The chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anti-corruption Committee, Professor Babafemi A. Badejo, has hailed the President of the Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, for his ‘bold actions’ in speaking up against corruption and holding the government to account.
In a piece titled ‘The NBA is Rising Up to its Motto’, Prof. Badejo said the current NBA national leadership has now made the Association to be leaving up to its motto—”Promoting the Rule of Law”—through its actions.
“The motto of the NBA is: ‘Promoting the Rule of Law.’ However, the rule of law can not be promoted wherever corruption is normal and is the order of the day. It has been clearly established that there is an inverse relationship between corruption and the rule of law: the more of one results in the less of the other,” he said.
Prof. Badejo noted that, in walking his talk, Mazi Osigwe has entrusted the responsibility to work assiduously against corruption to some NBA members who have been tried and can be trusted to join in the fight against the menace, promising that his Anti-corruption Committee members will do their best to live up to expectations and deliver.
“Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, since his election as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association last year, has at every opportunity, been speaking against corruption. In walking the talk, he has entrusted the responsibility to work assiduously against corruption to some members who have been tried and can be trusted to join in the fight against corruption.
“While corruption in Nigeria is larger than the three arms of government, the NBA President has resolutely been stressing the need to hold governments in Nigeria to account.
“I salute Mazi Afam Osigwe’s bold actions. The Anti-corruption Committee members will do their best to live up to expectations and deliver. The NBA, the oldest and strongest professional body, has to start to make a dent by changing the growing perception that corruption is normal,” Prof. Badejo stated.
