By Sylvester Udemezue (udems)
The law profession in Nigeria is in a serious mess and in urgent need of help. However, this is not the main problem; the main challenge is that there appears to be no one working to help the lawyer and his law profession to overcome their challenges. In other words, the lawyer’s problems persist and of course keep increasing because everyone everywhere appears to have abandoned lawyers and the law profession. Lawyer appears to have no one and nowhere to turn to, for help . Or, what do you think, please? Tell me I missed it!
1. Policemen and women, EFCC, ICPC, etc are victimizing Lawyers by brutalizing lawyers, although (truth be told) some lawyers are contributorily blameful on this.
2. Judges, justices (including of the highest courts in the land) and courts are oppressing lawyers. They feel no qualms in publicly abusing, insulting, and denigrating lawyers, and in some cases, without even affording the lawyers an appportunity of being heard. They sometimes call lawyers unprintable names making lawyers to feel hopeless, useless, fruitless, hapless, helpless, and mannerless, although, indeed, some lawyers are. But what’s the use of due process if judges can convict lawyers for “professional misconduct” without any opportunity of a fair hearing? They create holdup for cases pending in court making the cases to stay and remain for up to 25 to 30 years in court, in most cases, thereby making Nigeria’s administration of justice system the slowest (and arguably the most debased) in the world. Lawyers are guilty of contributorily blameful here.
3. Custom officials, NSCDC officials, NDLEA officials, and other law enforcement agencies are victimizing Lawyers by beating them up, brutalizing lawyers, and locking lawyers up only for doing their professional (lawyers’) jobs. Why now?
4. The general public are constantly and unrestrainedly mistreating lawyers by calling them “liars”. Look, Mr. Man and Mrs woman, lawyers are not liars. Assuming but not conceding that lawyers are, I can tell you that non-lawyers are even greater lawyers than the lawyer — indeed the most mischievous and barefaced lies are told by non-lawyers who also are the worst hypocrites: check (a) you call lawyers liars and you still turn around to send and sponsor your own favorite children or wards to go and become a lawyer; (b) you call lawyers liars and you still turn around and begging lawyers to come and work for you. Hypocrisy of the highest order! So,why the kettle call pot black? Why, Mr. Kettle? Bottom line: if lawyers are liars, then clients and non-lawyers are accessories after-and-before the fact. Hence, non lawyers are partners in the lying business and therefore equally guilty with the lawyers. Tell me this is not true, assuming lawyers are indeed liars! How market?
5. Law firms (yes, most of them) are oppressing lawyers by treating them as slaves and rags, good only to be used and dumped. Most law firms are unscrupuluously selfish, collecting huge doll from clients but paying lawyers peanuts and still joining in persecuting lawyers.
6. NBA Leaderships are oppressing lawyers, extorting lawyers, playing with the lawyers’ brains and intelligence, and shortchanging lawyers, by collecting annual BPF but refusing, failing or neglecting to do anything to promote the welfare and economic advancement of lawyers. The BPF paid by lawyers in Nigeria is total failure of consideration. NBA Leaderships have so far been the greatest enemies-of-progress to lawyers. Leaderships in the NBA constitutes mostly in clueless grandstanding, egoistic shenanigans, and hypocritical play-to-the-crowd. Purveyors of bad governance, enablers of lawlessness, promoters of impunity and condoners of rot. NBA Leaderships do not have any pity for the pitiable plight of lawyers in Nigeria. How have they shown any concern? They carry on as if nothing is happening even when all is not well! Bad leaders everywhere. But NBA’s is even worse; Imagine bad leaders (in the NBA) dwelling in condemning other badly leaders, instead of working hard to correct your own iniquity! NBA, first remove the log of wood in your eyes, so you can see clearly to correct others. Charity begins at home!
7. Governments are oppressing and cheating lawyers by making lawyers the most poorly paid and badly-treated professionals in Nigeria’s public service. Imagine posting lawyer-NYSC members to secondary schools to go and teach. Imagine refusing to establish law departments in local government areas in Nigeria. Section 66(3) Nigerian Police Force Establishment Act 2020 which requires that every Police Station in Nigeria must have posted to it, no fewer than one lawyer whose job is to monitor compliance with human rights at the police station. Imagine that the government has refused to implement this section. Imagine!
8. Lawyers are oppressing fellow lawyers in Nigeria. Imagine that a lawyer would employ his professional colleague in his office, and then refuse to pay salaries, or refuse to impart experience or allow his professional colleagues to wallow in abject lack and lavish penury when their employers are extravagantly engaging in lavish spending. Imagine that a lawyer would refuse a brief on grounds of gross inadequate fees only for a colleague to accept to do the same job for less than gross undercharge! Imagine for example that a non Lawyer would prepare a Deed of Assignment (for land sold for N100,000,000) and hand over to a lawyer to sign and seal for a consideration of N10,000. Imagine a lawyer engaging in charge and Bail!
10. Clients are oppressing and victimizing lawyers by refusing to pay lawyers’ earned fees, after the lawyer has faithfully rendered services or by refusing to pay adequately or by refusing to give the lawyers law jobs that are truly theirs (Lawyers’). Imagine that lawyers’ clients now prefer to take Lawyers’ jobs to EFCC, police, OPC arewa Youths, IPOB, massob, omo n’ile, NURTW, old SOJAs, area boys and louts, etc.
11. Outsiders (non lawyers) are oppressing lawyers by stealing the lawyer’s traditional jobs and and thereby leaving majority of lawyers jobless, money-less, hopeless, disenchanted, disillusioned, disappointed, and frustrated. Unfortunately, lawyers and their professional Leaders do practically nothing about this.
12. Regulators in the law profession are oppressing lawyers by neglecting lawyers, subjugating lawyers, and ignoring and refusing to tackle the pressing challenges of lawyers in Nigeria. They are only concerned about disciplining lawyers for professional misconduct. They don’t appear to give a hoot about why some lawyers engage in unprofessional conduct and about what can be done to halt the ugly trend.
13. Unknown gunmen, kidnappers, killers and terrorists are oppressing lawyers by killing, kidnapping, maiming and terrorising lawyers. “Gunmen murder Imo lawyer Darlington Odume” (Punch, 16 September 2021); “SAD: Abuja Senior Lawyer Brutally Murdered in Abuja” (BARRISTERNG, OCTOBER 5, 2021); “How Nigerian lawyer, Adaeze Ikpema was allegedly murdered by her husband” (Newswire NGR, July 2021); “Lawyer murdered in Akwa Ibom community headship tussle” (sunnewsonline, December 2021); and many more.
14. Law education providers and institutions in Nigeria are oppressing lawyers by continuing to train and produce more Lawyers while doing little or nothing to help improve the economic plight of readymade lawyers and the Law profession. Imagine for an example that a university assigned a quota to admit not more than 100 law students, would go ahead and take in over 300 only to turn around to start lobbying for all the 300 to be admitted to the Law School. And when the Law School refuses on grounds of no-adequate-facilities-on-ground and you-overshot-your-quota, these universities and their quota-overshoot graduates would turn around and begin to publicly castigate the law school and making the Law School look bad. Then Smart Adeyemi would kickstart an establish-a-Law-School-in-every-village-in-Nigeria campaign.
15. NIGERIA’s National Assembly is oppressing lawyers in Nigeria and helping to destroy the law profession. Imagine that Senate would pass a Bill establishing more law school Campuses without doing anything to make existing campuses viable! What is the business of the Senate in establishing additional campuses for the Law School? Is that not an administrative decision to be taken by council of legal education based on expediency and need?
Why were Senator Smart Adeyemi and his Senate not smart enough to have seen this? ‘Even slaves should not attend Yenagoa campus of Nigerian Law School: Wike” _”Indicating the appalling conditions at the Nigerian Law School, Yenagoa Campus, Governor Nyesom Wike says even slaves should not be allowed to use the facility. ‘You’ll never allow your slave to attend the campus in Yenagoa,” said Mr Wike on Tuesday Wike when the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, led by its chairman, Opeyemi Bamidele, paid him a courtesy’. (See Gazettengr; November 24, 2021) And if they saw it, what plans did they put on ground to solve the problem, before talking about additional campuses for the Law School? Anyway it’s all about smartness! And in my opinion, the decision to pass a Bill establishing more campuses is not a Smart decision! If you really care about the plight of law education in Nigeria, smartness demanded that you should first work to make existing campuses viable before talking about establishing new ones. I therefore respectfully advise President Buhari to ignore the Senate and its un-smart decision to destabilize law education in Nigeria. President Buhari should not sign that Bill into law, but should rather vote more funds to upgrade existing campuses in order to meet the admission needs of that great school. Existing seven Campuses of the Law School can conveniently admit up to 10,000 law students if adequately and smartly upgraded. Check out. ABUJA campus current takes care of up to 1,500/1,600 while Lagos Campus takes up to 1,300/1,400. Why not upgrade the other 5 campuses to start taking the same number as Lagos and Abuja? Instead of this needless Bill to establish 6 additional campuses to bring the number of campuses to 13? What an unwise decision taken by people that represent themselves as smart people! Dear Mr, President, be smart, please don’t join in destroying law education in Nigeria. No additional law school Campuses should be established save by the Council of Legal Education & NLS; they (CLE/NLS) wear the shoes; only they know where it pinches.
To be continued! Respectfully, Sylvester Udemezue (udems) 08109024556, udemsyl@gmail.com. (27/02/2022)