Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State, urged the nation’s female judges to identify barriers to women’s growth on Thursday.
Sanwo-Olu also exhorted them to work for a time when female attorneys would be treated equally to their male counterparts.
At the inaugural South-West Zonal Conference of the National Association of Women Judges of Nigeria, which was hosted at the Marriot Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, the governor issued the call.
The conference was themed, “Breaking Leadership Barriers for Women in Legal Profession”
Sanwo-Olu, who was accompanied by Mrs. Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, the Secretary to the State Government, expressed her happiness that Nigerian women judges are able to fairly and successfully compete with their counterparts around the world in the performance of their holy responsibilities as arbiters.
According to the governor, women judges should be honored for their tenacity.
He applauded Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun of the Supreme Court for maintaining the forum for female judges to convene and create a framework that would support the nation’s and state’s legal system.
“Your dedication and commitment to advancing women leadership in the legal profession are truly commendable and I am confident that this conference will provide robust solutions and forge new and workable strategies to bring about lasting and tangible change that you have constantly desired and would live forever in our lives,” Sanwo-Olu remarked.
In his opening remarks, Justice Kazeem Alogba, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, stated that women were making progress and achieving greater success in the legal field.
Supporting his claim, Alogba said that, during the just finished “Call to Bar” in Abuja on March 7, he welcomed into the Nigerian Bar, Lawal Aminat Odunayo, a young woman who was the Nigerian Law School’s overall best student of the year for this year.
The President of NAWJN, Justice Kekere-Ekun, stated earlier in her inaugural speech that although the nation has made great progress in terms of women holding leadership roles in the legal profession, there was still much work to be done.
She mentioned a few of the difficulties faced by women in the legal field, including unfavorable working circumstances, lack of support from family members, and obstacles related to establishing a work/life balance.
“It is therefore imperative to recognise the invaluable need for the participation of women in policy making and to strive to ensure their inclusivity in the promotion of policies that are gender sensitive and which provide greater access to justice,” she said.
