Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

The adoption of a set of reforms that are hinged on reclaiming the traditions of virtuous ethics and entrenching personal and corporate integrity, among other things, are some of the requisites for addressing the many challenges facing the legal profession in Nigeria, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The Vice President stated this in Abuja at the Body of Bencher Award Night where he was preferred to the prestigious rank of Life Bencher.

Osinbajo reiterated the fact that the legal profession as it is today, stands at a critical cross-road. “Yet, the different possible paths that we could take have, to my mind, never been as clear as they are today. One path is the path of business as usual which of course means that we will face the extinction of our credibility soon enough”, he said.

According to him, “the weaknesses that have recently been exposed in our profession, as disturbing as they are, have at the same time provided us great opportunity for deep introspection and self-assessment”.

He added that it is an opportunity for reform and reclaim of that tradition of virtuous ethics; a tradition of moral inquiry and doggedness in the dispassionate and impartial application of law no matter whose ox is gored.

“Our professional practice and the courts must always measure up to the moral, ethical and statutory standards we subscribed to. Whether we sit at the Bar or on the Bench, we bear the responsibility for a fair and just society; a free, fair and impartial justice system that ushers in progressive reforms in governance and protects the social structure of our nation.”