The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has reiterated the need to create a constitutional role for traditional rulers in the country.
Fagbemi stated this while speaking at the turning-of-the-sod ceremony of the Bar building project of the Ibadan branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Friday in Ibadan.
He said this was necessary because traditional institutions remained the most accessible and closest to the citizens.
“The traditional rulers play an important role in communicating government policies and programmes to members of the community, and also help in the provision of succour during crises,” Fagbemi added.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) noted also that traditional rulers play a great and vital role in maintaining peaceful co-existence in their various communities.
“They are the closest to the grassroots, which makes it possible for them to conveniently prevent violence in their domain, ” he said.
The attorney general urged members of the Bar to always uphold and strengthen the disciplinary procedures of the law profession.
“As legal practitioners, we are meant to lay good example for others to follow. We should not throw caution to the wind because of the situation in the society.
“The behaviour of members of the Bar, by virtue of the position they find themselves in the society, will mirror their position,” he said.
In the same vein, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in Nigeria, Akinlolu Olujinmi, urged lawyers to always behave in accordance with the ethics of the profession.
“The business of the reform of the country’s laws is an ongoing process.
”There should be continuous efforts at every level of government to ensure that there is law in place at all times to meet up with the increased criminalities in the society,” Olujinmi, also a SAN, said.
Speaking on the building project, Chairman of NBA’s Ibadan Branch, Folashade Aladeniyi, said it would be the second legacy project of the branch’s 2022-2024 executive committee.
”This is our second legacy project, after the launching of the Bar book.
“It is a two-floor secretariat building which will comprise gym centre and office space,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project has been scheduled to be completed before the expiration of the tenure of the current executive committee in June.
