As The Curtain Falls On The 2026 NBA Conference: A Message To The New Leadership, By Tope Temokun | Sahara Reporters

In my post of 26 August on the controversy arising from the Conference I maintained that the real problem was not with any particular invitee. The problem is with us. I still hold that position.

Our values have changed and we must find the courage to admit it. If we lack the courage or the will to accept this truth we cannot retrace our steps or begin the difficult task of rebuilding the institution.

When lawyers no longer lead the nation in thought, courage and public advocacy we inevitably yield the stage to those willing to occupy it. We cannot abandon the public space and then quarrel with those who step forward to fill the vacuum we created.

The NBA once led public thought. There was a time when the Association produced leaders like Alao Aka Bashorun, the Lion of the Bar, who did not merely practise law but confronted power with it.

As President of the NBA from 1987 to 1989 Aka Bashorun redefined what it meant to be a lawyer in Nigeria. He did not practise law merely to earn a living. He taught us that the law could not remain neutral in the face of oppression. He confronted the military government and led the first boycott of courts by Nigerian lawyers in protest against the disobedience of court orders.

That was an NBA that led public thought, defended the rule of law and made the nation listen. It did not wait for social media personalities to define the national conversation. It had the courage, intellectual depth and moral authority to set the agenda for the country.

The NBA platform is no longer the only platform available to anyone who wishes to reach the public. If our platform loses its place as a leading voice other platforms will take over. Social media itself is larger than the NBA platform.

However the NBA platform must not become just another social media platform. We must decide what we want to use our platform for as lawyers and the values we want it to represent. But first we must regain public confidence and restore the authority of our own association.

The Alao Aka Bashorun era must therefore provide a template for the new leadership of the NBA. The new leadership must begin the process of restoring the Association to its rightful place as the conscience of the nation. It must lead conversations on justice, governance, constitutionalism, human rights and the rule of law. It must put forward ideas before controversies arise and take principled positions before public opinion becomes overwhelming. It must rediscover the courage to confront power and the discipline to defend the values of the profession.

We created the vacuum. We changed the values. We yielded the stage. Until we find the courage and the will to admit this we cannot retrace our steps or rebuild.