Daughter of President Muhahhadu Buhari, Halima Muhammad Babagana Sheriff Buhari and an 80 year old Enebeli Pius Chika were among the 2, 259 law graduates that have been admitted into the Nigerian Bar.
The ceremony attracted the presence of the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari and other members of the first family at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
Halima and the 80 year old graduate of the Law school were the centre of attraction at the colourful ceremony in Lagos.
While presenting successful candidates for the call to bar, the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Olanrewaju Onadeko, advised the new wigs to strive to ensure that the sanctity of the legal profession was not compromised.
Onadeko said that the candidates were eligible to become members of the legal profession having successfully completed the vocational training at the Nigerian Law School as prescribed by the Legal Education Act.
He drew the attention of legal body to the persistent challenge of violation of admission quotas by some Faculties of Law in the country.
“The allocated figures are a product of empirical evaluation of available facilities in the Faculties.
“Consequently, failure to keep to these numbers impacts negatively on the quality of the products. The extent of violation has been profound in some cases”.
Onadeko appealed to the university authorities to the decision of the Council of Legal Education and the National Universities Commission in this regard.
Onadeko said that the essence of the insistence on good character for eligibility for admission is to shield it from those with propensity to act at variance with the “interest of their clients, the profession itself and the justice.”
He congratulated the newest set of lawyers in the country, and reminded them of the challenge of bench marking on minimum international best practices and advised them to aim at the top level in their all endeavours.
This was even as Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Bandele Aiku (SAN), told the new lawyers that success at the Bar demands more than distinction in law examinations, adding: “it demands of correct behaviours, of true and proper professional spirit and of proper understanding and wise use of the tools of the craft.”
Aiku highlighted the codes to include: “respect to the court and seniors, courage and independence, help and advice to colleagues.”
With over five decades of robust legal practice, Aiku told the new wigs that “the path to professional excellence at the Bar is long, tortuous, rough and bumpy.”
He said that, however, the “profession is intellectually exciting and glamourous.” [myad]
