Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday said integrity and accountability are required for lawyers to make the desired impact in the lives of the people.
Osinbajo made the assertion at the inauguration of the Nigerian Bar Association House in Abuja on Friday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
He expressed belief in the legal profession to save Nigeria from its troubles, adding that lawyers had the capacity to make meaningful inputs in the realisation of good governance in the country.
He urged legal practitioners in the country to imbibe the virtue of integrity in their professional dealings, saying integrity and accountability were the hallmark of the profession.
“I believe that our profession has a lot to offer our nation, especially in its most difficult times.
“The most important aspect of that is integrity; our profession must demonstrate that we are capable of teaching integrity in this land.
“People should believe us for what we say we are; we must bear in mind that everyone is looking at us and that we are the example not just for our profession but for the entire country,’’ Osinbajo said.
He commended the NBA leadership for its unity of purpose in ensuring that the Bar House was not abandoned by successive NBA administrations.
“One of the important lessons we have seen in this edifice is the power of unity from Mr. Olisa Agbakoba to the Presidency of Augustine Alegeh.
“We see the completion of the building which by every account is possibly one of the most important edifices in this city of Abuja.
“It is a building that demonstrates the unity of the legal profession; it demonstrates our capacity to start and to finish, which is by itself a very rare thing in this part of the world,” the vice president stated.
He said the completion of the building had set a good example not just for the legal profession but for the nation as a whole.