The Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association swore in its new executive committee members for the term 2022–2024 on Friday, December 9, 2022.
Read below the Acceptance Speech delivered by Oluwaseyi Olawumi Esq., Chairman NBA Ikeja Branch 2022-2024
– The President and other national officers here present;
– Learned Senior Advocates;
– Highly revered Seniors and very distinguished learned colleagues
First and foremost, I thank the Almighty God for His mercies over this Branch and for the grace and privilege to serve as Chairman of our great Branch. It is with great humility and great sense of duty that we accept the responsibility of serving our Branch in the next two years. As I stand here before you humbled by the privilege to serve as Chairman of our great Branch, I am also standing before you grateful for your trust and overwhelming mandate.
Before I proceed, I wish to thank members of the immediate past Executive Committee and all our past Executives who have at one time or the other served and sincerely contributed their quotas to the development of the Branch. My sincere appreciation also goes to the Electoral Committee that conducted our elections; contestants for all the offices contested; all voters and indeed other members of the Branch without whom our Branch would not have existed. Permit me to thank my boss, Dr. Adekunle Akanbi Ojo, SAN for his mentorship.
As you may well be aware, I did not make the journey here alone, so an enormous salute to all of you who fought for what you believe in and I also acknowledge the courage of our members who thought otherwise because that experience afforded me critical learning curves in my quest to serve the Bar.
The time has now come, and it is my pleasure to inform you that since we were elected, we have been consulting and engaging numerous members of the Branch and we shall continue in this quest in order to achieve a truly United Bar without compromising the integrity and honour of the profession because no society or association like ours can thrive in an atmosphere of strife, rancor and bitterness. It is my belief that to build a prosperous Bar, we need to first build a united Bar. I am also not unaware that to build a united Bar, we need to promote the fundamental principles of truth, fairness, equity, justice and trust.
Since my call to the Nigerian Bar, I have had the uncommon privilege of serving at various levels of the Bar, both at the Branch and at the National levels. So, I am well familiar with this terrain and I know the various problems confronting us as a Branch; from Members’ Welfare, to the critical issue of Transparency and Accountability, as well as the Inefficient Justice Delivery System, just to mention a few.
We shall together, create a Bar that focuses on her members through achievable welfare initiatives and human capital development programmes;
I solemnly pledge that the finances and transactions of the Branch shall not be shrouded in secrecy;
We shall move swiftly to address complaints bordering on the practice of law with a view to minimize if not eliminate all bottle necks confronting Court users in Lagos State. Ensure mutual respect between the Bar and the Bench as necessary partners in progress. We shall also form a strong partnership with our colleagues in the official Bar and give them a sense of belonging.
In all, we desire to run an all-inclusive administration with an open-door policy, dealing with every member of the Branch with respect, open mind and sincerity of purpose. We shall ensure that every member has a genuine sense of belonging in the Branch and no one shall be left out, irrespective of tribe, religion, status and/or age at the Bar.
In keeping with gender affirmative action, we shall ensure gender balance in our policies and appointments in order to give our female colleagues the opportunities of greater participation in the affairs and activities of the Branch. Ditto for the teeming young lawyers.
Our elders and leaders shall be accorded their well-deserved place in the scheme of things within the Branch; because those who respect the elderly pave their own road toward success.
This work is enormous but we are ready to do the work. I only seek your prayers and cooperation; and I urge you to answer us when we call on you. Your advice, prayers and constructive criticism will be highly appreciated.
Before I conclude, I would like to thank my loving wife, for releasing me to the Branch for the next two years. I appreciate deeply, your prayers and words of encouragement.
As I conclude, I would like to thank you once again, for the confidence you have reposed in me along with other Executive members. We consider it a honour and a privilege to serve our great Branch. And I would like to reassure you that we shall take very seriously, our responsibility as servant officers of the Branch. We shall be accessible to our members, we shall listen to your concerns and suggestions, and we shall endeavor to justify the trust you have placed in us and act as responsible heirs of the legacy upon which the NBA, especially our Branch, was founded.
Thank you and God bless you all.
