…As lawyers make ethical oath declaration
Concerned about the growing wave of unethical conduct among lawyers in the country, the leadership of the Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has devoted day three of its 2025 Lagos Law Week to deliberate on deepening public trust in the profession.
According to the organisers, the third day of the annual conference will explore strategies to reform the disciplinary system and restore the profession’s moral leadership with the sub-theme: ‘Restoring public trust in the legal profession.”
The conference, which is scheduled for June 14 to 20 at the MUSON Centre in Lagos, with the theme: ‘Reimagining the practice of law: Ethics, innovation, and the future of legal services – Lets be lawyers again,’ will also see members of the Lagos Branch of the NBA take an ethical oath during the forthcoming annual law conference.
Olabisi Makanjuola, chairman, NBA Lagos Branch, said that the official ethical oath declaration, introduced for the first time, will be supervised by Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and supported by Lawal Pedro, the commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Lagos State.
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According to him, the ethical oath declaration was introduced as part of the conference to remind lawyers of their enormous responsibilities to society. “We cannot run away from the fact that there is a lot of decadence in the profession. We cannot run away from the fact that we lawyers are the major cause of our problems,” he said.
According to Makanjuola, the leadership of the branch are concerned about the ethical lapses among lawyers. “In my capacity as chairman of the Bar in Lagos, I receive at the minimum three or four petitions everyday against lawyers, including from landlords complaining that lawyers refused to pay rent.
“It is that bad. Some of the petitions are against senior lawyers. So, we chose the topic to remind ourselves that as lawyers, we owe ourselves, the practice and Nigeria the duty to live as lawyers. That is why there will be an ethical declaration,” Makanjuola said.
He also disclosed that this year’s conference will not just be another talk show, and the NBA will issue a communiqué after the conference. “I am confident that whoever takes over after my tenure will enforce whatever we have agreed to do.
“It’s our own little way of cleaning up the profession. We hope that after the conference, lawyers will sit up and begin to conduct themselves appropriately,” Makanjuola said.
Tolu Aderemi, chairman, Lagos Law Week planning committee, disclosed that the leadership of the branch will design a mechanism by which lawyers will be held accountable after the ethical oath declaration.
“We’re all very concerned as to what the minimum ethical standard is. It does not look like we have any. Post-conference, I believe that will be in place and the disciplinary committee will have a lot more work to do,” Aderemi said.
According to him, the conference will feature concurrent masterclasses in different locations on Day 4 (June 18), while Day 5 will feature a regulatory clinic – a walk-in session where lawyers can directly engage with government agencies and departments, such as the Lagos Lands Bureau, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), EFCC, LIRS, Probate Section, FCCPC, SEC, among others.
