The Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, played host this morning to the Thanksgiving Service for the commencement of the 2025/2026 New Legal Year, drawing together a distinguished congregation of judges, senior lawyers, members of the Bar, and guests.
The annual service, a long-standing tradition in the Nigerian legal calendar, serves as both a solemn reflection on the responsibilities of the legal profession and a prayerful invocation for guidance, renewal, and strength in the year ahead.
In her reflections at the service, Prof. Foluke Dada-Lawanson expressed gratitude for the opportunity to gather with colleagues from across the Bench and Bar to mark the occasion. She described the moment as one of “reflection and renewal — a reminder of our shared duty to uphold justice with integrity, wisdom, and courage as we begin a new legal year.”
Prof. Dada-Lawanson further called for progress, reform, and a more resilient justice system that delivers fairly and effectively for all Nigerians. She emphasised that the profession must embrace its role not only as interpreters of the law but also as custodians of justice and accountability.
The Thanksgiving Service, with its solemn hymns, prayers, and scriptural readings, set the tone for the legal year, encouraging renewed dedication to fairness, service, and ethical practice. For many present, it was a moment to reaffirm professional values while seeking divine strength for the challenges that lie ahead.
As the Nigerian judiciary and Bar chart the course of the new legal year, voices such as Prof. Dada-Lawanson’s continue to inspire confidence that the legal profession can remain a pillar of justice, reform, and societal progress.
Signed:
Prof. Foluke Dada-Lawanson
#PossibilityMovement
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