“A BANNER WITHOUT STAIN”: A CONTRIBUTION BY SABASTINE ANYIA ESQ., NBA VP & CHAIRMAN HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE AT NBA SPIDEL, UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE

Distinguished colleagues, leaders of our noble profession, gentlemen of the press, friends of justice and guardians of humanity good morning.

I am exceedingly excited to be at this very important summit organized by the NBA-SPIDEL Annual Conference 2025, in the ancient city of Uyo where hospitality and culture embrace.

Gentlemen, enjoy yourselves, and please make out time to visit the beautiful sites before leaving this great city. It is always a privilege when a gathering like this allows us to reflect, and reconnect with the values that define our profession.

The theme for this conference, “A Banner Without Stain,” is not only apt but calls for deep reflection. Can any Nigerian today beat their chest and say that they are truly proud of this country? This is a question that tests our sincerity and our patriotism.

Whenever I listen to the national anthem, I am deeply touched, for the wordings are clear and speak directly to our conscience:

“Our flags shall be a symbol

That truth and justice reign

In peace or battle honoured

And this we count as gain

To hand on to our children

A banner without stain.”

What this truly means is that we must build a nation we can confidently hand over to our children and generations to come. To achieve this must eschew all anti-nation acts, predilections, and tendencies that suffuse our dear motherland today. We cannot continue to lament the state of our country while refusing to challenge the attitudes that destroy it. Nation-building demands courage, honesty, and sacrifice from all of us.

For us to have a banner without stain, we must do justice to all manner of persons in our country. There must be security such that one can travel from Bakassi to Sokoto without fear of attacks by any gang of criminals. Religion and tribe must never be determinants of who governs us, but competence and credibility. Appointments to public office should not be rewards for godfatherism but reflections of qualification and merit.

Judgements must not be sold to the highest bidders, and employment opportunities must not be preserved for children of the powerful.

If we fail to confront these abnormalities with firmness and sincerity, the banner we hand to our children will be smeared with even darker stains.

When Major Kaduna Nzeogwu led the January coup in this country, it was a stain on the banner. When the revenge coup occurred later, it was another stain. Corruption has remained a constant stain on our banner, one that may soon become impossible to wash off if we do not act urgently.

Terrorism, insecurity, religious intolerance, wanton killings these are stains that continue to bleed into the fabric of our national identity.

Every generation receives the banner either cleaner or dirtier than it was before; the tragedy is that ours has been made heavier by repeated neglect and impunity.

The essence of this conference is to find pathways to cleansing these stains. It is our duty as wise men and women known and called legal practitioners to proffer solutions to this national epidemic. We must remind ourselves that the law is not merely a profession but a calling, a guardian of order, a defender of justice, and the last hope of the common man.

A nation finds its footing when the legal community rises to its responsibility.

Yes, with strong commitment and firm resolve, we can start afresh. We can rebuild trust, restore honour, and re engrave dignity into our national banner. Let history record that we gathered here in Uyo to make a decision to cleanse, to restore, to rebuild, and to hand to our children and every citizen whose hope is tied to the promise of Nigeria a banner worthy of their dreams.

Thank you.

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