By Precious Nwadimuya

I have been inundated with calls from my supporters because they want to know my idea about the issue raised by a lawyer with regards to Lawyers remuneration for Land documentations. Truly, the idea is not a novel one, it has been on the table for a while now and I have researched it extensively. This is because the poor earning capacity of Lawyers in Nigeria in land transactions in comparison to other professionals and non-professionals is an issue of concern to me and many lawyers alike, hence the interest it is generating on the platform already. But beyond nursing the idea of a Law to regulate the area, what are the steps to translating it to reality? Is it enough to mouth it as a rhetoric for the purposes of generating likes and winning sympathy in an election era?

Between 2014 and 2016 when Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins was the Chairman of NBA Warri Branch, he personally drafted a Bill in that regard and pushed same through the Delta State House of Assembly. With the help of the Lawyers in that Assembly, the Law was passed in 2016. That Bill was submitted to His Excellency, the Governor for his assent and the Bill has not come out from there ever since. No official news, either positive or negative came from the Governor until the Bill lapsed with the end of that Assembly.

Now, pushing that Bill through the legislative house was not a mean feat and we must commend Mr. Aikpokpo, an aspirant for 1st Vice President at the National elections, for the hard work. However, all that effort was met with a brick wall at the table of His Excellency, for some reasons which I have had the privilege to research into because of my interest in the Bill. I have personally interacted with Mr. Aikpokpo on the matter on different occasions and I have had course to peruse the contents of the said Bill. I have also interacted with Mr. Smart Edoge, the Director of Legal Services in the Delta State House of Assembly, who is a member of the NBA, Asaba Branch and I have first hand information on some of the ills which bedeviled that Bill that led to its still-birth. I have the requisite experience in Legislative drafting and I can count a number of existing laws in Delta State which initial draft was prepared by me and others. I also have sufficient linkages and networks within government circles both within the legislature and the executive on whose back we can ride on to see this Bill come to reality.

However, as one aspiring to be the Secretary of the Branch, I am not oblivious of the fact that it is not within my remit to run with such policy issues as this. The Chairman will be at the forefront and I am willing to work with our next Chairman to accomplish this task. Thankfully, the two frontline contenders for the office of Chairman are people I have worked with in different Excos and committees. We understand ourselves very well and they are people who listen to me in particular. So I have no doubt that it is an objective we can pursue.

However, beyond that, I have promised the good people of Asaba branch that I am prepared to engineer a people-led Bar. What I mean by that is that even if our Chairman does not bring up people oriented ideas, as the Secretary of the Branch whose responsibility is to prepare the Agenda of every meeting, I will ensure at all times that we have such issues on the table. Part of my manifesto is to include in our Agenda for every monthly meeting, two new items, viz: 1. State of the Judiciary/Bar, and 2. State of the State; where members would raise matters of concern as it affects the judiciary and the Bar in Delta State and Asaba in particular and the State of our Delta State as watchdogs of society, after which appropriate resolutions would be passed and published far and wide. I have no doubt in my mind that the regular publication of our resolutions which have direct bearing on how an equitable and egalitarian society should be run will improve the estimation of Asaba lawyers in the eyes of all and sundry and particularly our clients and law enforcement agents and restore back to us a pride of place once more in society. This will go a long way in impacting positively on our earning capacity as lawyers, as clients may then stop asking the question of “wetin lawyers dey do sef?”

But while waiting for the legislation to go through the House of Assembly, there are a number of things we can do. The most important thing we can do in the interim is to pass a resolution on APPLICABLE RANGE OF CHARGES every lawyer in Asaba must not go outside in Land documentations. We have accomplished such in the past with appearance fees under the Leadership of Oseyenim Chukwuma where I served as Financial Secretary of the Branch. We can do it again! The black sheeps will always be those who do not attend meetings regularly or identify with us in any way. This is why a major agenda of my manifesto as Secretary is to mobilise every single member of the Asaba Branch to regularly attend our monthly meetings. We cannot effectively monitor people who don’t attend our meetings. I also plan to develop a monthly E-Newsletter which shall be circulated electronically which shall contain vital bar news, legal tit-bits, available opportunities for young lawyers home and abroad and major resolutions of the branch. That way, no member of the branch will be left out of the corporate decisions taken by the branch which is binding on all members. After all, Vulcanisers did not require a legislation to enforce their charges. No vulcaniser in Asaba will attend to you on a day and time they are having their meetings even if he doesn’t attend the meeting. If you refuse to inflate your tyres with the one at Stadium because you are not comfortable with his charges, go to the one at Okpanam road and he will give you the same bill and you cannot negotiate it downwards. So we must agree to abide by regulations, because if we don’t have this agreement, even with the Law, we will not make any progress.

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