By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
Former Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has expressed concerns over the state of the legal profession in Nigeria, warning that it is collapsing under the weight of corruption, ethical breaches, and declining standards.
Speaking at the 2025 Law Week Plenary Session of the Nigerian Bar Association, Yenagoa Branch, held at the Nigerian Content Tower in Bayelsa State on Friday, Osinbajo decried the growing perception that the nation’s justice system is corrupt, with both the bar and the bench implicated.
He said, “The legal profession is crumbling under the weight of corruption, ethical violations, and poor standings. Stories of counsel acting as conduits for bribing judicial officers are rife. The perception that our system of justice is corrupt and that both the bar and bench are culpable is damaging enough.”
Addressing the sub-theme, “The Legal Profession: A Vision for a New Era,” Osinbajo noted that the legal field is navigating an era shaped by unprecedented technological advances and societal turbulence, demanding urgent reforms and visionary leadership within the profession.
He stated: “The pace of technological advancement today, the rise of globalisation, the democratisation of information has already transformed every profession. Yet the legal profession, we are bound by precedents and traditions and some bad habits have remained stubbornly resistant to change.
“Our profession needs a new vision, a new set of tools in a new era, and that is so whether we like it or not. We are in a vastly different era, where the tools we use today were designed will not work.”
On what the legal practice looks like today and what it would look like in the next five years, Osinbajo stated that it was scary that a lot of the work lawyers do or used to do could now be done much faster and much more accurately by technology.
He noted: “The systems don’t get tired, don’t go on leave, and do not ask for extra pay, these tools are becoming much cheaper, and like mobile phones they will be available everywhere and to everyone very soon.
“Technology is fast replacing basic legal analysis and opinion writing, a big part of our cake has been bitten off by technology, and more will be bitten off very soon and very quickly.
“Globalisation has made legal expertise easily available in real time anywhere — what is happening now before our very eyes is the most profound revolution that our profession has ever experienced, a revolution that will radically change the delivery of legal services and even adjudication forever.
“We are no longer the gatekeepers and custodians of basic legal knowledge; that is all gone, but more importantly, we are no longer the custodians of legal reasoning and legal opinions.
“What we should be looking at now is an enhanced curriculum for legal training if students have to be competitive in the years to come.”
He advocated the integration of legal technology and AI into the curriculum, learning how to critically assess inputs from systems like ChatGPT and other AI tools.
He said there was an urgent need to have more cross-disciplinary training for lawyers to include law, data science and design thinking, data privacy, algorithm bias, and designs of legal tech systems.
Osinbajo stated: “And because AI systems will increasingly take over legal tasks, like legal research, drafting, and even basic reasoning, the true value of human lawyers will no longer lie in our ability to find the law or to summarize it; machines can already do that faster and more accurately.
“Lawyers must now focus on the aspect of legal practice that machines cannot properly do or are not able to replicate yet, so we must now develop skills in determining what ought to be done in the client’s best interest, ethical reasoning, and interpretation skills.”
Declaring the plenary session open, Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri said most people are threatened by AI, noting that if it goes a lot of way, it is perceived, a lot of people will lose out on jobs.
“But that is also good for us, as society is dynamic. These are already used to all of us,” he said.
Diri stated: “I want to appreciate the organisers of this Law Week. Yenagoa Branch has been so vocal. This is almost becoming an international event.
“I am one person who will always acknowledge the rule of law and the big role lawyers play. You all know the history of how this governor (referring to himself) and his deputy came about. Each time the master of ceremonies says ‘miracle governor’, the miracle didn’t come from heaven. The miracle was through you (lawyers and judges).
“This is an organ of government that we must all work towards guarding because if the judiciary fails, we will all fail.”
Diri said that for him and his administration, the principal thing about them is the rule of law.
He said his government would continue to respect the rule of law and guard very jealously the independence of the judiciary.
The governor said: “The Chief Judge of Bayelsa State seated here will attest to it that we have not unduly at any time influenced the judiciary.
“We will always continue to work in the rule of law, where justice will prevail and where justice will be served in an impartial manner and form. I want to appreciate you all for gathering today and dissecting the issues that affect us. “If this country must survive, you have to make it survive. If you stand by the truth and by the rule of law, I’m sure that this country will survive, as you know, you are the last hope of the common man.
“If not for you, I would not be standing here today as Governor of Bayelsa State. So be ready that anytime we gather like this, we must look at our own interest and the interest of our country, the interest of the children, and the interest of generations yet unborn.”
In his welcome address, Chairman, NBA, Yenagoa Branch, Mr. Somina Johnbull, thanked the former Vice President, Bayelsa Governor, and many attendees who comprised members of the Bar and the Bench for honouring the lawyers in the state during their Week.
He said that the discourse during the celebration would raise the bar in the practice of the legal profession across the country.