Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Monday held the groundbreaking ceremony of its Lagos Bar Centre in Lekki Phase 1, with Wale Babalakin, the pro-chancellor of the University of Lagos and chairman of Resort Group, harping on the need for continuous education for lawyers.
The land for the project was donated to the NBA by the Lagos State government.
Speaking at the event, Babalakin, who is chairman of the project committee, said, “everybody in Nigeria needs to be more equipped and more educated.
“We have to improve the education of lawyers as well. That is bedrock. When you have good education, you’ll be able to decipher what is good and what is bad and you’ll be able to make your demands,” Babalakin said.
“So, fundamentally, legal education is continuous. It doesn’t end with your becoming a lawyer or a SAN,” he said.
On the Lagos Bar Centre, he said for a long time, the NBA Lagos chapter had wanted to provide for its members a comfortable Bar Centre that would be a centre “for ideas, meetings and coordinating the activities of the bar”.
He said he was proud that the project was taking off, adding that the project cost had been significantly “brought down without compromising the integrity”.
“The selection of the consultants was done in a competitive way. We have brought the cost down significantly without compromising quality. It is to the glory of God that we are able to lay this foundation on the last day
in office of the Lagos NBA chairman, Mr Chukwuka Ikuazom, and I think it is only fair for what he has done. We intend to finish this project ahead of schedule,” Babalakin said.
He said the project committee had put the two contractors, who emerged, through a serious test and had insisted that all committee members should visit their projects and make a decision on who should emerge.
“We have kept to the very high standards of the bar and there is nobody in the committee that has any interest in any consultant or contractor. The selection process was done with total openness, with capacity, diligence and integrity as the yardstick for choosing the consultants. We made it clear at every stage that we were expending the association’s money and it must be accounted for to the last kobo,” he said.
Paul Usoro, NBA national president, said he was proud to be at the event, adding that as a member of lag os branch, he had been involved in the plan to build a Lagos Bar Centre.
He said prudence was critical in project management and delivery, adding that at the national level, they were in the process of amending the constitution to make sure that corporate governance principles were put in place.
Ikuazom, who had earlier promised to deliver a Lagos NBA Bar Centre during his electioneering campaign, thanked all members for their support towards the project. He said his committee had set aside a substantial sum of money for the project and urged his successor to ensure that the centre becomes a reality soon.
