Newly sworn-in Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN), has vowed to take decisive action against lawyers who use abusive and insulting language against colleagues on social media.
Badejo-Okusanya, who was sworn in as the 33rd president of the NBA, said her administration would have ‘scant tolerance’ for professional misconduct, particularly the use of offensive language by lawyers in political disputes.
She spoke in her inaugural address after taking over the association’s leadership from Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN).
The new NBA president said lawyers found guilty of making abusive or insulting posts against colleagues would face public proceedings, stressing that such conduct damaged the profession’s reputation.
‘Such lawyers will be subjected to public proceedings for bringing us all into disrepute in the eyes of the public, who look up to us and are increasingly aghast, as all right-thinking colleagues are, at the type of language that lawyers employ on social media against other colleagues, all in the name of politics.
‘So, we’re coming after you.’
Badejo-Okusanya also pledged that her administration would defend judicial independence while speaking out against delays, conflicting judgments, corruption and other practices capable of undermining public confidence in the justice system.
She said respect for the judiciary did not require the NBA to remain silent about its shortcomings.
She said: ‘We will support the Bench while insisting on the integrity and efficiency of the justice system.
‘We will defend judicial independence, but we will not be indifferent to delay, conflicting decisions, corruption, or conduct that diminishes public confidence. Respect for institutions does not require silence about their shortcomings. True respect requires the courage to help them.’
The NBA president promised to engage government constructively but warned that the association would not become an instrument of any administration, political party, region, religion, interest group or individual.
She said the NBA’s loyalty would remain with the Constitution, justice, the rule of law and its members.
‘We will collaborate where collaboration advances the public good. We will challenge where challenge becomes necessary. And above all, we will act with facts, fairness, discipline, and boldness,’ she said.
Badejo-Okusanya also promised continuity in NBA leadership, saying she would retain and build on initiatives that worked while repairing those that did not.
She said she had studied the manifestos of her co-contestants and identified ideas worthy of implementation.
‘Where we adopt them, I will not hesitate to acknowledge their source, and give credit where it’s due,’ she said.
According to her, the NBA was bigger than individual leaders and its progress must be cumulative and sustained.
She described the association as the largest body of legal professionals in Africa, saying its branches, sections, fora and committees possessed the knowledge, influence, creativity and courage needed to transform the profession and the country.
She pledged to work towards a bar where young lawyers across Nigeria could access quality learning and professional opportunities, members could receive prompt responses to their concerns, branches were empowered, appointments were transparent and technology worked effectively.
She also promised stronger consequences for professional misconduct and said every lawyer should be able to see tangible value in belonging to the NBA.
2027 NBA conference to hold in Abuja
Badejo-Okusanya announced that the 2027 Annual General Conference of the NBA would be held in Abuja.
She said preparations for the conference would begin immediately, with further details, including the theme and constitution of the Annual General Conference Planning Committee, to be announced later.
‘The work starts now. We will gather there not merely for another conference, but to take stock of our progress, deepen our knowledge, strengthen our bonds, and prepare us all for the future of legal practice,’ she said.
The new NBA president also called on members to hold her administration accountable, saying she knew lawyers had heard promises from previous administrations that were not always fulfilled.
She said, ‘I don’t ask you for blind faith. I ask you to hold us to account.’
‘Our administration will consolidate what works, repair what doesn’t, and build what the future demands.’
Badejo-Okusanya, who said she entered the legal profession in 2002, described her emergence as president as the latest stage in the passing of the leadership baton.
She said she assumed office with gratitude to previous leaders and a determination to serve faithfully.
She said, ‘When our tenure ends, may it not be said merely that a woman became president. May it be said that the bar became better; that lawyers became 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 ended her address with a call for collective action, declaring: ‘The time for action is now. The work begins today. Let us build it together.’