Former vice president, Yemi Osinbajo has challenged lawyers in Nigeria to embrace continuous learning and develop competencies in technology, negotiation, conflict resolution, institutional management and critical judgment.
The immediate past vice president and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) explained that this will ensure their proper verification of Artificial-generated (AI-genetated) information.
Osinbajo stated this in a keynote address delivered at the 2026 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) in Umuahia, Abia State capital.
He urged them to move beyond the traditional interpretation and application of the law to embrace their responsibility as social engineers and agents of positive change, committed to advancing Justice and democracy.
The SAN called for people-centred public interest advocacy that prioritises citizens’ welfare, access to justice, job creation, healthcare, education and the protection of vulnerable groups.
Declaring the conference open, the state governor, Alex Otti tasked them to embrace modern technology and continuously update their knowledge to remain relevant in the discharge of their professional responsibilities.
He urged them to look beyond financial gains and embrace their responsibility to provide legal assistance to indigent citizens, vulnerable persons and members of society who cannot afford professional legal fees.
Otti said the impact of the NBA-SPIDEL conference should ultimately be measured by how its deliberations translate into improved access to justice and protection of the rights of ordinary citizens.
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”Because you are lawyers, we need to go the extra mile of asking ourselves, beyond all the things that have been said, how can we be of service to people who cannot pay?”
”How can we be of service to the vulnerable? How can we help people who, on their own, cannot afford to help themselves?” the governor asked the 2,000 delegates at the conference.
He commended the organisers of the conference for choosing the state as the host, expressing appreciation for the opportunity to welcome the delegates and other stakeholders to the capital.
In her opening address, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, called on legal practitioners to uphold the principles of justice, accountability and public interest by ensuring that their profession.
She said the theme for the conference “In Public Interest: Advancing Justice, Democracy, and Development,” stressed the essence of public interest must be measured by how decisions affect ordinary citizens particularly vulnerable persons who often lack access to justice.
She identified persons held in detention without legal representation, traders unable to afford litigation and children treated as adults in detention facilities as examples of people whose circumstances should inform discussions on justice and development.
Ends
