At the 2025 Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Idemili Branch, former Chairman of the NBA Lagos Branch, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, FCIArb(UK), delivered a stirring message on the urgent need to restore the noble essence of the legal profession. Speaking on the theme “From Honour to Hustle? Reclaiming the Noble Identity of the Legal Profession,” Akangbe reflected on the moral challenges facing today’s legal practitioners, emphasizing that the profession must return to its roots of integrity, justice, and public service.
Describing the theme as both “timely and necessary,” the learned silk decried a growing culture where ambition often overshadows conscience and personal gain takes precedence over societal good. He called on lawyers to see the law not merely as a means to success, but as a sacred covenant with justice and fairness. According to him, the 2025 Idemili Law Week represents more than just an annual gathering, it is a call to moral renewal, a challenge for the Bar to make honour its hustle, integrity its ambition, and justice its enduring legacy.
Read full statement below;
“From Honour to Hustle? Reclaiming the Noble Identity of the Legal Profession.”
A timely theme. A necessary reflection.
We live in a season where ambition often drowns conscience, where quiet compromises have replaced bold convictions. Yet, the lawyer must remain the keeper of society’s moral flame.
The law is not a ladder to personal gain; it is a covenant of justice, fairness, and the common good. When we twist it to serve convenience, we wound not only the law, but the very soul of our democracy.
This Law Week is more than a gathering; it is a call to renewal.
To make honour our hustle, integrity our ambition, and justice our legacy.
Congratulations to the Chairman, Law Week Committee, and all members of the NBA Idemili Branch. May this conference rekindle the courage to stand for what is right even when it is not popular.
Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, FCIArb(UK)
Former Chairman, NBA Lagos Branch
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