The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, has challenged Nigerians to overcome physical, mental and institutional barriers and take deliberate steps towards rebuilding the country and fulfilling its long-standing promise of greatness.
Osigwe made the call at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, where he said the theme, “Beyond Limits,” should serve as a rallying cry for Nigerians to reject self-doubt and confront the obstacles standing in the way of national progress.
The NBA president said Nigerians were constrained not only by physical and real challenges but also by imagined and mental barriers that often prevent individuals and the country from reaching their full potential.
“If you throw your heart over the bar, then your body will follow,” he said, stressing that people must first convince themselves that they are capable of overcoming an obstacle before they can successfully confront it.
He said the call to go beyond limits was particularly important in light of the hopes and aspirations that accompanied Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
According to him, Nigeria was expected at independence to become a beacon of Africa and a lighthouse that would guide other African nations towards greatness. However, he lamented that 66 years later, many of those aspirations remain unrealised.
Osigwe noted that Nigeria earned the description “Giant of Africa” because of its vast human and natural resources, population and influence, but said the country must awaken to its responsibilities and translate its enormous potential into tangible development.
“Sometimes it feels like telling Nigeria, ‘Oh, giant, awake.’ We have great potentials which we are yet to fully achieve,” he said.
The NBA president said the optimism surrounding Nigeria at independence was built on several foundations, including constitutional democracy, federalism, strong institutions, quality universities, visionary political leadership, an independent judiciary and a competent public service.
He, however, expressed concern that ethnicity and religion, which were expected to serve as sources of strength within Nigeria’s diversity, had increasingly become instruments of division.
Osigwe said tribal and religious cleavages had made national development more difficult, as many Nigerians increasingly placed ethnic or religious interests above the collective interest of the country.
“We don’t think of ourselves as a nation. We first think as members of our ethnic or religious group and hardly think of the best interest of Nigeria,” he said.
The Bar president also recalled the optimism expressed by Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, in his Independence Day address on October 1, 1960.
Quoting Balewa, Osigwe said Nigeria appeared “destined to move with quiet dignity to our place on the world stage,” and challenged Nigerians to reflect on whether the country had lived up to that expectation more than six decades after independence.
He noted that Balewa had acknowledged the challenges confronting the young nation while remaining confident in the determination and capacity of Nigerians to overcome them.
Osigwe said Nigeria had retained its status as the Giant of Africa, with a population of more than 220 million people and significant influence over the continent’s political, economic and cultural affairs. He, however, maintained that the country had yet to fully realise the dreams of its founding fathers.
“Yet, while Nigeria has not fully achieved the expectations and dreams of its fathers, it still possesses the potential to do so and to become one of the leading countries of the world,” he said.
The NBA president charged lawyers to play a leading role in transforming the country, describing them as custodians of Nigeria’s constitutional promise and defenders of the rule of law.
He urged the legal profession to broaden its focus to encompass African leadership, democratic consolidation, institutional reform and regional integration, particularly as Nigeria and other African countries approach critical political transitions.
Osigwe said achieving the vision encapsulated in the conference theme would require Nigerians to step outside their comfort zones and confront challenges that might initially appear impossible, stressing that there would be no shortcuts to national transformation.
“To go beyond limits, both as a nation and as members of the legal profession, we must venture beyond the usual borders. We must sometimes undertake what appear impossible to reach and achieve our goals,” he said.
He added: “We must push through our limitations and beyond our comfort zones. There will be no shortcuts. There will be no excuses. There will be no appeal to pity.”