In a heartfelt tribute marking Mother’s Day, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN, FCIArb (UK), former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos Branch, has honoured the strength, grace, and quiet power of mothers across all walks of life. From the courtroom to the classroom, from market stalls to family homes, Akangbe’s message recognizes the profound and often unacknowledged role mothers play in shaping families, communities, and nations.
More than just a celebration, his statement reflects deep gratitude for the enduring sacrifices and daily resilience of women—especially those serving within the legal profession. Describing mothers as “the breath, the heartbeat, the compass,” Akangbe acknowledges their dual capacity to uphold justice and nurture love, underscoring their unmatched influence as the first teachers of fairness and original custodians of courage.
Read full statement below;
Today, I honour the women whose strength is often quiet, but never small. The mothers who lead without fanfare, nurture without pause, and sacrifice without applause.
Today, we do not just celebrate mothers.
We acknowledge their unmatched power to build nations in the quiet of homes,
to shape justice through the lens of compassion, to hold the weight of families, dreams, and destinies—and still rise with grace.
To the mothers at the Bar, at the Bench, in the markets, homes, classrooms, and courtrooms—your capacity to love fiercely, serve selflessly, and rise daily is not just admirable—it is extraordinary.
You are not just the backbone, you are the breath, the heartbeat, the compass.
Thank you for holding it all together, even when it’s hard. Thank you for being the first teachers of fairness, and the original custodians of courage. Thank you for being the first definition of love and justice many of us ever knew.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, SAN
FCIArb (UK)
Former Chairman, NBA Lagos Branch.
