After a 10-year lull, legal practitioners from across the country converged last week on Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, for the 2021 Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law annual conference.held at the Jogor Events Centre, Liberty Stadium Road, Ibadan.
Mohammed maintained that the protection of public interest could only be guaranteed through the right legislations and the right policies. He also noted that no right of interest was absolute, but it boiled down to the fact that a standard must be set, far above personal inclinations and interests; and high premium must be placed on freedom and equality.
Justice Mohammed urged lawyers to learn how to do things the right way. He said where the rights of the people were trampled upon, lawyers should rise up to the challenge and ensure the rule of law reigned. “All over the country, hapless Nigerians are being killed, abducted, or maimed with reckless abandon. From the East to the West and from the North to the South, we are faced with the grim picture of a country under siege and tottering at the edge of the precipice. Illustrative examples abound.”
“In addition to the worsening insecurity, we are also faced with the problems of constriction of the civic space, and endangered freedom of expression, ostensible failure of institutions at different levels of governance,” Akpata said. He said it was against this backdrop that the conference sought to examine, analyse and proffer solutions to the various issues plaguing Nigeria.
“Public interest is one of the various mechanisms that can enhance change in both public and private life. Checks will be in place through public opinion and court decisions that reform legal rules, enforce existing laws and articulate public norms,” Ananaba added.First Lady Silk Mrs Folake Solanke noted that the country was facing problems and “the society was upside down” because of gross loss of confidence in the judiciary.
According to him, the core pillar of constitutional democracy is the rule of law and that lawyers are the primary guardians of the rule of law. He admonished lawyers to henceforth play a major and practical role in guiding the shape of Nigeria as a country.Justice Ejembi, who also doubled as the keynote speaker, said it seemed the country had defied all known universal standards of democracy.