DEDICATION
Great minds in the vanguard of justice.

We knew that the Bar Conference was coming. We also knew that an address was going to be read. The dilemma only arose when we were informed that the address would have to be written and presented as part of the brochure for this conference.

Dilemma because, the recently re-elected governor of Enugu State has never read a prepared address to any organization or body. We have always tried to speak from the heart, conveying a message directly to you or whom ever the person may be. That is a message, spontaneous, as this on going.

So, the. message, with all apologies, will not appear in your brochure but will still be presented to you written. Message captured 10 days ago at 2. 00 am, straight from the heart, from me to you. In other words, talking to you directly through written words.

On behalf of the government and people of Enugu State, I say welcome to the president, Wale Olanipekun (SAN), the executive and members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), to Enugu State. Olanipekun, for us, is a man whose humility and carriage are comfortingly transparent; who may have, but certainly does not demonstrate, the exaggerated swagger of many of his colleagues, that trait usually manifested from early university days.

I welcome the Chief Justice of Nigeria, to Enugu State. At times like this in Enugu State it is our pleading that his lordship, Mr. Justice Mohammed Uwais, precedently, please note not presidentiallly, can chose number one, number two, number three or other protocol position he likes.

Sitting with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, a short while ago and now looking at him as I stand on this podium, reminds me of a part of a personal story. About 24 years ago, a name became manifest in the firmament of the nation's judicial history, in away, thrown up, as it were, from the bowel of the great and ancient City of Kano.

A personal story because as the name was announced, another was also announced. They were then two. As the outgoing Obasanjo military administration swore him in as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, another was also sworn in. They were two. A pair.

So, I can gladly say welcome Justice Uwais. Welcome to the land of the other, the late Justice Augustine Nnamani. Welcome to the land where he remains interred or where his remains are interred. A personal story of what was, what is and what could have been.

However, we rejoice that the will of the Almighty God has continued to reign supreme in all our lives. Augustine Nnamani and the others looking down today as I rejoice at my constitutionally guaranteed right to freely express myself, will relive our socio-cultural prodding: nwa m n 'ekwu; n 'ekwu n 'egwu a dighi, bu anyi muru gi.

Speak on, speak on our son, there is no cause for any fear. You are a part of our heritage.

And as we say in Enugu State; No shaking.

I welcome all the justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, to Enugu State - Ebeano Country, the place to be.

I welcome, Sir, the President of the Federal Court of Appeal, Mr. Justice Umaru Abdullahi, another great jurist whose insight in the development of the judiciary has continued to provide the beacon for national democratic advancement. A great man whose recent demonstration of separation of powers, averring to the supremacy of the law, functionally transferred the government of Enugu State to Abuja.

Welcome to you also, the other Justices of the Court of Appeal. We welcome specially, the Honourable Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, our own Rose Ukeje; an Amazon, pioneer, trailblazer extraordinary, true icon and iron lady of the bench. You are welcome.

We welcome Chief Judges of other States, judges of the Federal High Court, other High Court Judges and Magistrates here present.

Welcome, Sirs, the distinguished Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs). Those exemplary men and women who have so distinguished themselves in the development of law and propulsion of the civilized society with the attendant alternative viewpoint.

As I am amply informed that your choice of Enugu as your venue has much to do with the creativity and vigour of the local NBA just as it also relates with the City rising to its earlier promises of a haven for all, we say to you all gathered here, both of the Bar and Bench; ladies and gentlemen and the gentlemen of the press; you are cherished guests in the heartland of Ndigbo.

This is home for those strong and enterprising stock whose life and spirit are more defined in the prime trinity of Igbo character: Akpa uche (the cot of reason), ukwu n'ije (industry-motivated adventure) and Aka Ikenga (the will to endeavour and assertion). These you know form the tripod on which we pronounce the fullness of the dual-stamp of notability and nobility thus: Ntozu (the marked accomplishment of the enterprising man) and Odenigbo (the fame and acclamation by, and in, community) of that enterprising man.

Upon that foregoing, I am, now, looking at your theme, Lawyers and Nation Building. In a way, we are looking at lawyers building the house of the nation-state. Lawyers as builders! May be also, Lawyers as joint partakers in nation building. That is different roles in consonance with a healthy nation of varieties.

Indeed, everything about the personage and visage of the lawyer depicts a builder and a joint partaker in the enterprise called nation building. Some lawyers are accountants. We also have lawyers who are bankers. We have lawyers who are teachers. We have lawyers who are estate agents. We have some lawyers who are contractors and yet we have those who, as politicians, are of the executive, the legislature and what have you.

Like ants building their anthills in the Savannah, each has his roles to play. Lawyers are versatile. Indeed, consequent upon this versatility, lawyers can rightly claim that no other profession has more impact on the building of the national project than theirs.

I suppose that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) can look back on its chequered history with some measure of satisfaction that, against all the odds, it has continued to fulfil its twin-mission as, firstly, a professional body of lawyers and, secondly, the unofficial conscience of the nation.

At all material times the Nigerian Bar Association has had to muster its voice, to lend its weight to the propagation and defence of higher principles and values that go to the very fundaments of civilized governance and the dignity of the human person. But, this was not always without a cost. It is trite knowledge that the Nigerian Bar Association and its enlightened membership, more than any other professional class in the country, fought tenaciously and courageously, day and night, for the enthronement of a democratic order. Even presently the likes of the fighter extraordinaires, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), Femi Falana, Mike Ozekhome and Fred Agbaje to mention but a few, are in the vanguard of the unfinished popular struggle for the further democratisation of the nation's political space.

The country's nascent democratic experiment is still fraught with tremendous challenges, and lawyers can ill-afford to sit on the fence or remain impervious to the overriding task of democratic consolidation. I mean a consolidation, which must be anchored on the rule of law and the supremacy of the constitution.

Mercifully, the ranks of the three arms as well as the various tiers of government in the country are brimming to the seams with legal practitioners who must see it as their responsibility to illuminate the dark vestiges of the country's authoritarian, anti- democratic past. Sometimes, however, we may not lose sight of a few bizarre developments that have rocked the judiciary in recent times.

If our revered learned men enter the bench and respond to the statutory greeting "Sir, Your Lordship," is it possible that they have difficulties throwing away their individual backgrounds? Whether there could be some dilemma or are they completely isolated and insulated?

For these some have had to ask, can there really be a full sanctity of the Bench? And, is it possible to say that as the executive shakes or quakes, as the legislature shakes and quakes and as the ship of state ply the rough waters, that the judiciary remains completely in good stead, never knowing any storm and never riding the rough tides which spell disaster?

Has this anything to do with "give them injunction today when they need it to their applause; deny them injunction when they did not need it to their applause and give them the injunction when they did not need it to their chagrin; deny them when they did not need it to their utter consternation and disappointment?"

It is the argument of some that the judiciary is part of the polity and indeed the body politik. This may have compelled the scenario and question: Shall we drag our kind to the court of justice or the court of public opinion? A question arising from the fact that today, it is Hail him! Hail him!, while tomorrow, it is Crucify him! Crucify him! You know what I mean. And in any case, what difference does it make?

Well, for me the question may mean a lot more: Is it still the weight of justice or is it the weight of public opinion? Is it still subject to whatever citations, law reports, legal authorities or has it now become subject to newspaper editorials, informed columns and opinion articles and freelance judgments of writers? It is on this that I build on my own second personal question, which is: The judiciary for the nation, which way.

Much of the fact we know, the supreme court - the highest court in the land - has spared no effort in amplifying and elaborating on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, arising from conflicts and disputes of a legal nature between some tiers of government and political operators, so has the Court of Appeal with a number of the lower courts taking a deserved cue.

It certainly does not lie with me, a non-lawyer at that, to dwell on the legal and historical significance of some of the pronouncements issuing from the bench of the Supreme Court. Permit me, however, to refer briefly to just three of these landmark decisions. These are: Attorney General, Ondo State V. Attorney- General of the Federation & Ors (2002), 9 N.W.L.R (Pt.. 772) 222 S.C.; Attorney General of the Federation V. A.G. Abia State & Ors (2002), 6 NWLR (pt.763) 264 S.C.; and Attorney General of the Federation V. Attorney-General, Abia State & Ors (No.2) (2002) 6 NWLR (pt. 764) 542 S.C.

The first case (above) dealt with the constitutionality or otherwise of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act No.5 of 2000 which came into force on June 13,2000 as passed by the National Assembly and which seeks to prohibit and prescribe punishment for Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The second touched on the constitutional validity of the 2001 Electoral Act, specifically with reference to the tenure of office of officers of the local government council. The third case under reference was the famous "resource control suit" which would later touch on all aspects of Revenue Allocation in the country, fiscal federalism, derivation, the federation Account and first line charges thereto.

It is my considered view that the combined effect of the reasoned pronouncements on these and similar cases in the past four years by our courts, constitute glorious examples of how the judiciary could contribute in a meaningful manner, to Nation Building.

If you permit me, I now stop or rather "injunct" myself without appearance, without arguments, without notification. In other words, ex parte, and cheer you on two prominent accounts:

One: Let the Annual Bar Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), begin.

Two: As we say, usually with heart filled love, To God Be The Glory.