The President | The Nigerian Lawyers Association (NLA)

On behalf of the newly sworn-in executives of the Nigerian Lawyers Association, I express my deep appreciation to everyone present here for this event. We understand the busy schedules that constitute your world and the numerous commitments jostling for your time, particularly in this economic environment. All the more reason why we would like to say a very big thank you.

Judge Debra James, thank you so much being able to fellowship with us tonight and facilitate administering the oath of office. You have been a great support and encouragement to the Nigerian Lawyers Association these past years. Your willingness and enthusiasm whenever we come calling on you to assist in these ceremonies has always been a huge motivation to the Association. We are, as always, highly elated to have you here with us tonight. Your honour, thank you so much.

At different points in our lives, we all have faced a call to sacrifice that which is so precious, “our time” for causes in which we believe, and the common good of others in our communities. Some actually find it pretty easy to take on such responsibility, while others for good reason, might find it quite a challenge. Whichever is the case for each of us, I want to appreciate and congratulate the newly elected executives for stepping up to the task in 2009.

The Nigerian Lawyers Association is a call to serve our community. Over the years, we have garnered the tools available to us as Attorneys to, as clearly set out in our constitution, facilitate the administration of justice, provide understanding and access to the law and advance professional development and legal education. But very importantly also, the NLA is a call to be an Ambassador for the legal profession of our great country, Nigeria. Friends, whether we like it or not, the moment that winning vote was cast by the founding members in 1999, to name this association the Nigerian Lawyers Association, we all were conscripted into that diplomatic corps (…without the immunity, I should add). Think about it this way, “you or I may be the only version of the Nigerian story people ever read”.

As we proceed with the task set before us this New Year, we go with the trust and confidence you all have placed upon us to lead the NLA. We are mindful of the several challenges that lie ahead but also attentive to the numerous opportunities available to be harnessed for the Association. One of such opportunities (which I find quite fascinating) is to foster an information-sharing partnership with the Integrity and Accountability initiatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission in Nigeria. The commission is currently chaired by Justice Emmanuel Ayoola (who, as you may recall, was our keynote speaker at our merit award dinner event in September 2008). Justice Ayoola had shared some of his thoughts with us on his initiatives with respect to establishing a center for Integrity and Accountability aimed at shifting the focus from prosecution to enlightenment programs on the values and ethics required for our development as an emerging economy. As conscripts in the diplomatic corps, we look forward to this opportunity to share and partner with the ICPC in this regard.

The Association was formed in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-nine. At the outset, the association was formed to provide a support network for the increasing numbers of Nigerian lawyers in the Tri-State area and (believe it or not) to assist Nigerian lawyers who had just moved to the City in their preparations for the New York Bar exam.

“…the purpose and goals of the NLA have in many ways never really strayed from those initial goals; although our numbers and resources have grown, and our processes have been formalized, we are at heart an organization that tries to serve its members many of whom are far from home, and the greater needs of the Nigerian community both in the Diaspora and at home.”

Dear friends, I congratulate you all as we celebrate our tenth anniversary this year. I really encourage you all to get involved in the several committees and other events we will be hosting in the course of the year. The NLA can only be as effective as its membership. Need I say it in the words of my favorite book, “…the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few”. You are the limbs of the Nigerian Lawyers Association; we can only do so much without your commitment, support and dedication. The NLA is indeed, counting on it as we run through yet another blessed year.

“…You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world; you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”