Be resourceful, dynamic, Justice Ayoola tasks lawyers

Former chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offence Commission (ICPC), Justice Emmanuel Ayoola (rtd) has charged Nigerian lawyers to be resourceful and dynamic.

The ex-Chief Justice of The Gambia reiterated that jurisprudence must be nurtured and developed by the Bar, adding that it is time to rebuild legal profession in the country.

Speaking as a co-chairperson on the theme: “Commitment to leadership” at the 10th annual business luncheon of the SPA Ajibade & Co. and the presentation of the firm’s publication; “A review of Contemporary Legal Trends in Nigerian law” to mark it’s 50th anniversary, the former justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court said the dearth of legal text books must be addressed.

He said: “We must rebuild the legal profession if legal contemporary trends are to be the father of future legal trends. Sometimes, one get worried about the future of legal trends. We must begin to put higher values on legal learning. “We must be bold and daring enough to strengthen, assist and encourage younger lawyers in every form.”

He extolled the virtues of the founder of the firm, Chief Simon Peter Abiodun (SPA) Ajibade for his doggedness and forthrightness as well as the managing partner of the firm, Dr Babatunde Ajibade (SAN) and his team for keeping the flag flying.The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Mrs Opeyemi Oke challenged lawyers to assist her tackle the menace of corruption in Lagos judiciary.

She noted that commitment involves the ability of someone to invest his time, energy and resources to a cause the fellow believes in. “I am challenging any member of the Bar not to give money to anyone but to maintain his stand whenever he goes to court to transact any business,” she declared, adding that the leadership of the five branches of the Bar in Lagos have been cooperative in ensuring that “we stamp out corruption in the judiciary.”

The founder, Chief Ajibade who confessed that the growth of the firm was beyond his imagination, said his passion then was mainly to preserve his law library.
His words: “I didn’t have the vision to sustain the firm when I established it in 1967. The passion then was to have as many law books as possible. Therefore, the growth of this firm is beyond my expectation.”