GOODWILL MESSAGE BY CHIEF AKAJIUGO EMEKA OBEGOLU, SAN, FOR THE NBA PORT HARCOURT LAW WEEK Theme: Cutting-Edge Legal Practice: Catching Up with Innovations & Re-Inventions for Societal Impact
It is with great honour and genuine admiration that I extend my heartfelt goodwill message to the leadership and members of the NBA Port Harcourt Branch on the occasion of your 2025 Law Week. The choice of theme, “Cutting-Edge Legal Practice: Catching Up with Innovations & Re-Inventions for Societal Impact”, is not only timely but profoundly visionary, capturing the very DNA of where the legal profession must urgently position itself.
This theme confronts us with an undeniable truth: the law cannot continue to walk while society runs.
The world is evolving at extraordinary speed, technology is reshaping rights, redefining evidence, altering human interaction, and recalibrating justice delivery. Artificial intelligence, digital identity, financial technologies, global data systems, and new governance models are no longer distant concepts; they are today’s realities, creating new obligations and unprecedented risks.
To catch up is therefore not a luxury. It is an imperative.
To innovate is no longer optional. It is essential.
To re-invent is not an academic expression. It is a survival strategy for relevance.
Cutting-edge legal practice begins with a shift in mindset. The modern lawyer must become a designer of solutions, not merely a draftsman of documents. We must embrace legal technology not as a threat but as a tool for expansion. We must understand that globalisation demands competence without borders, ethics without compromise, and professionalism without stagnation.
Most importantly, we must remember that innovation without societal impact is empty.
The ultimate measure of any legal system is the degree to which it uplifts the weak, protects the vulnerable, enhances commerce, strengthens institutions, and advances justice. Our reinventions must therefore translate into:
- Faster, smarter dispute resolution
- Transparent governance processes
- Accessible legal services
- Strengthened rule of law
- A justice system that earns public trust
This is the responsibility of the lawyer of the future, and indeed, the lawyer of today.
The Port Harcourt Branch has, once again, demonstrated intellectual courage by centering its Law Week on a theme that challenges us to think, adapt, and evolve. This is the posture expected of an enlightened bar, and it aligns perfectly with the direction in which the Nigerian Bar Association is steering the profession.
I congratulate the Executive Committee, the Planning Team, and every member of this distinguished Branch. May the deliberations of this week ignite bold ideas, inspire reform, and spark practical innovations that will reposition the legal profession for greater service to Nigeria and to humanity.
I wish you a successful, impactful, and forward-thinking Law Week.
Chief Akajiugo Emeka Obegolu, SAN
Chairman, 2025 NBA-AGC Planning Committee
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