The immediate past president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Olumide Akpata, has enjoined Nigerian legal practitioners to be intentional and deliberate in determining how they proceed as an association in a bid to ensure that the right set of people are put in place to pilot the affairs of the Bar.

Akpata made the call on Sunday during an occasion hosted by young lawyers to celebrate his remarkable contributions to the Nigerian Bar and the legal profession at large.

Akpata thanked the lawyers for organising the event in his honour, saying he was overwhelmed with great joy.

“I must thank you all for honouring and applauding me, and I must say in return that my success wouldn’t have been possible without the ever present support from you all my dear friends,” Akpata said.

He stressed the need for lawyers to take time to assess their choice of leaders, noting that “everything rises and falls on leadership”.

He further harped on the need for deliberate actions in arriving at a choice of leaders of the bar.

“We need to be deliberate and intentional in determining how we go forward as an association, especially in our choice of leaders,” he said.

Akpata, while also entertaining questions from journalists at the event on the forthcoming NBA Lagos branch elections, said, “I have no hesitation whatsoever to encourage you to choose the right person to occupy the leadership of the NBA Lagos branch because where Lagos goes is where the Nigerian Bar Association goes.

“Voting competence will be the way we should go and by virtue of what I achieved with an excellent team, and Mayowa Owolabi was a very vital part of this team and all we achieved, it will indeed be my delight and a fulfilment of my desire to see Mayowa as Chairman NBA Lagos.”

Recall that the immediate past President was also honoured recently with an award of excellence by the NBA Lagos branch at its Elders Night on Thursday, June 22nd, 2023.