Departing from his written text, the guest lecturer said lawyers displeased with a court decision already had a remedy. “It is wrong,” he said.
“You are not pleased with the judgment. You know your avenue. You know the right of appeal.”
“Don’t go to court to fight and then come out to castigate judges when you know they cannot join issues with you,” he added.
He referred to a lawyer who, he said, had attacked a judge on television two or three days earlier, and to a statement by the NBA President condemning it, describing the conduct as “something which we all condemn”.
The NBA President, Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, said in a statement dated 13 November that she had petitioned the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee over remarks by a lawyer, Mr Kalu Kalu, about a judicial officer on Channels Television’s Politics Today of 11 November.
Speaking off the text, he said critiquing judgments was properly the work of legal scholars, who analyse decisions and cite authorities to show where courts went wrong.
“So there is no need for anybody to attack a judge,” he said.
He blamed what he called the Nigerian craving for titles, including the rank of SAN, and urged lawyers to choose a lane.
“Let us compartmentalise it. Let us stay where we are,” he said, adding that those seeking silk should remain practitioners while aspiring professors should critique judgments from the academy.
On corruption, “Bribe is not even when you give money. Bribe goes beyond that. The moment you don’t start, you will never get involved and you always have peace of mind,” he said.
“If you lose your integrity, there is no court of appeal that can restore it,” the lecture states. “The rules tell you what you must not do. Ethics is what you do when no one is looking.”
In his delivery, he urged students to study the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, warning that breaches could lead to suspension for a year or two, or to a lawyer’s name being struck off the roll.
In his welcome address, the President of NAMLAS UI, Mr Tariq Agboola, said the association had for over 20 years engaged Muslim law students and the public through its events “in order to infuse in its members and the society the necessary values for a remarkable career in the legal space”.
He recalled the association’s past events, including the Annual Hon. Justice Muritala Okunola Public Lecture, the publication of the Al-Adl Journal in honour of Hon. Justice Tijani Bolarinwa Oyegoke Babalakin, and the Tunji Ogunride SAN Annual National Advocacy Competition.
“We are here to celebrate those who have made substantial impact in the arena of law, to inspire aspiring legal practitioners, to encourage our elders in the legal industry to continue to promote legal education, and also, to welcome our Alumni and well wishers home to where it all started,” he said.