AT the Lokoja Nigerian Bar Association/National Executive Committee (NBA/NEC) meeting, held on May 24 2012, I said on the topic of Kaduna being our choice for the delegates' conference in the following manner: I now proceed to conclude on the issue of the quest for a change of venue. No one has suggested that the clamour for change of venue is actuated by political considerations or a dislike for my style of leadership and I am grateful for that. Indeed all interested and concerned parties acknowledge that it is as a result of the exigencies of the present moment. The problem now lies in the psyche of the about 2000 lawyers that will attend the delegates conference. The question in reality is will they feel safe in their preparation for and the actual attendance for the delegates' conference in Kaduna having regard to the antecedents that have been referred to above' The answer to this question does not lie in my own subjective assessment of the security situation in Kaduna or in the assurances that I have been given and transmitted to you. The answer in reality lies in the frame of mind of the majority at this meeting. While I am grateful that eminent lawyers and prominent groups have acknowledged the convention in an outgoing President being granted the privilege of hosting the delegates' conference at the branch of his abode, this privilege must be enjoyed in a democratic manner where a majority of the lawyers are confortable and feel secure. You will have to determine here and now whether despite the assurances that we have been given as to the safety of Kaduna as a venue we shall continue with that location as the venue of our delegates' conference.NEC at this meeting reviewed the situation especially in the light of the assurances given by the authorities in Kaduna State and retained Kaduna as the venue of the delegates' conference. Since then there have been troubling developments, Kaduna has since experienced devastating terrorist attacks. This happened on June 10, 2012. The senseless bombings were followed by equally senseless reprisal killings. Death toll is said to be in the hundreds. At the moment there is a 24-hour curfew. Most crucial is that Government is not yet in full control of the situation. The question to ask is whether in the face of this unpredictable and volatile situation the Bar should allow thousands of lawyers into such a location' I have consulted widely with all segments of the Bar and the consensus is that the venue of our delegates' conference be moved to another location. The delegates' conference will now be held at Abuja on the dates previously agreed upon. The secretariat will provide further details.The state of the nationSince the inception of this dispensation of democracy i.e. from 1999 till date, there has been unprecedented shedding of the blood of innocent civilian Nigerians. If it is not sectarian based riots, it is community riots. The hapless people of Nigeria have been visited by cataclysms like the Niger Delta agitations, sharia riots, kidnappings, assassinations and all manner of crimes. In the face of all these happenings what is the 'elected Government' doing' The answer is simple; Government is only condemning these happenings just as we are doing. Surely leadership demands more than mere lip service to the resolution of the current problem. Nigerians want to live in peace and security. Is it too much to ask for' The inordinate spilling of Nigerian blood is the culmination of years of misgovernance, institutional injustice and corrosive corruption. These have deeply eaten into the Nigerian system like a cancer. To excise them requires delicate surgery by competent people who are dedicated to a resolution of the problems. Our situation is however different, our leaders don't seem to care; even Emperor Nero of ancient Rome would have done better; at least he was playing his flute while Rome burned, he was not said to have absconded. It is intolerable to see innocent lives being taken or being unprotected the way it is happening in parts of Nigeria. People including children go out in the morning to work, to places of worship, etc only to be dispatched in the most horrendous manner to the great beyond. What is happening to the guarantee in the Constitution to the Right to life, to those supposedly guaranteed rights of freedom to assemble, worship, hold and impart ideas'What has happened to basic social and economic rights' To question the incompetence of Government is to state the obvious. We have reached the precipice' If we don't reverse the current direction then we might as well say goodbye to the nation as we know. Be it known that it is Maiduguri, Damaturu, Kaduna, Zaria etc today, tomorrow we know where not this madness and other effects of bad governance will manifest itself. As I speak today I plead with all well-meaning Nigerians to call on Government to deal decisively with the problem or let others deal with it.Today, Nigerians are refugees or internally- displaced persons in their country. The economic reality is such that people cannot just move and chose to go and reside in more habitable parts of the country. Are we in a reverse kind of revolution' Whichever angle we look at these problems from; it is undisputable that they are a culmination of a total failure of leadership. Leadership that is proven to be corrupt: See the fuel subsidy scam, the purported probe by an arm of the National Assembly, allegations of judicial impropriety and corruption against the judiciary etc. Learned Gentlemen, the least you can do is not to practise corruption in any form while you discharge your duties as legal practitioners, to uphold those principles and ethics that make us stand upright and honourable in the society. These are the minimum standards that we must maintain. I thank you all as we Inaugurate Ikere-Ekiti branch today.' This is part of the speech delivered recently by NBA President, Joseph Bodurin Daudu (SAN), at the inauguration of the Ekiti branch of the association.
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