This is an edited version.
The journey has not been easy but with your support, and the unwavering commitment of the National Executive Council, we have steered the Law Students' Association of Nigeria to a new level of prominence.
When this committee assumed office in 2018, LAWSAN was battling to stand on its feet as a newly established association. But, we have created and strengthened a virile institutional framework for law students' unionism in Nigeria and drawn a clear roadmap for law students to enrich their career potential. This has been through a series of interventionist projects targeted at professional growth and capacity building.
I would like to place on record my appreciation for the very productive services of my fellow members of the National Executive Council (NEC), the directorates and my staff and brothers at the National Secretariat and the Office of the President. Your dedication to duty was unparalleled and your belief in selfless public service has been the fuel that kept us moving.
I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the efforts of distinguished Senators and Chapter Heads who formed an integral part of our project. Despite the daunting challenges, we worked as a team and never relented in giving of our best in service to our colleagues and the legal profession. The invaluable support of my family as well as the management and staff of the Faculty of Law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, which hosted our National Secretariat, cannot be quantified.
It is not easy leading a body of more than 50,000 intellectually mobile and constantly critical students. But the constructive criticisms of our colleagues kept us alive to the responsibilities of our office and the mandate we bear. To this end, I am eternally grateful to all law students across the lengths and breadths of Nigeria for the rare privilege of a lifetime to serve as your president.
Throughout this journey, we've been able to share the glory of agreement but also had a taste of dissent, largely due to divergence of opinion and political intrigue. But we have always been united by our shared vision and the pursuit of our common dreams and the dreams of the founders of LAWSAN.
I am proud we have positioned our priorities not on building monuments or flowing landmark projects, but on injecting projects that will have long term effects. We believe in building our members and equipping them with the requisite skills to attain their best.
Locally and internationally, we have networked LAWSAN with the required stakeholders in government, industry, and beyond.
During campaigns, and in my inaugural address, I pledged to direct the policies of this administration, fundamentally, to pursue three visions: recognition, revitalisation and institution building. Today, I can say with pride that we have attained the required national recognition as well as vitality, vigor and strength. Our past months in office have been about creating national awareness, building diplomatic ties with the industry, government agencies, institutions, NGOs, and reaching out to student chapters that had not been included the national body.
We attained landmarks in media partnerships geared at bringing our law students' activities into the global spotlight. We partnered with DNL Legal & Style (a legal news platform), Law Students' Hub and other print media organisations. The Nigerian Television Authority and Channels TV have also been at the core of our media activities.
We are in partnership Africa Legal, Legal Pages, and Juriscuti, all of which benefit LAWSAN by floating career development programmes such as courses and internships for Nigerian law students.
Recently, we've partnered and supported a project to train law students in Information Technology Law, FinTech, Blockchain and other aspects of Tech Law as well as a partnership to improve the training of law students in Tax Law.
We supported and are currently reinforcing the operation of clubs established by the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law in the University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, Baze University and the University of Benin to broaden the teaching and practise of commercial law. LAWSAN has also enjoyed free participation in all NBA-SBL Conferences held throughout our stay in office.
We established the Female Law Students' Forum to address child labour and domestic violence through the instrument of the law, defended the welfare of law students, and united them under a single umbrella in the pursuit of shared visions. In a series of landmark interviews and stakeholder engagements, we campaigned vigorously for reform in legal education. Our goals were simple - to create a LAWSAN that believes in the enormous potential of law students and strives to bring them to fruition. We recently procured a “Grand Patron” in the esteemed person of the Honourable Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Abubakar Malami and have pressed for legislative intervention to the benefit of law students in Nigeria, which will be shouldered by the Ministry of Justice under the Attorney-General's Office.
I have no doubt our successors, under the leadership of Emmanuel Nwobodo, with whom I worked closely, will leverage on the networks we have set in place and take full advantage of them to build a robust law students' community in Nigeria.
This service to me is a calling, and in my next endeavours, I will deploy my best time, skills and resources in doing so and in ensuring that LAWSAN attains unprecedented landmarks.
Thank you and God Bless the Law Students’ Association of Nigeria.
The names and portfolios of the new members of the committee are:
EMMANUEL E. NWOBODO - PRESIDENT
QUEEN RUQAYYAH ADEBOYE - VICE PRESIDENT
NJOKU CHISOM FORTUNATUS - GENERAL SECRETARY
RAMLAT ARFAH ZUBAIRU - FINANCIAL SECRETARY
BAYERO RUKAYYA - TREASURER
JEREMIAH KEFAS ZABS - WELFARE DIRECTOR
ALIYU LAWAN TIKAU - DIRECTOR OF GAMES
BUHARI ABDUL HAQQ MUTAIRU - PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
NAFISA ABDULLAHI - ASST. GENERAL SECRETARY
OLADIPUPO SAMUEL OLUWAFEMI - DIRECTOR OF SOCIALS