By Chibuike Nwabuko
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Okutepa, has raised the alarm over what he described as the worsening ethical standards and declining nobility of the legal profession in Nigeria, warning that the situation poses a danger to the rule of law and the Nigerian state.
Okutepa, in a series of remarks posted on his X handle on Sunday, called on elders and senior members of the legal profession to urgently convene a meeting to address what he described as the deterioration of professional ethics and standards of legal practice.
According to him, the quality of legal practice in the country has “dwindled” considerably, while ethical violations have become increasingly prevalent.
“Things have been deteriorating daily in the legal profession in Nigeria. Why are the elders in the profession just watching things deteriorate in the legal profession this way?” he asked.
Okutepa also expressed concern over what he described as a decline in the quality of judgments delivered by Nigerian courts, arguing that the standard of jurisprudential reasoning appeared lower than what was previously associated with Nigerian jurisprudence.
He said the problem was not limited to younger lawyers, stressing that some senior members of the profession had also contributed to the erosion of ethical standards.
“I am worried about the deteriorating ethical standards in legal practice amongst even some Senior Advocates of Nigeria in Nigeria,” he said.
The senior lawyer distinguished the elders he was calling upon from Senior Advocates of Nigeria alone, saying he was particularly referring to jurists and senior members of the Bar who, in earlier generations, were known for integrity, honesty and adherence to the traditions of the profession.
He lamented that younger lawyers were increasingly difficult to correct, while some younger practitioners were also learning poor ethical practices from senior colleagues.
Okutepa further alleged that the legal profession was witnessing the use of “made-up documents and evidence” in court proceedings, expressing concern that such practices were not attracting sufficient accountability.
“Legal Practitioners appear to enjoy legal practice in breach of the laws of the land than in obedience to the law,” he stated.
He argued that the situation had contributed to a loss of credibility and respect for the legal profession, recalling that Nigerian judgments were once widely cited for their jurisprudential reasoning in Commonwealth jurisdictions.
According to him, the erosion of professional standards should concern not only lawyers but the wider society because the legal profession serves as a custodian of the rule of law.
“Where the rule of law is polluted as it appears to be in Nigeria then the society is in danger of collapsing,” Okutepa warned.
He therefore urged senior members and elders of the profession to urgently intervene by convening a meeting to examine the causes of the declining ethical standards and seek ways of restoring integrity, discipline and professionalism to legal practice.
“Let the elders save the legal profession and the Nigerian state from going into extinction. Let the light of the nobility of the profession be restored,” he said.
