts triggered by the scramble for the control of national resources, Malema also frowned on the tendency by Africans to seek validation and solutions outside the continent. He echoed such Pan-Africanist legends as Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey in calling for a United States of Africa, a confederal entity with a single currency, a single capital and a single President. He called on African nations to strengthen the mechanisms of integration and cooperation (such as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in order to drive the industrialization of the continent, singling out South African multinationals and Nigerian banks operating outside their home countries, to demonstrate the possibilities of African integration, and their potential to create an African economy that would rival any on the planet.
Turning to the NBA, whose motto is ‘Promoting the Rule of Law,’ he urged the body to strive to create a legal ecosystem that would serve the masses, rather than the elite, some of whom he called the ‘indigenous collaborators’ of colonial interests. Stressing the role of the legal profession in the anti-colonial struggles of the past, the South African politician called on Nigerian lawyers to re-imagine the law as a tool for justice and the economic emancipation of the Nigerian people. He also urged the global legal fraternity to join hands in helping the cause of oppressed ethnic and religious minorities across the globe.
Malema concluded his rousing speech by expressing regret over the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa a few years, saying it was a negation of the spirit of African brotherhood and solidarity.
The Keynote Address brought to an end the proceedings of the opening ceremony, as conferees prepared for the panel discussions that were to follow in the course of the four-day conference.
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