Jibrin Samuel Okutepa SAN, one of Nigeria’s most outspoken and fearless legal practitioners, has broken his silence with an emotionally devastating public statement lamenting what he described as the pervasive abuse of power, dishonest leadership, perversion of justice, and wickedness that he said have consumed every level of Nigerian public life — and, most painfully for him, the legal profession itself.
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“I weep for Nigeria and the legal profession. There is abuse of power everywhere. It is worse at the Bar. Dishonest leadership everywhere. Perversion of justice everywhere. Wickedness everywhere.”
Okutepa’s opening words set the tone for what would become one of the most sweeping and emotionally raw public criticisms of the Nigerian Bar in recent memory. The senior lawyer did not mince words, stating categorically that honest men and women within the profession are being marked, targeted, and pulled down simply for insisting that the right things be done at the Bar.
“Honest men and women are marked and pulled down for being honest and trustworthy in insisting that the right things be done at the Bar. Many people who want the best for the legal profession are not getting the deserved reward and protection from the profession they fight for.”
In one of the most striking passages of his statement, Okutepa accused the legal profession of being in conspiracy with itself and against some of its own good members. He alleged that the Bar now appears to be actively encouraging people to pursue their own personal agendas at the expense of the profession’s best interests, its traditions, and the welfare of its members.
“The legal profession seems now to be in conspiracy with itself and against some of its good members. The Bar appears now to be encouraging people to actively pursue their own personal agendas against the best interests of the profession and some of its members to the irritation of decency and nobility of the profession.”
He went further, making a striking observation about the inversion of values within the profession: decency, once the hallmark of the legal profession, has been transformed from a virtue into a vice.
“To be decent in the legal profession has become a vice instead of a virtue. But I must be different. You must be different. We all cannot be singing and praising abnormalities as virtues. No, we all cannot.”
Okutepa revealed what he described as an ongoing persecution of lawyers who insist that the right things be done within the legal profession. He said that those who speak honestly and frankly about their beliefs and positions are now being punished rather than rewarded, and that disagreeing with those in leadership positions has become “suicidal.”
“Today I know that many who insist that the right things be done in the legal profession are facing persecution and punishment for their honest interventions and views. In the legal system where honesty ought to be a virtue, it is now a vice to be honest in Nigeria.”
He added that supporting what is right is now viewed as a vice rather than a virtue, and that speaking courageously about one’s convictions is treated with hostility rather than respect.
“To support what is right is now seen as a vice rather than a virtue. To disagree with those in leadership positions is suicidal. To speak courageously and frankly about your beliefs and positions on things is now viewed as vices.”
In a passage that struck at the heart of how leadership and elevation within the legal profession are determined, Okutepa accused the system of rewarding sycophancy and praise-singing over honesty, competence, and integrity. He described leadership within the profession as despotic and corrupt-infested.
“Leadership is despotic and corrupt-infested in Nigeria in most cases. In the legal profession where honesty ought to be respected and be the hallmark for lifting and promotion, it appears to be vices now. Honesty and decency are now seen as vices and viruses on the way to promotions.”
He stated plainly that being sycophantic and engaging in praise-singing in favour of bad leadership is now the currency that earns one prominent positions and elevation within professional leadership structures.
“Being sycophantic and praise-singing in favour of bad leadership is now what earns one prominent position and elevation in professional leadership.”
Okutepa drew a sharp contrast between the current state of the profession and the legacy bequeathed by its founding fathers. He stated that the rules of professional conduct in the legal profession are rules of honour and integrity that enjoin all members to be men and women of noble and ethical standards — standards that are meant to protect and promote good governance and the rule of law.
“That was not what the founding fathers of the legal profession bequeathed to us and as codified in our rules of professional conduct. The rules of professional conduct are rules of honour and integrity that enjoin all members to be men and women of noble and ethical standards that protect and promote good governance and rule of law.”
The implication of Okutepa’s statement was clear: the current generation of legal practitioners and leaders has departed fundamentally from the values, ethics, and traditions that the profession was built upon, replacing honour with self-interest, integrity with sycophancy, and accountability with impunity.
In what may be the single most damning line in his entire statement, Okutepa accused the legal profession itself of being the bane of Nigeria’s justice system and good governance. He lamented that many things are now done in complete disregard of the rule of law, the ethical standards of the profession, and the expectations of rationality by men and women of virtue.
“I weep for Nigeria because today the legal profession seems to be the bane of Nigeria’s justice and good governance. Today in Nigeria, many things are done completely in disregard of the rule of law, the reasonable ethical standards of the legal profession, and the expectations of rationality by men and women of virtue.”
He observed that badly behaved conduct now appears more rewarding than good conduct that promotes the purity of law and the ethics of the profession. And he expressed frustration that many who were expected to rise up and fight for what is right have instead gone silent.
“Badly behaved conduct appears more rewarding than good conduct that promotes purity of law and ethics of the profession. In all these, many you expected to rise up and fight for what is right have gone to sleep for reasons that are difficult to comprehend.”
Okutepa added that many lawyers are silently disappointed by what is happening but cannot openly speak out against the unjust and unfair practices going on in legal practice and the profession generally — suggesting a climate of fear and intimidation within the Bar.
The senior advocate also addressed the changing nature of legal practice itself, lamenting that transactional legal practice rooted in commercial interests is overtaking legal practice rooted in the best traditions of the nobility of the law, fidelity to the rule of law, and commitment to good governance.
“Today transactional legal practice rooted in commercial interests is overtaking legal practice rooted in the best traditions of the nobility of the legal practice rooted in the rule of law and fidelity to good governance.”
He accused the legal profession of giving a stamp of legitimacy to otherwise illegitimate processes that produced leaderships, saying that democracy has become dictatorship and one-man shows due to the silence and conspiracies of the profession.
“Today democracy has become dictatorship and one-man show, due to the silence and conspiracies of the legal profession to give stamp of legitimacy to otherwise illegitimate processes that produced leaderships. What is wrong is now seen as right. Abnormalities are treated as normal.”
In one of the most powerful and metaphorical passages of his statement, Okutepa described the legal profession — traditionally seen as the guardian of justice, the protector of rights, and the beacon of the rule of law — as being in conspiracy with darkness. He said that darkness has now overtaken and overshadowed the light of righteousness in Nigeria.
“If gold gets rusted, then what do you expect from the iron? The profession of light is in conspiracy with darkness, and darkness has now overtaken and overshadowed light of righteousness in Nigeria.”
He also held institutions of justice accountable, stating that they were not free from blame and had abdicated their responsibilities. His metaphor of gold rusting was a direct allusion to the legal profession: if the guardians of justice themselves become corrupt, what hope remains for the rest of society?
Okutepa concluded his statement with a deeply emotional and almost mournful closing, weeping not only for the present state of the profession but for the future — for generations yet unborn who will inherit a legal profession stripped of its honour, integrity, and commitment to justice.
“I weep for Nigeria. I weep for those who support darkness to overcome and overshadow the light of justice in Nigeria. I weep for us and those that destroyed the legacies of righteousness and those promoting evil over good in the legal profession.”
“The best of traditions bequeathed to the legal profession, the culture of respect rooted in the finest of traditions, is far gone in the legal profession. I weep for the legal profession in Nigeria. I weep for generation yet unborn.”
Okutepa’s statement has sent shockwaves through legal circles in Nigeria. While many lawyers have privately expressed similar sentiments about the state of the Bar, few have done so with the same level of emotional candour, intellectual clarity, and moral courage as the Senior Advocate. His willingness to speak publicly and unambiguously about what many see as the systemic rot within the profession has been praised by colleagues who view his statement as a necessary and long-overdue wake-up call.
The statement is widely seen as a direct challenge to the current leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association and to the broader culture of silence, sycophancy, and self-interest that Okutepa says has replaced the founding values of honour, integrity, and service upon which the legal profession was built.
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