GOODWILL MESSAGE BY PAUL HARRIS OGBOLÉ, SAN TO THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, PORT HARCOURT BRANCH
It gives me profound pleasure to extend my warm felicitations to the distinguished leadership and members of the NBA Port Harcourt Branch as you gather for your 2025 Law Week.
Your branch has, over the years, earned a well-deserved reputation for intellectual rigour, courageous advocacy, and an unwavering commitment to the dignity of our profession. I commend the Chairman and the Executive Committee for sustaining a culture of excellence that continues to inspire the Bar nationwide.
The theme for this year’s Law Week:
“Cutting-Edge Legal Practice: Catching Up With Innovations & Re-Inventions for Societal Impact”,
is as bold as it is necessary. It speaks to a profession standing at the intersection of tradition and transformation. It challenges us to rethink the old, confront the new, and embrace the future with clarity and competence.
Today’s world is driven by speed, data, technology, and evolving human realities. The legal practitioner can no longer rely on yesterday’s methods to solve today’s problems. Innovation is no longer an accessory; it has become an ethical duty. Reinvention is no longer a matter of preference; it is the price of relevance.
As I often say:
“The law must remain a living instrument—responsive, intelligent, and unafraid to evolve.”
If society is transforming, the Bar must not stand as a spectator. We must stand as architects.
This theme resonates deeply because it captures the call of our time:
- To adopt technology without losing our humanity;
- To modernise our practice without compromising our ethics;
- To serve society not only with knowledge, but with wisdom, and with impact.
Let this Law Week ignite new ideas, strengthen old values, and equip the Port Harcourt Bar to continue shaping justice in a nation that desperately needs responsible leadership from its legal community. Your branch has always risen to the moment; I have no doubt you will do so again.
As we reflect, interrogate, and learn during this week, may we also recommit ourselves to the higher purpose of our calling, to champion justice, to protect institutions, and to build a society where the rule of law is not a slogan, but a lived reality.
In the words I often share with my younger colleagues:
“A great lawyer is not remembered for the brilliance of his arguments, but for the footprints he leaves on the conscience of society.”
I celebrate the Port Harcourt Branch today, its leadership, its members, and its enduring spirit of excellence. I wish you a productive, enlightening, and impactful Law Week.
Related:
NBA 2026: WHEN A ZONAL PRESIDENCY STARTS TO LOOK LIKE AN ETHNIC CORONATION – Sani Ammani
