SCORES of legal stakeholders over the weekend eulogised the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Mr. Lawal Pedro over his recent appointment and challenged him to leave an enduring legacy during his time.
The legal eggheads include the former general secretaries of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dele Adesina and Mrs Joyce Oduah; former AGs of Lagos, Ade Ipaye; Olasupo Sashore and Adeniji Kazeem.
Others were the former chairmen of the NBA Lagos and Ikeja branches, Chukwuka Ikwuazom and Dave Ajetomobi; current secretary general of the NBA, Adesina Adegbite; Dr Muiz Banire; Adeniyi Adegbonmire; Kunle Adegoke and a number of jurists, senior lawyers and retired justice department counsels.
They spoke at a special reception organised in Pedro’s honour at the Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja on Saturday.
In his remarks, the former Lagos AG, Ipaye said the appointment is the greatest opportunity for Pedro to make an impact in the lives of Lagosians.
He advised him to pay attention to the welfare of his workers as well as their working tools. “Everybody is relying on you for one thing or the other. When you start, you cannot escape giving advice in exco. Also, you cannot avoid getting involved in major cases where the state is a party. While you are engrossed in those, the welfare of staff, infrastructure or the availability of staff’s working tools, you can easily forget. You will always be talking to the governor regularly.
“Things like legal opinion and DPPs advice are important for you to look into, because they may not be in your radar at all. Some people may be in custody waiting for your intervention. C of Os and Deed of Assignments are some of the things that will require your attention,” he advised him.
Kazeem described him as a consummate advocate and administrator and urged him to learn how to interface between his job and politics so he won’t step on toes.
He urged him to set the tone for the things he wants to achieve because those are the things he would be remembered for after his tenure.
Also advising him, Adesina said: “Your legacy is not the house you built or the money you stashed in banks. Your legacy is measured on how you are able to impact the lives of the people.”
He warned against destructive criticisms of judges. “You cannot call a judge who has been in practice for 40 years an illiterate judge,” he bellowed, and charged Pedro to work to stop media trials.
“Everybody today is a lawyer, even when they don’t understand anything about the issues. Also, you must look at the federalisation of our judiciary,” he advised.
Ajetomobi told him to work together with the judiciary to eliminate poverty among lawyers, adding that the welfare of state counsels is very vital as many of them have relocated to Ogun state over inability to pay rent in Lagos.
The celebrant, Pedro, who pledged to drive drastic reforms in the Lagos judiciary appreciated everyone and said the reception was a testament to “our shared value and trust reposed in me to deliver on the job.”
“By the grace of God, I will not disappoint you, but I will need your continued support to achieve an efficient and effective justice system that will add to the growth of the state and the national economy,” he said.
According to him, his immediate agenda is to enforce the existing laws. The governor, he said, has given him the directive that laws must be enforced and judgments of courts obeyed.
His words: “Going forward, people should no longer be taking laws into their hands and disobeying simple basic rules and regulations that are good for a sane and civil society.
“There is going to be a stakeholders meeting in which senior lawyers and all the branches of the NBA in Lagos will be converging very soon to look at the reforms of the justice system to enhance what we have. We do have efficient and effective administration of justice in the state, but we want to enhance it to ensure that we now have efficient and effective administration of justice for economic growth.
“Law and order should be used to develop the society. We should no longer continue to see the justice system as social service only. We should look at the economic aspect of it; to show that when you have a property and the property commands revenue for you, the revenue is subjected to tax like withholding tax, capital gain tax or people who work there pay income tax. If such investment is not thriving, how will the government generate revenue?”
He further added that he would pursue the enactment of administration civil justice law to ensure that civil cases are dispensed within two years.
According to him, no investor would bring in money when it is not certain how disputes would be resolved in record time when they occur.
The AG also declared that he would work to promote non-custodial sentences to decongest the correctional facilities, wondering why every offence such as affray and petty stealing must attract detention, when the offenders can embark on community service and suspended sentence.
Adegbite, the convener of the committee of friends that organised the event, said they want to encourage him to ensure that the office he is occupying is made far better than he met it.
He expressed optimism on the capacity of the AG to perform and pledged to galvanise other branches of the Bar to support his visions and make them realisable.
