 It is a special privilege to be here at this special dinner with some of the brightest and best in our profession, and many whose contributions have decisively shaped the destiny of our profession and even our nation. I'd like to first comment this body, the body of Pinterest, for the extraordinary leadership that it has provided over the years. As a gateway for access into the Nigerian bar and as a custodian of our ethics and values, this body has borne the enormous responsibility of being the conscience, the arbiter, the judge, and interlocutor for the legal profession and our administration of justice system. I'm deeply honored to have been preferred to the prestigious rank of life venture. It is humbling, but also exciting to be reminded that one still has more to offer. I owe gratitude, of course, to the remarkable men and women teachers, mentors, partners, and indeed students who have contributed to my professional experience. And I, on behalf of all of the others who have just been conferred the rank, accept this honor as a call to greater responsibility. Perhaps one should also seize the opportunity to salute all distinguished colleagues, seniors and juniors alike, who have internalized the application of the rule of law in sometimes the most difficult circumstances, who have stood for the helpless through advocacy, who have demanded transparency and accountability in all spheres and pushed for positive reforms in the advancement of not just our system of justice, but also all the ramparts upon which our democracy is built alongside our nationhood and our common patrimony. Today, our profession stands at a critical crossroads, yet the different possible paths that we should take have to my mind never been so clear and so illuminated. One path is the path of business as usual, which of course means that we will face the extinction of our credibility as a profession soon enough. The other is a path of renewal, the right path, a more courageous, even if more difficult path. The witnesses that we have seen exposed in our profession time and time again, are as disturbing as they are, at the same time provided as great opportunity for deep introspection and self-assessment. This always presents an opportunity for reform, to reclaim the tradition of virtuous ethics, tradition of moral inquiry and doggedness in the dispassionate and impartial application of law, no matter whose oath is God. We all, the young and aspiring lawyers, are duty to set the ground rules right and to lead by example. We also as custodians of the law or our nation, at the very least, the duty to ensure the proper functioning of our justice system. Our professional practice and the courts must always measure to the moral, ethical, and statutory standards that we have subscribed to. Whether we sit at the bar or on the bench, we bear the responsibility for a fair and just society, a free, fair, and impartial system of justice. And the ushering in at regular times and intervals of progressive reforms in governance, protecting at all times, the social structure of our nation. Our everyday practice of law has the potential to either strengthen or weaken our democratic values and institutions. The expression learned that everyone ascribed to us suggests amongst other attributes that we are skilled, not only in the art of our trade and calling, but also in the mechanics of a just society. That just society cannot be established by mere wishes or rhetoric. It can only be by deliberate action and sometimes sacrifice, especially those of us to whom our profession has so generously conferred leadership of its highest body. My Lord's distinguished members of the body of vengeance, our greatest debt at this point in our lives and careers is to the future, the future of this profession that has been so kind and generous to us and to this society that has yielded leadership at various levels to us. The debt is one which would most discharge faithfully, first by being worthy mentors to an ever growing number of legal practitioners, but more importantly by fearlessly insisting that the bedrock of justice and the rule of law is personal and corporate integrity. I congratulate again all the honorees tonight. An award from this most distinguished body is certainly worthy of celebration and commendation. And I pray that all of you will grow from glory to glory. Thank you all very much.