Olaonipekun Rosiji, an Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) alumni, was called to the Bar on December 12, 2017. He joined Greenfields Chamber where he is learning the practice of Law. In this interview with Legal Editor John Austin Unachukwu, he shares his views on why he read Law, his mission in the legal profession and sundry issues.
Why did you choose to study law in spite of other professional callings?
I opted for law due to diverse reasons, the most important being that when I was growing, many great leaders all over the world I heard and read about were mostly lawyers.
Such as?
Great people like Mahatma Ghadhi, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, Barrack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton (whom I have read their autobiographies countless times) and the sage himself, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo(SAN) were lawyers. So knowing that many of these great men were Lawyers was a major source of motivation for me.
What other things motivated you to choose law?
I also chose to study law because it is a noble profession that promises great career opportunities. Above all, I came to the conclusion that law as an instrument of social engineering that can be used to establish an almost perfect society if not a perfect one.
Which university did you attend and why?
I attended the famous Obafemi Awolowo University, formerly known as University of Ile-Ife. You will agree with me that this great citadel of learning is Africa’s most beautiful campus. The academic and social life of Great Ife is second to none. In fact, if I were to reincarnate back to this world I will surely attend Great Ife again.
How do you feel now that you are a lawyer?
The feeling is great especially for someone like me who grew up the way I did. I grew in a setting believed to be for the never-do-wells, so attaining this level appears too far when I considered it then, but now I give all thanks to God.
Also, I must say a very big thanks to my late parents for their unalloyed commitment to seeing me become who I am today.
To be sincere, my Call to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria was the happiest thing I can say my late Dad experienced before his demise three months after.
I actually dedicated my Call to the Nigerian Bar Certificate to my dad, Chief Ezekiel Olufemi Rosiji. Now that I am a lawyer there is more responsibility on me to use the opportunity bestowed on me to protect the helpless and serve my country.
If not law which other profession would you have pursued?
I would have been a consummate teacher.
Why didn’t you pursue a teaching career?
Actually, I am working towards becoming a teacher. I am a trained lawyer but a born teacher. Teaching is part of my life.
When I was in Ife, I taught many of my juniors and some of my classmates. In the law firm where I currently work, I am the teacher to the Law students who come around for their law firm attachment.
I just love to teach because I don’t think there can be any other higher calling. My utmost fulfillment would be when I eventually become a teacher of law in a University.
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What is your greatest challenge in the profession?
Greatest challenge? I do not have any.
What do you consider to be the challenges confronting young lawyers in the country?
Well, I believe gaining experience for young lawyers is of most importance. However, it is quite painful that most senior lawyers hide under the umbrella of the fact that since most young lawyers are still undergoing training, the focus should not be on the pay but on the experience meant to be gathered.
Nonetheless, we keep hearing that the legal profession is a noble profession, that we must dress smart, we must have a car so that a client will not belittle or undermine your capacity or refer to you as a charge and bail lawyers.
Yet most seniors at the Bar want to pay little or nothing for the services of young lawyers.
The question I am thus constrained to ask is whether medical students who received good remunerations during housemanship are not equally undergoing their learning process? They are learning, yet they are well remunerated.
I think the appropriate authorities should look into this, because it is not encouraging that someone will be in school for seven years including the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and be paid a meager sum of thirty thousand naira or forty thousand naira It is highly preposterous!
Which areas of the profession would you like to see amended?
I think our dressing should be reviewed. I still find it unbelievable that we are still wearing Wig and Gown on our suit considering our kind of weather. Also, our courts are not well ventilated for this kind of dressing.
If the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) could make special provision for young lawyers, what should those provisions be?
I still believe in the idea of tutelage, however this should be well regulated and should be during the period of National Youth Service.
Which area of law practice interests you the most?
Taxation of course. My dad retired at Federal Inland Revenue Service and due to his connection with tax he was able to influence my decision to choose “Law of Taxation” as one of my restricted Electives in my final year in OAU Ife. Also, he was able to talk me into writing my undergraduate thesis on taxation.
What was your topic?
The topic of my undergraduate thesis was “Towards an effective tax administration system in Nigeria”, and I was supervised by the erudite first female professor of law in Nigerian Federal Universities, Prof. Margaret T. Okorodudu-Fubara.
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