Kano state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has cautioned the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) against permitting ethnic and religious bigotry to tear down unity in the ranks of its members.
The governor said the internal wrangling which the just concluded in the NBA threw up is an unfortunate occurrence that befalls the association, describing the development as an ill wind that will not blow any good to neither the body nor the Nigerian people that are supposed to be the ultimate beneficiary of the rule of law, which the lawyers’ body is known to be championing.
He made this observation, while receiving the newly elected President of the NBA, Olumide Akpata, who paid him a courtesy call in his office, at weekend in Kano.
Governor Ganduje noted that while there are bound to be differences, it is better to be united than to be divided, saying that as a conventionally persuasive opinion molder, and a leading public interest group shaping public policy, the current happenings in the could hamper the association from fulfilling the role if it is divided.
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The governor pointed out that while no one expected the NBA to be invulnerable to bickering associated with any group of people coming together but as a body of lawyers with outstanding records of achievement in shaping the country for good, it should not allow ethnic or religious sentiments to riven it.
He said lawyers need to come together to resolve their differences, not by breaking into splinter groups, but by ironing out their views through consensus.
While stressing the need to sensitize as many members of the association and seek to accommodate their views on matters of serious concern, Ganduje further called on them to mend their fences and work toward the good of the association and the country at large.
In his remark, Akpata said he was in Kano in continuation of his tour of the country, expressed satisfaction with the level of achievement by the Ganduje administration in terms of infrastructure development for the judiciary, particularly the construction of the Court of Appeal edifice, the Ceremonial Court building as well as enhanced welfare for the staff.
