Newly swrn-in Nigerian Bar Assciatin (NBA) President, Mrs yinkansla Badej-kusanya (SAN), has vwed t take decisive actin against lawyers wh deply abusive and insulting language against clleagues n scial media.
Badej-kusanya, wh was swrn in as the 33rd president f the NBA, said her administratin wuld have ‘scant tlerance’ fr prfessinal miscnduct, particularly the use f ffensive language by lawyers in plitical disputes.
She spke in her inaugural address after taking ver the leadership f the assciatin frm Mazi Afam sigwe (SAN).
The new NBA president said lawyers fund guilty f making abusive r insulting psts against clleagues wuld face public prceedings, stressing that such cnduct damaged the reputatin f the prfessin.
‘Such lawyers will be subjected t public prceedings fr bringing us all int disrepute in the eyes f the public, wh lk up t us and are increasingly aghast, as all right-thinking clleagues are, at the type f language that lawyers emply n scial media against ther clleagues, all in the name f plitics,’ befre vwing :’s, we’re cming after yu.’
Badej-kusanya als pledged that her administratin wuld defend judicial independence while speaking ut against delays, cnflicting judgments, crruptin and ther practices capable f undermining public cnfidence in the justice system.
She said respect fr the judiciary did nt require the NBA t remain silent abut its shrtcmings.
Her wrds: ‘We will supprt the Bench while insisting n the integrity and efficiency f the justice system.
‘We will defend judicial independence, but we will nt be indifferent t delay, cnflicting decisins, crruptin, r cnduct that diminishes public cnfidence. Respect fr institutins des nt require silence abut their shrtcmings. True respect requires the curage t help them.’
The NBA president prmised t engage gvernment cnstructively but warned that the assciatin wuld nt becme an instrument f any administratin, plitical party, regin, religin, interest grup r individual.
She said the NBA’s lyalty wuld remain with the Cnstitutin, justice, the rule f law and its members.
‘We will cllabrate where cllabratin advances the public gd. We will challenge where challenge becmes necessary. And abve all, we will act with facts, fairness, discipline, and bldness,’ she said.
Badej-kusanya als prmised cntinuity in NBA leadership, saying she wuld retain and build n initiatives that wrked while repairing thse that did nt.
She said she had studied the manifests f her c-cntestants and identified ideas wrthy f implementatin.
‘Where we adpt them, I will nt hesitate t acknwledge their surce, and give credit where it’s due,’ she said.
The NBA,accrding t her,is bigger than individual leaders and its prgress must be cumulative and sustained.
She described the assciatin as the largest bdy f legal prfessinals in Africa, saying its branches, sectins, fra and cmmittees pssessed the knwledge, influence, creativity and curage needed t transfrm the prfessin and the cuntry.
She pledged t wrk twards a bar where yung lawyers acrss Nigeria culd access quality learning and prfessinal pprtunities, members culd receive prmpt respnses t their cncerns, branches were empwered, appintments were transparent and technlgy wrked effectively.
She als prmised strnger cnsequences fr prfessinal miscnduct and said every lawyer shuld be able t see tangible value in belnging t the NBA.
2027 NBA cnference scheduled fr Abuja
Badej-kusanya annunced that the 2027 Annual General Cnference f the NBA wuld be held in Abuja.
She said preparatins fr the cnference wuld begin immediately, with further details, including the theme and cnstitutin f the Annual General Cnference Planning Cmmittee, t be annunced later.
‘The wrk starts nw. We will gather there nt merely fr anther cnference, but t take stck f ur prgress, deepen ur knwledge, strengthen ur bnds, and prepare us all fr the future f legal practice,’ she said.
The new NBA president als called n members t hld her administratin accuntable, saying she was aware that lawyers had heard prmises frm previus administratins that were nt always fulfilled.
She said: ‘I dn’t ask yu fr blind faith. I ask yu t hld us t accunt,’ she said.
‘ur administratin will cnslidate what wrks, repair what desn’t, and build what the future demands.’
Badej-kusanya, wh said she entered the legal prfessin in 2002, described her emergence as president as the latest stage in the passing f the leadership batn.
She said she assumed ffice with gratitude t previus leaders and a determinatin t serve faithfully.
She said: ‘When ur tenure ends, may it nt be said merely that a wman became president. May it be said that the bar became better; that lawyers became prtected and empwered.
‘May it be said that we restred faith in what cllective prfessinal leadership can achieve. May it be said that we helped ur 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 assciatin strnger than we met it.’
She ended her address with a call fr cllective actin, declaring: ‘The time fr actin is nw. The wrk begins tday. Let us build it tgether.’