The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, has called on senior Lawyers to seek the welfare of young Lawyers working under them.
The CJN who was speaking at the annual dinner party of the Body of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (BOSAN), lamented the welfare and working condition of the young Lawyers saying: “there is a need for you to do something urgent about this”.
“Their dressing in court is shameful, and one cannot blame them, due to their poor welfare package”, Justice Ibrahim added.
The CJN who was represented by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun JSC, further stressed the need for more training, as well for the young Lawyers as well, while commending BOSAN for instituting the scholarship program given to the most outstanding law students in Nigeria, as one that will help improve the study of law in our country.
Also speaking at the event, the special guest of honour, Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, said that justice belongs to the people, and not the legal profession.
Osinbajo, emphasised that the impact of the legal profession in fixing societal ills and building a just society, he also noted that “our system of justice is a public resource, it does not belong to the legal profession, it does not belong to the Bar or to the Bench; it belongs to the people.
“We are paid operators of a service that our Constitution created, to resolve their disputes and give justice. We are custodians, not owners. When this public resource is not working effectively on account of delays, or it is being discredited by corruption, we, the operators have a moral, legal and civic obligation to fix it”.
“Every one of us seated here today knows that there is a lot wrong with our system of justice today; history beckons us to fix it”, the Vice President added.
Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who delivered the keynote lecture at the event urged both Judges and Lawyers to do something about the length of time it takes to complete cases.
“It is disturbing that criminal trials at this time and age, still take years to be concluded. It is also disheartening that civil disputes also takes years, same for commercial disputes and this affects the growth of our economy.”