•Justice Amina Augie
A retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Amina Augie, and senior lawyers have decried the growing practice of indecent dressing by female lawyers in the country.
Justice Augie, former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in Sokoto State, Suleiman Usman (SAN) and a member of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Bar Association Women Forum (NBAWF), Hajia Mohammed Adama, expressed concern that female lawyers no longer dress decently, reports The Nation.
They spoke in Abuja yesterday at an event organised by the Abuja chapter of the NBAWF, with the theme: “Indecent dressing: Its effect on female lawyers’ dress code.”
Justice Augie, who featured as the keynote speaker, urged lawyers to see themselves as an important part of somebody else’s life.
She said lawyers should dress in a way that inspires confidence, “because you are supposed to be presentable when you are representing your client.
“When you come before me as a lawyer and you are not properly dressed, no one will tell you to dress well by the time you are appearing before me again, because I will also talk to your principal on why he allowed you to leave the chambers without being properly dressed.
“As a lawyer, you need to know who you are, because it is when you identify who you are that you will be able to instill confidence in others and your client.
“No lawyer dresses indecently in my court that I spare. As a lawyer, we should be disciplined, so that when you say you are a lawyer, you are able to instill confidence in others so that when you speak, they’ll listen to you.”
Usman argued that any lawyer that is indecently dressed should not be given an audience by any court.
The former Attorney General of Sokoto State said a lawyer that is indecently dressed in court is setting bad precedence for those coming behind.
He added: “To be properly dressed as a lawyer is very important because it says a lot about who you are.
“It could lead to disciplinary action because the bad conduct of any lawyer could rub off on others.
“For a lawyer to be respected and win the confidence and trust of his client, he must present himself in a decent manner.”
Hajia Adama called on parents to be good examples to their daughters.
She added that as lawyers and mothers, members of the forum are expected to instill good values in the younger ones.
Hajia Adama said: “We are lawyers and we impact positively in the society and the society looks up to us as well.
“So, we must conduct ourselves in a manner that is acceptable, including our dressing.
“You will agree with me that with what you see on the, internet daily, our societal value is eroding and we can’t allow that to creep into the legal profession.
“The legal profession is a noble one and we can’t allow indecent dressing to impact negatively on the good name the profession has earned many years ago.”
