Lawyers charged to join politics for impactful governance
...Stop seeing politics as dirty- Akagburuonye
Maureen Aguta
Irked by the prevailing mediocrity of politicians involved in governance in Nigeria, a legal luminary and real estate mogul, Chief ( Barrister) Obioma Akagburuonye, has charged lawyers to view politics from a different prism and join.
Chief Akagburuonye, who from his base in Abuja, the federal capital, made the call when he hosted Imo State’s lawyers, who attended the Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference in Enugu.
Addressing the gathering of “learned” people from Imo State, Chief Akagburuonye pointed out that politics is all about the affairs of man. “Let us stop seeing politics as dirty. Let us stop seeing it as money making venture. Let us see it as core service and prepare adequately for it,” he said.
“Let us not be indifferent in choosing who should be our leader, because the price of being indifferent is one being ruled by his inferior. When you say that what is happening does not concern you, one way or the other, it will concern you, and that time, you may be late”.
He emphasised the importance of peace and progress in Imo State, noting that “without peace, so many things will not work and no good thing thrives in crises.
“To ensure that we have peace in the state, I have decided to consult different groups of people, organisations, and personalities to appeal that lawyers get involved properly.”
He also used the opportunity to solicit the support of lawyers from Imo State, whenever, he offers himself to serve the state.
He laid bare, a catalogue of his life’s history including his travails with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which lasted for 20 years, and this, anchored his resolve to study Law.
He charged the lawyers to be diligent in profiling and interrogating the resume of those offering themselves for various elective political positions in the state.
Chief Akagburuonye further drew the attention of the lawyers to the forthcoming elections, 2027, asking them “to start now to look at those, who are coming out to be leaders, profile them yourselves, and know who to decide to support and, who to work for, my profile is in the public domain.”
He reiterated his pledge to serve Imo State with his wealth of knowledge, saying, “I will not put you to shame. I will make you proud because I have not been involved in politics before as I wanted to be sure of myself. I will not loot the treasury, and whatever is due for the state would be secured.”
On a lighter mood, he volunteered to assist four lawyers from Imo State, who would be interested in attending the International Bar Conference in Toronto, Canada in November. He promised to support but not in obtaining the Visa.
He pleaded with the lawyers to identify with his organisation named “Hope Rising For Imolites”.
He disclosed that the organisation has empowered about 12,000 Imolites through free training in the fields of solar installation, inverter and CCTV, and “we will do more.”
The coordinator of the programme, which held at De Dome Event Centre, Enugu, Dr Udegbulem expressed his profound gratitude to the lawyers for honouring the invitation, while assuring Chief Akagburuonye-Akaraugo Mbaise, of the support of the lawyers.