The Nation Newspaper

Category: Law

  • Should govt regulate churches, mosques

    Should govt regulate churches, mosques

    Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s exit as General Overseer (G.O) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Nigeria, shook the country. Barely 48 hours after his action, the government suspended the Corporate Governance Code, which forced him to step down. The code stipulates a 20-year tenure or a 70-year age limit for heads of not-for-profit organisations, such as churches and mosques. The government also fired the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) Executive Secretary, Jim Obazee, who insisted on the code’s implementation. Should religious organisations be regulated? Should government determine their leaders’ tenure? JOSEPH JIBUEZE sought lawyers’ views.

    Pastor Enoch Adeboye does things methodically. For long, he has been telling his vast Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) family that his successor was still in the world, which is euphemism for a non-believer. But last January 7, he shocked the world when he stepped down as General Overseer (GO), RCCG, Nigeria, and named Pastor Joshua Obayemi as the church’s overseer for Nigeria.

    His decision led to a chain of reactions. The christian world rose against the Code of Corporate Governance which forced him to step down. The Federal Government suspended the code, which stipulated a 20-year tenure or 70-year age limit for heads of not-for-profit organisations, such as churches and mosques. It also fired the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) Executive Secretary, Jim Obazee, who insisted on the code’s implementation.

    Pastor Adeboye, who turns 75 on March 2 and had spent over 20 years as RCCG’s G.O, reportedly said his exit was informed by the code’s provision. He said he was handing over the church affairs in Nigeria to Obayemi, while he remains the worldwide overseer of the church.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, announced Obazee’s removal and the reconstitution of the FRC board consisting of Mr Adedotun Sulaiman as Chairman and Mr. Daniel Asapokhai as Executive Secretary.

    In suspending the code, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, said it had not received final approval.

    A statement by the Strategic Communication Adviser to the Minister, Constance Ikokwu, said: “The corporate governance code remains suspended until a detailed review, extensive consultation with stakeholders and reconstitution of the board of FRC is done.

    “The government remains committed to restoring and enhancing market confidence and improving the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria. Government is also committed to strengthening FRC and enhancing its capacity to fulfill its core mandate.”

    Hailing Obazee’s removal, CAN’s General Secretary Rev. Musa Asake said: “The sack of Jim (Obazee) is good. Anybody that wants to fight the church will find himself where he does not want.

    “Thank God the authorities have stepped in to right the wrong. He should have been fired a long time ago and we don’t know why he was left alone, but God’s time is always the best.”

    While announcing a new Overseer for the RCCG in Nigeria, Pastor Adeboye was said to have hinted that the heads of some Pentecostal churches may be affected by the FRC tenure rule.

    Some of them are General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry William Kumuyi (1973), founder and presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide David Oyedepo (since May 1981), Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission Mike Okonkwo (since 1981), founding and Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church Ayodele Oritsejafor (since early 80s).

    It was learnt that Obazee might have been removed for allegedly disobeying Enelamah’s directive that the regulation be suspended.

    Reports said Obazee refused to suspend the regulation because there was no gazette shelving its execution.

     

    ‘Adeboye remains RCCG head’

     

    RCCG has said it was not amending its constitution to reflect any leadership changes. Its Head of Media and Public Relations, Pastor Segun Adegbiji, debunked a report that there was an ongoing constitution amendment from its governing council.

    He said: “Yes, we do have a constitution. The Governing Council has the liberty and power to amend it if it so wishes. But I didn’t say they were amending it. We are not amending the constitution on structure.”

    Last Thursday, the church said Adeboye remained RCCG’s General Overseer, despite Obayemi’s appointment as National Overseer of RCCG Nigeria.

    Adegbiji explained that Adeboye, fondly called ‘Daddy G. O.’, remained the head of the RCCG, and Obayemi, like other National or Country Overseers around the world, reports to the G. O.

    He said: “That decision does not in any way affect his position as the General Overseer of the RCCG.”

    The spokesman said the appointment became necessary partly because of the RCCG’s rapid growth and expansion, adding that the plan for a national or country overseer for RCCG Nigeria began before the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) implemented its now suspended Corporate Governance Code.

    Adegbiji had also confirmed that Obazee was once a School of Disciples teacher and pastor at the church.

    Obazee had said only 89 of the 23,216 registered churches in the country had complied with FRC provisions.

     

    Lawmakers weigh in

     

    The House of Representatives has ordered a “detailed” public hearing on FRC’s activities, particularly its decision to fix the tenure of the leadership of religious organisations.

    The House passed the resolution last Wednesday after members debated and endorsed a motion moved by the Minority Leader Leo Ogor.

    According to the lawmakers, no Federal Government agency was empowered by any law passed by the National Assembly to determine how many years a religious leader should serve in office.

    “No law, enacted by the National Assembly, empowers any agency to set the tenure of office for heads of non-profit organisations,” Ogor said.

     

    Code’s provisions

     

    Before it was suspended, the National Code of Corporate Governance 2016 took effect last October 17. It was issued in accordance with Section 50 of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, 2011, which among other things requires the Directorate of Corporate Governance to develop the principles and practices of Corporate Governance applicable in Nigeria.

    The code is in three parts. The first is the Code of Corporate Governance for the Private Sector, which is described as “mandatory”. The second, which created the controversy, the Code of Governance for Not-for-Profit organisations (NFPOs), which has a proviso: “Comply or Justify non-compliance”. The third is the Code of Governance for the Public Sector.

    Code of Governance for NFPOs has eight parts: A-H. The code has provisions for organisational structure of such entities, position of the founder, financial statements, organisation’s assets.

    According to FRC, the Code was developed due to “the perceived challenges to good corporate governance practices in the not- for-profit sector of the Nigerian environment.”

    It defines NFPOs as “a transparent decision-making process in which the leadership of a non-profit organisation, in an effective and accountable way, directs  resources and exercises power on the basis of shared values”.

    It says NFPOs take the form of “non-governmental organisations, charities, charitable trusts, foundations, public benefit corporations, mutual benefit corporations, co-operative trusts, educational, religious, moral organisations and corporations.”

    Justifying the need for Corporate Governance in NFPOs, FRC said: “The need for corporate governance in NFPOs is hinged on good governance and orderly succession in view of the volume of funding they attract. Urged on by humanitarian concerns over either glaring poverty and neglect, or economic  mismanagement of some countries, donors have made significant donations directly to relevant NFPOs in the hope that they would engender greater mission fulfillment, donor value, and greater beneficiary satisfaction and trust than those given by governments.

    “Apart from foreign donors, domestic donors out of conviction, knowledge, philanthropy, need, deceit or ignorance contribute large sums of money to NFPOs.

    “Many NFPOs operate with unknown frameworks, but with governments completely in the dark as to both their ownership and principal accountability. In the context of current global insurgency, the operations and funding of NFPOs raise serious security concerns, hence the need for good governance of NFPOs in the country.”

    The Code discusses the position of the founder or leader of an NFPO. Section 9.1 states: “A Founder or Leader should not take on too many responsibilities in the organisation or have an indefinite term in the running of the organisation.”

     

    The 20-year leadership limit

     

    Section 9.2 states: “Where for any reason, a Founder or Leader of NFPO also occupies any of the three governance positions of Chairmanship of the Board of Trustees, the Governing Board or Council, and the Headship of the Executive Management (or their governance equivalents), the following provisions shall apply before the end of the organisation’s financial year in which this Code takes effect:

    “9.2.1. The Founder or Leader shall cease to occupy these three governance positions simultaneously. This is to ensure the separation of powers and avoid possible concentration of powers in one individual.”

    “9.2.2. The Founder or Leader may however choose – subject to the agreement of the organisation’s apex authority as expressed in the Annual General Assembly, Annual Meeting, Annual Stakeholder Engagement, Annual Conference, Annual Synod, Annual Fellowship Assembly or their equivalents – only one of these three governance positions subject to his current tenure.

    “This is to ensure a clear division of responsibilities at the head of the organisation between the running of the governing body and the executive responsibility for the management and fulfilment of the organisation’s mission.

    “9.3. Where the Founder or Leader has occupied all or any of these three governance positions  for more than twenty years, or is aged seventy years or above, the choice in section 9.2.2 above should only relate to the Board of Trustees as in section 9.4(c) below, except the constitution of the organisation otherwise provides.”

    Section 9.4.c states: “Conflicts with founders or leaders should therefore be addressed by: (c) considering and ensuring Founder’s or Leader’s continued advisory or spiritual role by creating a Board of Trustees (BOT) for which the original Founder or Leader can become the First or Life Chair…”

     

    The caveat

     

    A caveat in Section 9.3 states: “In the case of religious or cultural organisations, nothing in this code is intended to change the spiritual leadership and responsibilities of Founders, General Overseers, Pastors, Imams and Muslim Clerics, Presidents, Bishops, Apostles, Prophets, etc. which are distinguishable from purely corporate governance and management responsibilities and accountabilities of the entities.”

    Analysts say the code allows founders or leaders of faith to have lifetime spiritual roles.

     

    Anything wrong with Code?

     

    Several analysts faulted the code for seeking to regulate the tenure of the leadership of religious organisations. To such analysts, the code should have stopped at its demands for transparency and accountability in the handling of its resources using accounting standards.

    A renown lawyer, Dr Sam Amadi, said despite the shortcomings of pentecostal churches whose activities ought to be regulated, FRC’s regulatory intervention was wrongly conceived and implemented.

    He said: “The corporate governance code as it relates to leadership succession in not-for-profit organisations is a regulatory misstep period. It shows how much we need to learn about the administrative state. The code erred in addressing the wrong issue and addressing it wrong way.”

    The code, he said, is an example of administrative regulation. He said it sources its legality from the powers the National Assembly grants the FRC to regulate the financial transactions of organisations in Nigeria.

    Such codes, he said, would be invalid if they violate the constitution. “The focus of the code is more on governance system or structure of not-for-profit organisations. When the executive or agencies in the executive branch of government take actions to execute the law through subsidiary legislation or other forms of legislative interventions, they must ensure that they do not violate any part of the constitution or enabling legislation or impose duties that are not within the ambit of the authorising law.”

    Amadi said administrative rulemaking ought to be focused on solving a legitimate problem that has public interest impact.

    “The code rambled so much about the mission and vision of Not-for-Profit Organisations and at times talked about strategies to cajole founders and leaders of churches to accept their replacement.

    “The question for administrative rulemaking is whether intervention will address any manifest public interest. In this case, what is the public interest in enforcing tenure for voluntary associations?

    “What legitimate public interests is served by stimulating how non-profits elect their leadership? Focusing on these issues is an illegitimate exercise of executive powers,” Amadi said.

    Amadi said every exercise of legislative power, whether by a legislature or an administrative agency, must comply with the constitution to be valid. Thus, the primary test of validity is compliance with the fundamental rights which are guaranteed.

    “The constitutional principle, established in many cases by Nigerian courts and courts in other democracies, is that before the state can interfere with these rights it must establish an overriding public interest. This is an interest that would be severely undermined but for such interference.

    “Section 40 of the Constitution guarantees to every person in Nigeria the right to associate freely with others in pursuit of lawful personal interests. By the language of the constitution, apart from political parties that require the recognition of the electoral management body, there is no constitutional restriction to the right of association.

    “Any regulatory intervention that would encroach on the right of free association must be justified on the basis of an overriding public interest. This is the canon of constitutional law in a written constitution with a guarantee of fundamental rights. It is the protection of substantive due process.

    “The guarantee of the right to freedom of association means that the government is restrained from interfering with this right except it shows that there is a threat to security, defence or public health or other. This restriction applies to both the exercise of legislative, executive or judicial power.

    “Neither the legislature, the executive or judiciary can make rules or orders to abridge the exercise of these rights without making out a clear case of overriding threat and danger to public interests. This is the essence of the heroics of the Supreme Court in many cases stating that any exercise of executive or legislative action against these guaranteed rights is unconstitutional.”

    Amadi believes the Code for NFPOs may be well intentioned, but is “bad and dangerous”.

    “It is bad because it violates the principles of administrative rulemaking by exceeding the powers granted to the Council by the legislature by being so imprecise and vague that it could not be a valid exercise of delegated legislation.

    “The code is dangerous because it attempts to abridge the right to free association without any compelling government interests or threat to national security, defence, public safety and public order. Therefore, it is an unlawful regulatory intervention,” he said.

    A public commentator, Ebuka Nwankwo, noted that most churches and mosques are registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as Incorporated Trustees in Nigeria, just as NGOs are.

    Thus, assets of churches are placed under the trust and confidence of their Trustees. And unlike a shareholder, a Trustee is not supposed to earn a profit, but expected to promote the objective of such organisation.

    Nwankwo said a corporation status is conferred on Trustees, who could be sued instead of the church or mosque. With this status, churches can go into businesses, such as running schools and hospitals, as far as they are not for profit.

    “The FRC, just like the Charity Commission in the UK, intends to use codes of conduct to ensure that leaders and founders of churches do not became dictators in their organisations.

    “One reason propounded for government involvement in regulating not-for-profit organisations is this: Organisations and individuals who enjoy tax exemptions should be prevented from using their offices to attain excessive benefits for themselves and their families.

    “Ordinarily, religious organisation are expected to be ethical but in some cases they have fallen short. Sadly, government – which ought to take examples from these organisations and could overstep its bounds – becomes the only institution left to ensure probity.

    “And here is the lesson in all these: In order to minimise the interference of government in religious organisations, faith-based organisation should come back to the basics, which is nothing but selfless and genuine commitment to the teachings of their faiths,” Nwankwo said.

     

    Lawyers speak

     

    To lawyers, there is nothing wrong in regulating religious organisations. Second Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, said churches and mosques were registrable under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990 and, therefore, subject to regulation by the laws of the  land.

    According to him, there is nobody or institution in any given state that cannot be subject to the laws of that state as there cannot be two sovereigns in a state.

    Ubani said laws must recognise individual and institutional rights and must respect them to avoid backlash including outright rejection and disobedience by the people.

    Such laws, he added, must respect internal regulatory laws that govern institutions and bodies as long as those internal laws do not offend the constitution or other general laws that are not meddlesome.

    Ubani added: “The Federal Government has the power to regulate charitable organisations and NGOs as long as they are registered under the laws of the country. As long as the charitable organisations which are non-profit have delved into profit making ventures, then they have made themselves liable to scrutiny and accountability which is the hallmark of organisations that have custody of public funds.

    “Therefore, churches, mosques and NGOs that have delved into commercial ventures should have their accounts scrutinised including submitting them to the government.

    “The government can also request them to pay tax on profits made from the commercial transactions. It is logical and makes a lot of economic sense, no sentiment attached.”

    However, Ubani believes the government has little right to regulate the tenure of the organisations’ leaders.

    “It is clearly not the government’s business. As I said earlier, these organisations have their internal constitutions and bye-laws with which they were registered in the first place. Since these internal laws of these organisations contain succession plans, it does not lie in the mouth of the government through any Code or whatever name called to begin to peg the tenures of the leaders of these organisations. It is pure meddlesomeness and overreaching of state powers.

    “Let us be logical here, can one remove someone whom he or she has not appointed? Headship of churches, mosques are divine calling and the government cannot pretend to say that they were there when the individuals were called, and so, upon what basis does it arrogate to itself the power to truncate any person’s tenure whom they have not called?” Ubani asked.

    The former Ikeja Branch chairman of NBA said the Code’s section on leadership tenure should be amended.

    “My humble submission is that the said Code dished out by the FRC should be reviewed and the offending portion that prescribes tenure for churches, mosques be removed to avoid unnecessary tension and misunderstanding in the country.

    “The country is experiencing enough tension. Any further creation of tension now shows lack of wisdom. That is not the best way to go,” Ubani said.

    A constitutional lawyer Ike ofuokwu said government should focus on good governance without regulating the tenure of leaders of organisations it did not appoint.

    “The truth is that government wants to dabble into all and sundry matters at the expense of its primary function of governance.

    “Why are we a secular nation and yet we are so focused on forex for pilgrims and the like? It is not in the place of government to regulate tenure of people it has not appointed in the first place.

    “If we were not there when God called them, how then can we regulate their tenure? God can even call you at the age of 70 and in that case do we advise such pastors to reject the call of God?

    “The Federal Government should apply caution in future so as not to polarise this country further along religious lines,” Ofuokwu said.

    Lagos lawyer Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem believes there should be limited regulation of religious organisations.

    “By this I mean that the finances of religious organisations should be made public for the benefit of the members whose funds are used in running them and for the benefit of government as regulators.

    “This will ensure accountability and protection of innocent citizens and congregants seeking salvation from being fleeced of their hard-earned money.

    “However, the religious organisations should be allowed to determine the duration of office of their spiritual heads in order not to unduly politicise places of worship.

    “I agree that the spiritual, administrative and financial authority should not be concentrated in an individual to ensure checks and balances,” Adetola-Kazeem said.

  • Okwusogu, Sasegbon: Two ‘silky’ passages

    Okwusogu, Sasegbon: Two ‘silky’ passages

    Former Lagos Branch Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr Chijioke Okoli (SAN) pays tribute to former NBA General Secretary Obi Okwusogu (SAN), who died last November 22, and law reports publisher Deji Sasegbon (SAN), who died last December 10.

    Whilst Obi Okwusogu was the charming extrovert, Deji Sasegbon was the quintessential gentle giant; his 6’6 height which ensured that he towered over most men belied his mild mannered but engaging personality. My direct contact with him was on account of an appeal I had been engaged to handle and he was the opposing counsel. The case lasted over seven years due to some ridiculous circumstances that were not the fault of counsel at all. But that is another matter. Suffice it to say that I always looked forward to his personal appearance (and not just other lawyers in his office) in court for the whole duration of the case.

    He was a Silk which I was not at the time and his entitlement to have his case called and dealt with out of turn by the Court meant I was guaranteed a relatively short stay in the courtroom whenever he was the one appearing for the opposing side. Beyond this, however, his conduct epitomized the best traditions of the Bar; unfailingly courteous to the Judge(s) and counsel regardless of their age at the Bar, palpably honest, always prepared for his case and altogether competent. We were not close personally but I found him very likeable. Indeed, I remember one discussion we had after we had left the courtroom after a day’s proceedings in the case. He had obviously read my brief of argument and observed that whilst his own side would surely come up with an adequate response, he felt obliged to commend the force and lucidity of the arguments I had canvassed. He proceeded to ask if I had applied for elevation to the silk rank and made to me very positive statements of support. He had himself taken silk since 2004 to the near universal acclaim of the legal community.

    Speaking of the brief in question, it is axiomatic that a lawyer must always be well prepared. Some opponents however require one going the extra mile. I was fresh out of Law School and present in the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, in 1989 when a couple of young lawyers from Gani Fawehinmi’s chambers virtually wiped the floor with a very senior  opposing counsel on a very contentious motion. They had ready answers for all the senior counsel’s arguments, including pointing out to the Court that one of the cases he cited no longer represented the law and had been overruled by the Supreme Court. Comparing notes later, most of us young lawyers present at the scene concluded that the impressive showing by counsel from Gani’s Chambers owed substantially to their being active members of the editorial board of his renowned Nigerian Weekly Law Reports. This position meant that they were necessarily most conversant and up to date with the law. I had ever since been haunted by fear of being the butt of such a spectacle as I witnessed that day in Kaduna.

    Therefore, knowing full well that Mr. Sasegbon was cut from similar law reporting cloth as Gani Fawehinmi and his colleagues-in-chambers, I had ensured that no stone was left unturned in the case we contested and gave the brief in question my best shot. This inevitably brings one to what is unquestionably his greatest claim to fame, and which is his contribution to legal scholarship. It has been said that it was while he was counsel in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice that he felt fully the frustrating problem of the acute paucity of relevant local legal practice texts, especially law reports. He then planned to take practical steps to meet this great need.

    Beyond his professional achievements, the testimonies of his longstanding friends, especially his contemporaries in the University of Ife, such as George Etomi and Fola Arthur-Worrey, attest to his remarkable humanness. During the valedictory session of the High Court of Lagos State held in his honour on December 19, last year, the most revealing testimony was perhaps that given by one of his secondary school friends from Abia State. As the clouds of war gathered in the prelude to the Nigerian Civil War in 1967, the friend’s father came to their secondary school in Okitipupa in Ondo State to remove his son to the perceived safety of his ancestral home in the Eastern Region of Nigeria. Convinced of his brotherhood with his Igbo schoolmate and his safety in the school, the teenage Deji Sasegbon would have none of it. He promptly mobilised other students to barricade the school gate to stop the removal of his friend by the father. It took the intervention of the school principal for Sasegbon and his school friends to relent eventually.

    Human beings all reflect, in varying degrees, the essence of the families they come from, and so it was with Deji Sasegbon. His friend recounted the politically correct fallacy of Gowon’s pledge of rehabilitation of the unspeakably distressed Igbo after the civil war. For Sasegbon’s school mate and friend from Abia, the only rehabilitation he knew of and felt after the civil war was that by Deji Sasegbon’s family who ensured his smooth reintroduction to his secondary school. With a renowned physician father, Mr. Sasegbon not only was of privileged background, he was also a legatee of a famous family name. However, as his friend George Etomi poignantly reminded us, it is one thing to inherit a great name and another thing to uphold and maintain the name. In Deji Sasegbon’s case he not only upheld the great family name, he added much value to it.

    As we step into a new year with hope in our hearts for the better and reminisce about the many challenges of the legal profession last year, including the loss of two of its leading lights, Obi Okwusogu and Deji Sasegbon, we are consoled and fortified by the essence of these two men of law. Their storied humanity and contributions to the legal profession in Nigeria are, in varying respects, undoubtedly, remarkable and would represent lasting advocacy for their names against oblivion. For them, it could be said as Apostle Paul said of himself, in 2 Timothy 4:7, upon completion of his earthly mission:

    “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

     

    • Concluded
  • SAN advocates laws for protection of women

    SAN advocates laws for protection of women

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria Arthur Obi Okafor has called for laws to curb gender violence.

    He was delivering an address at the International  Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria Week/Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja.

    Okafor said though violence against women is a global problem, some advanced countries have reduced it through laws and well intentioned policies.

    He said: “The news media, both online and offline, were awash with the story of a man, Mr. Lekan Shonde, who reportedly beat his wife, Ronke, to death in Lagos on the suspicion of infidelity.

    “A similar incident occurred in Ekiti State. This time, the culprit, Mr. Josiah Johnson, was alleged to have beaten his wife to death for refusing him sexual intercourse.

    “Gender-based violence is not peculiar to Nigeria. Whereas some countries, especially those in the western world, have made considerable progress towards eradication of such violence through systematic legal reforms and advocacy, Nigeria, and indeed many countries in Africa, on the other hand lag behind, thereby giving rise to a prevalence of violence against women.”

    Okafor said there was the need for women to be aware of their fundamental rights and to defend them.

    “The Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules can be used to challenge some provisions of statutes and cultural practices which run contrary to some of the fundamental rights provisions of the Constitution,” he said.

    According to him, help desks and standing committees should be created by women interest and advocacy groups at their various branches for the purposes of receiving reports of gender based violence from the victims, some of whom may be shy or constrained by financial difficulties from reporting directly to the police.

    “When such reports are received from the victims, the women interest and advocacy groups will take up the issue by reporting to the police and ensuring that the crime is thoroughly investigated and prosecuted,” he said.

    Okafor said a special unit in the police should also be created, which will be dedicated to gender based violence.

    “This sub-unit will receive training from time to time to update the knowledge and experience of the personnel which in turn will aid effective investigation and prosecution of gender based violence.

    “Family courts should also be established which will be charged with trying gender based violence. This will accord privacy to the victims of gender based violence and encourage them to report the incident to the police

    “The law should also be reformed to include payment of compensation to the victims of gender based violence. This will motivate them to go through the ordeal of trial, knowing that at the end of the day, they will not go home empty handed. The women interest and advocacy groups should also be assisted financially to enable them carry out their functions of combating gender based violence. It is hoped that with the implementation of the suggestions proffered above, gender based violence will be considerably reduced, if not eradicated,” Okafor said.

  • Appeal Court hears oil lease case June 5

    Appeal Court hears oil lease case June 5

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos will on June 5 hear an appeal by Chevron USA Inc. and others against Brittania-U Nigeria Limited.

    Chevron, in the appeal filed two-and-a-half years ago, is challenging the judgment of a Lagos Federal High Court, which assumed jurisdiction to entertain a suit on the divestment of Chevron’s interest in Oil Mining Licenses 52, 53 and 55.

    The other appellants are BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Mr Hermant Patel and Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited.

    Brittania-U Nigeria’s counsel, Mr. Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), told the court about a pending application seeking to dismiss the appellants appeal for want of diligent prosecution because of failure to transmit record or file appellants’ brief.

    He said the appellants filed a motion for extension of time to compile and transmit records of appeal.

    Owonikoko said his client had filed an application to dismiss the appeal because of the appellants’ delay in prosecuting the appeal.

    The court awarded N20,000 cost to Brittania-U after Owonikoko withdrew the motion to dismiss the appeal after the appellants counsel said the record of appeal had been compiled and transmitted.

    Brittania-U sued the defendants (appellants) over the Oil Mining Leases numbered 52, 53 and 55, sold by Chevron.

    It also took the matter to the Supreme Court following the Appeal Court ruling which vacated an order of interlocutory injunction by a high court restraining Chevron and Seplat from concluding any deal on the oil leases.

    Chevron had offered for sale OMLs 52, 53 and 55 and as usual invited bids from interested firms.

    The sale of the assets became controversial after Chevron allegedly failed to make a public announcement of a winner, a reserve bidder and unsuccessful bids.

    It then allegedly turned its back on the highest bidder, Brittania-U, and began to deal with Seplat behind the scene.

    Brittania-U went to court to contest Chevron’s action of not declaring it winner after it posted a $1.67 billion bid for the three assets, an amount later revised to $1.015 billion after both companies’ officials met in Houston, United States.

    Seplat was said to have posted a bid of $630 million for the same assets.

  • CJ fetes orphans, elderly

    The Judiciary will assist disabled persons and the less privileged to achieve their dreams of becoming useful citizens, the Lagos State Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Olufunlayo Atilade, has said.

    Justice Atilade spoke when she visited Bethesda Home for the Blind (a vocational training centre), Oloosa, Mushin; Holy Family Home for the Elderly at Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Mushin and Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care and Treatment in Akoka, Lagos.

    She donated relief materials and celebrated the New Year with the inmates.

    The CJ was accompanied on the visit by the Head of the Family Court, Justice Yetunde Idowu, Justice Iyabo Kasali, Justice Morenike Obadina, the Chief Registrar, Mr Emmanuel Ogundare and principal officers of the judiciary.

    She said her visit was to let the inmates be aware that they were not alone and that she was ready to assist them to make their dreams become a reality.

    The blind students President, Emmanuel Ikpeamaeze told the Chief Judge and her entourage that they have brought joy to their lives with the visit.

    Ikpeamaeze, who said the visit also demonstrated that they still matter in the society prayed for CJ and her team saying, “as you have come to sew in our lives, so shall you reap abundantly in your life”.

    The CJ told the elderly persons at the Holy Family Home for the Elderly, Mushin, not to despair because they are far from their homes and families and assured the inmates  of the capabilities of the care givers to take good care of them.

    Justice Atilade who said she was conscious of the fact that everyone would get old one day also assured them of her continued support.

    The centre’s Coordinator, Sister Anthonia Adebowale, said it established to care for the physical and spiritual needs of the elderly persons “even in death”.

  • ‘Redundancy provision in Labour law obselete’

    The Nigerian Labour Act of 1974 has become obsolete and needs a review, Hybrid Solicitors & Consult Managing Partner, Bimbo Atilola, has said.

    He urged the National Assembly to review the law’s redundancy provisions in Section 20 as they do not address modern dynamics.

    According to him, unlike Nigeria, the United Kingdom Employment Rights Act and the Ghanaian Labour Act of 2003 have wider provisions on redundancy.

    Atilola spoke at the law firm’s Fifth Annual Lecture and Luncheon with the theme: Mitigating and managing redundancies in an economic recession.

    He said: “Apart from the fact that the Labour Act has no application to senior and management staff, its redundancy provisions is too basic and very scanty.

    “For instance, the Act defines redundancy as ‘involuntary loss of employment due to excess manpower’, but today, organisations declare redundancies, not just as a result of excess manpower but due to a combination of many factors including corporate restructuring, business process outsourcing, manpower outsourcing, job offshoring and even a simple automation of processes.’’

    Atilola advised employers to incorporate a policy on redundancy payment in their terms of employment or negotiate it in advance in the Collective Bargaining Agreement if the company is unionised.

    Vice Chairman, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) Nigeria, Tunde Busari (SAN), who chaired the event, said rather than just laying off staff in the name of redundancy, companies should consider other options such as reduction in hours of work, pay cut, among others.

  • Lawyer knocks NJC’s recommendation

    A constitutional lawyer, Ebere Uzoatu, has faulted the National Judicial Council (NJC)for recommending the investigation of a lawyer, Mike Ojiako, by the police and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). He said NJC has no powers over lawyers and non-judicial officers.

    The NJC asked Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to dismiss a high court judge, Justice Ugbor Ononugbo, over a matter involving the estate of the late businessman, Chief Dike Udensi Ifegwu (DUBIC). The NJC also recommended that Ojiako, lawyer to DUBIC’s children, be investigated by the police and NBA for his involvement in the matter.

    Uzoatu said it was wrong for NJC to have made the order without first hearing from Ojiako, more so when NBA that was constitutionally empowered to investigate lawyers had done so and found him not guilty.

    He accused NJC of dabbling into a matter it has no constitutional powers and called for caution.

    Meanwhile, Ojiako the man at the centre of the storm, has threatened to sue the NJC if it did not rescind the directive.

    Ojiako, who expressed shock over the NJC’s directive, said one of the brothers of DUBIC, Orum Ifegwu Udensi, wrote a petition against him to NBA over the same matter.

    He said after going through the matter, it was dismissed as NBA saw no merit in the petition.

    The lawyer said he was shocked to learn that after asking the Abia State governor to dismiss the Judge, NJC said he should be investigated when NBA had already cleared him.

  • Complexity of facts, technicalities of law: Dilemma of leadership

    • Continued last week

    The critical intervening variable with the BVN scheme is that it was directly within the purview of the leader to mandate it, otherwise, it would have ended up in the never-ending balancing of interest and dance of delicate compromise.

    We accuse prosecutorial agencies of not actively and expeditiously prosecuting cases.  Within the same system, the technicalities of the law permitted a judge to grant perpetual order of injunction to restrain a prosecutorial agency from investigating a public officer alleged to have corruptly enriched himself of over N100billion.  The court also ordered that the agency must not publicize the report of the investigation or take any further action in relation to the alleged economic and financial crimes. This was in 2007.  The appeal against the orders in question is still ongoing 8 years after.  If we are all agreed that there is no right in any other branch of government to ignore judicial decisions or exercise discretion in what judicial decision to enforce, then, it should not be difficult to see where the threat to expeditious prosecution is.

    Nigeria is where a bank employee is jailed for 195 years for a fraud of N21 million while a bank chief gets 6 months in prison for a fraud in which she was ordered to hand over $1.2 billion (£786m) in cash and assets. Another court gave a 6-year jail sentence and option of N750,000.00 fine to a Deputy Director of a Police Pension office who admitted to being a part of those who stole N32billion from the Pension Fund.  Indeed, it is in the nature of Nigeria to hang the small thieves and to elect the big ones into public office.  However, we may seek to justify some of the judicial decisions that are made from time to time, they certainly cannot and will not assist to break the legacy of impunity.

    With respect to this piece, I must confess my trepidation in what I seek to do.  I shall attempt to proffer an answer to the dilemma of leadership as identified here.  In doing this, it is of importance that we understand what the mutations are.

     

    Understanding the Mutations

    In our attempt to comprehensively understand how the complexity of facts and technicalities of law impact on leadership, it would be of importance that we first define what “complexity of facts”, “technicalities of law”, and “leadership” connote.

    My task is not to go deep into the philosophical meaning of the word “fact”.  Thus, I will limit myself to paraphrasing the views of Mulligan et al, in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. According to these authors, facts are the objects of certain mental states and acts.  They make truth-bearer true and correspond to truths.  In the expressions “matters of fact”, facts are taken to be what is contingently the case, or that of which we may have empirical or posteriori knowledge.  Thus, Hume famously writes at the beginning of Section IV of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding: “All the objects of human reason or inquiry may naturally be divided into two kinds, to wit, Relations of Ideas and Matters of Fact”.

    What brings complexity of facts is that the ambit of social interaction is incredibly intricate and often times complicated.  Humans operate in a web of relationships with enormous number of objects, people and institutions in ever changing combinations and permutations.  Each of this is made more complex still by their interaction with the myriad manifestations of the self that each individual personality possesses.

    It is the complexity of facts that results in factual uncertainty which in turn impacts every human endeavour.  As recognized by Muchmore, the factual uncertainty plays a special role in situation where an individual or group must make determinations about some state of the world with legal or quasi-legal consequences.  Lawmakers, primary actors, regulatory enforcers, and those who serve as factfinders in formal disputes are all expected to make these type of determinations from time to time.

    With respect to “technicalities of law”, the phrase is not a term of art known to law, thus, it neither has an exact meaning nor a legal definition.  This notwithstanding, it, from time to time, finds its way into works of law so much so that it has accorded itself much significance.  It implies that strict adherence to the letter of the law has prevented the spirit of the law from being enforced.  In the realm of procedural law, it can enable or restrict access to the court, and/or enable or limit the discretion of a court in handing down judgment.  In the area of substantive law, it can affect the interpretation that a court puts on the criteria placed before it to assess a party’s compliance with or violation of the law.

    Wikipedia in one of its references identified clearly the unsatisfactory result that will be occasioned when the courts resort to technicality in the determination of cases.  It was an excerpt published in respect of the case U.S. v. SHIPP (1909):

    In the NEWS, published the evening of March 19, there was an editorial reviewing the local proceedings, which concluded: “All of this delay is aggravating the community. The people of Chattanooga believe that Johnson is guilty, and that he ought to suffer the penalty of the law as speedily as possible.  If by legal technicality the case is prolonged and the culprit finally escapes, there will be no use to plead with a mob here if another such crime is committed.  Such delays are largely responsible for mob violence all over the country”.

    In Nigeria, reference can be made to the plethora of cases where the Supreme Court has stridently observed that it is the duty of a court to use its powers to discover the true intents of the law and to do justice and not to destroy them unless the words used convey a meaning that renders obscure the true intention of the statute.  The position of the Supreme Court that technicality of law should have no place in our jurisprudence is a proposition that we all accept and profess, but, how well have we succeeded in entrenching same?

    • To be continued

  • Advice Centre resolves 544 cases

    The Public Advice Centre (PAC), which was set up by the Lagos State government to assist the poor to  access justice, handled  544 cases in the last four months, its Director, Mrs Tola Akinsanya, has said.

    Mrs Akinsanya, who spoke at a sensitisation programme in Badagry, said the centre was set up to reduce self-help.

    According to her, some suffer injustice because they do not know where to seek redress when their rights have been breached.

    Akinsanya said the government has set up PAC offices across the state through the Ministry of Justice for the provision of free legal assistance.

    She said: “The offices of  PAC serve as the first port of call for residents of the state in distress, those whose rights have been violated and those seeking information on their rights and responsibilities. This Office is accessible to all residents in the State and its services are free.’’

    She noted the PAC plays a vital role for state’s residents by ensuring that everybody reap the dividends of democracy.

    Akinsanya pointed out that PAC would provide free independent information and legal advice to anybody seeking to know what their rights and responsibilities are on a wide range of issues, and how to take action or where to seek redress at no cost to them.

    She said it was the vision of the state to have a community that is safe for everyone, urging the public to take advantage of the benefits given by the government.

  • ‘Why judges fall into temptation’

    ‘Why judges fall into temptation’

    Chief Gani Adetola-Kaseem (SAN) is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and a pioneer practitioner in Medical and Health Law. He is also a former Membership Officer of the Healthcare and Life Sciences Committee of the International Bar Association. In this interview with ADEBISI ONANUGA and ROBERT EGBE he speaks on corruption on the Bench and related issues.
     

    Do you agree that standards are falling in law practice? How can things be improved?

    The standard of legal practice or any professional practice for that matter is a standard of the society itself. So, I don’t want to make a blanket admission that there is a fall in the standard of the practice of law, because generally in our society, there is a fall in standards. Take any profession or business, ethical values have been lost. To that extent, what we find in legal practice could also be a reflection of this. When you talk of the number of practitioners in relation to the available areas of practice, by and large a lot needs to be done in terms of improving general standards in training, practice and everywhere else. And let me say this, in any skill, training does not start from the university. To correct the fall in the standard of education generally, you have to start from primary school.

    You cannot put something on nothing. If children have a weak foundation at the primary level, you can’t expect much to be done at secondary level and if they manage to plod on till they get to the university, the weak foundation is there and will affect subsequent things. I’m not saying there’s no fall in the standard of legal practice or legal education but that the fall is a reflection of the falling standards in our society. Correcting this requires a holistic effort by everyone. Government has to be up and doing. It has practically abdicated its responsibility

    A lot has been said about the justice administration/dispensation slow process. What, from your experience, do you think is the way out?

    There are a lot of factors. First of all justice administration is a triangular thing, in fact it goes beyond that. If you take criminal cases as an example, it starts from the investigation stage. If a case is poorly investigated, you can’t expect any dramatic result at prosecution level. So, it doesn’t start and stop at the court. Number two is in relation to the number of cases in court. There are very few judges, whether at the Magistrates level, trial court, high court and so on. An average judge on a daily basis has on his list of cases between 30 and 40 cases. How many of those cases will he try? Even if it’s just to take each of those cases and adjourn it – allot five or 10 minutes to each case, mention it for adjournment. Multiply the time by 30 and see how many hours would have gone. By the time that is done, the judge is tired. So, there are fewer judges, courtrooms and facilities in relation to the number of cases that are on to the system. So, we need to improve our facilities in the courtrooms and then increase the number of judges. Someone told me sometime ago that in his court a judge had not less than 200 cases and more kept coming in on a daily basis, meaning more would be assigned to the judges.

    On average, the hardest working judge would hardly be able to try and deliver judgment in more than five cases in a month. It is not an easy thing to try an average case, whether civil or criminal, listen to it, take evidence, try it, conclude it and write judgment. At the end of the year, he completes 60 cases. If he has in a year 200 cases in his docket and before the end of that year another 100 is added, but he’s only able to finish 60, what should we expect? So, we need to have more courtrooms, more judges and more, better equipped facilities to facilitate quick administration of justice.

    Thirdly, people are waking up to this little by little, not all cases need to go for trial. The court rules are providing for this now such that even within the court system we find mediation centres. Some cases are remitted to mediation so they can be sorted out without recourse to trial. Quite a number of cases are settled that way. So, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) must be employed more. This can reduce decongestion in court.

    Some have suggested that specialisation would do the legal profession some good. What do you think about this? Is it workable in Nigeria?

    Specialisation is coming in bit by bit, people are buying into it. For example, labour and industrial relations matters have a specialised court, the National Industrial Court. People do a lot of practice in that area. But, generally speaking, we have a lot of societal issues. Also, the workload in some areas of practice is heavier than in others. For instance in medical health law related matters, one area where I do a lot of practice, how many lawyers are in this area of practice? How many cases are in court? How many people are enlightened to know that you can sue if you have issues concerning, for example, medical negligence? Nevertheless, specialisation is the way to go.

    Estate managers accuse lawyers of taking over their profession. What are your thoughts on this?

    That is property law, a very important aspect of law. Law is a versatile profession.

    Taking a property matter to court is one thing, but what about lawyer collecting rent on behalf of a property owner?

    If a lawyer is hired to manage a property for him why not? Your client is your client and he wants you to manage his property. You’ll take tenants, prepare agreements and so on and so forth. It is allowed. It is law practice. Estate managers have their own areas. There may be areas of convergence but there’s no conflict at all.

    It has been said that having law partnerships will increase the competitive advantage of Nigerian firms in a global market by having mega-firms. Is that the way to go?

    There’s no doubt about that. In other climes, we have partnerships of big firms employing 300, 500 lawyers, big partnerships. But that is a reflection of the level of development of the society. We must also note that unlike in other countries where practice is segmented, over here it is fused with lawyers practising both as barristers and solicitors. In the United Kingdom for instance, you’re either one or the other. So, talking about partnerships, there are a few firms here but they are not many.  It is a reflection of our societal level of development.

     How should the NJC address corruption allegations against judicial officers in the light of prosecution of some judges by law enforcement agencies?

    NJC’s role is not to prosecute crimes. NJC is a regulatory authority for judicial officers and handles a wide range of complaints against judicial officers, not necessarily of corruption but also of misconduct. Misconduct may not necessarily amount to corruption. If a judge is not sitting regularly or is fond of delaying trial, or judgment writing etc., these could amount to misconduct. If there are proven cases of corruption against judges, the NJC is not the right party to try judges. If in the course of its investigation of allegations of misconduct against a judge, it is found that there are elements of financial corruption or criminal conduct, what the NJC should do is to report the matter to the prosecuting authorities. The judge, apart from being disciplined, being removed from the judiciary, will also be recommended for prosecution.

    What would make a judge to want to take bribe in spite of the sacredness of the bench?

    Judicial officers are themselves members of the society. In years past, you hardly saw them mixing up in the society unlike these days when judges attend parties and things like that.  They were almost in seclusion up there so that they wouldn’t expose themselves to temptations of inducement and things like that. That was then. I hope that with time, things will change again. But talking about corruption, there are so many factors that may be responsible. By and large and in fairness to the system, I think the remuneration of judges has substantially increased compared to what it used to be some years ago. But the way out is, judges are also human beings, so if the remuneration of a judge is so poor, or if a judge has no good transport system to move around or has no roof over his head by the time he retires, the temptation is very strong to be corrupt.

    For example, if a doctor treats a patient, he becomes his friend and he continues to remember you like a god. But for every case a judge determines, whether criminal or civil, he makes an enemy because he would definitely pronounce against a party. The party against whom he pronounces would not look at him with favour and any opportunity he has to do anything against the judge, he would do it. If you have a judge, even after retirement, who has no means of transport of his own, even imagine a magistrate at the lower level of the judiciary ladder, if he has no means of transport, if he has to commute on public transport with others, imagine him commuting with a criminal or an accused person who has appeared before him, and is presently being tried now coming together in a public transport.

    Even long after coming into retirement, he would have dealt with some people, convicted a lot of people, ruled against some people, now coming to meet with him in that situation. So, with all these things, there are a lot of things that could tempt a judge.

    What is the way out?

    This is why for the  independence of the judiciary, you need to increase facilities for judges. You must be able to provide a house for him to stay, provide a car and other facilities. All these things must be considered. Again if the remuneration of a judge is poor, at this time of the year for example, people are thinking of how to pay their children’s school fees. If a judge has like N50,000 in his account, and he has two or three children whose school fees must be paid, he needs about N200,000 and he hasn’t got it, would he not be susceptible to temptation? So, they must be fairly remunerated. Remuneration must always reflect these societal issues in the income of a judge. The type of job they do is such that as much as possible, we must attempt to remove them from temptation. Of course, a greedy person would always be a greedy person. Those are exception to note. If somebody wants to be a thief or decides not to be contented, he would never be contended. Pay him N10million a month, he would still do what he wants to do.  Those ones must be very few. But by and large, most of them would still do the right thing. 

    What areas of law reform should the Buhari administration work on?

    We have a lot of laws in our statute books that are not being implemented and executed. For example, we are talking about corruption. Before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) came in, the Criminal Code had provisions prohibiting corruption in the public service and everywhere. Corruption has always been a criminal offence. But how many people were prosecuted and convicted on the grounds of corruption before the EFCC Act came on? So, our problem is not the absence of laws. It is the will power to implement them.  I agree that there are some statutes in our law books that are archaic and I am familiar with so many of them. They are areas that ought to have been updated. You can imagine that we have some laws, even in procedural laws that are still talking in pounds, shillings and pence. Should that be in our statute books?  We dispensed of that currency almost 45 years ago. Those are things that shouldn’t take anybody too much time to do, that is if those who are responsible recognise the need for amendment and to do their job. A lot of our laws are archaic and they ought to be updated to be in line with modern times. By and large, we have laws, our problem is implementation and execution and the will power. Our entire process should not just be centred on making laws. Yes, we must make laws, we must update our laws, we must not rely on archaic systems, laws that have been used in other systems and reform is something that we now have to start carrying about. Laws that we inherited from our colonial masters some 60 years ago, for instance, we still have some of them in our statute books when they have dispensed of those laws many years ago.

    Those are areas in which some people should do their job and update them. There are also those laws in our statute books which have not been implemented either because those who are to do it do not know or do not have the will power to look into their implementation.

     International organisations continue to rate Nigeria high on the corruption index. Is the government losing the war against graft, especially when viewed against criticisms by the opposition that the war is one sided?

    There must be a start in anything. We are talking about a rot that has existed about 40 years or more and you want them to be corrected within two years? It is not possible. Children born about 40 years or 20 years ago or more, what they have come to meet is rot. The society has become rotten over the years. The standard we used to know is not what we have now.

    If you drive into your office now with a Hummer jeep, nobody will ask you any question. They would just congratulate you. That shouldn’t be so. But in those days, you could not even dress above your income let alone driving a car or buying a house or living in a house that you cannot account for. You would be asked questions automatically. You knew the system, you knew what the rules were. So, you could not do it because they would ask the right questions. If you dressed above your income, they would ask you what you had inherited. If you belong to that cadre of officers that ride bicycles, you must apply for a bicycle loan to buy one. If you are qualified for motorcycle advance, you apply for it to buy a motorcycle. If you are entitled for car advance, you apply and take it and drive it legitimately. When you don’t take salary advance either as a public servant or private worker, and you want to join people riding cars, you cannot do it because people would ask the right questions.

    But now, who asks anybody the right questions? People know your legitimate income and you are living above your income with impunity. You expect Buhari to come and correct that within two years. There must be a few issues like that that President Buhari must pay more attention to ensure the success of his administration. Those who are saying he is one sided have no point. I am not a politician. I have been working all my life. I have worked for over 50 years. I worked and studied law. I have worked in the private sector and in the public sector. I retired from the public service voluntarily over 30 years ago to start law practice. I know what I am talking about because I am talking with benefits of experience. So, at the political parties, at the federal level, PDP has been at the helms of affairs from the start of this political dispensation in 1999. They were there for 16 solid years.

    So if anything went wrong at the federal level, who else would be held responsible? Is it not PDP and those in their party? Anybody who was not in their party, can they question him about what he has not done? So, what is wrong in asking people who have benefitted illegally, illegitimately from our common resources what they have done?

    So, it is not an answer. If you are being questioned for illegitimate acquisition of wealth, it is not for you to say you are not the only one that did it, you answer your own first. So, there is a rot in the system and this thing has permeated the entire system. They are systemic failure and we must recognise that. It would take the Almighty God himself to pull us out of the rot. President Buhari is trying his best.

    Not even all those in his party supported him not to talk about those outside the party. Corruption has killed Nigeria. In fact, it has left us prostrate. Nigeria has no business being poor with our abundant resources that God has given us, natural resources and economic resources. But some people have kept us down there, enriching themselves privately. You can count those people on your finger tip. Is that a fair system? At this point in time, as far as I can see, President Buhari doesn’t really have many people to be compared with, that have that level of integrity that is proven to be above board. So, he is one person God has preserved for us for this purpose. The reform has started and we must all support him.

    Young lawyers often complain of bad treatment by senior lawyers and of poor salaries. How did you cope in the early days of your career? Has it always been rosy? What would be your advice to young lawyers?

    It was not rosy all the time. But people must learn to crawl before they can walk. There must be a start in everything. The economic circumstances of the country has beaten very hard on everybody. This thing about senior lawyers, you can only pay from the resources available to you.  You cannot go and borrow money from the bank to pay junior lawyers. The economic situation also determines what a senior lawyer can pay a junior lawyer. It affects their ability to pay young lawyers fair wages. I know that there are some lawyers who don’t pay more than N30,000. In those days, when you have small practices, they would just tell you to come along, use my office, do something, take on your own brief and so on. That used to be the pattern. There was no formal employment arrangement. In my own case, I didn’t have, I didn’t start that way. I worked in the private sector and in the public sector. I was working and reading at the same time and trained to become a lawyer on part time basis. When I finished, I still worked in the public service before I retired. By the time I retired, I left as an under-secretary. I was a very senior public officer by the time I retired. So, I wasn’t just a young graduate. Talking about experience, the first place I worked in my life was a lawyer’s chamber and I know that in those days, they don’t take them on on salary arrangements. They have to make good of their own practice and use facilities of their seniors. Times are changing. You cannot look at that time and say that system must continue. You need to encourage young ones and there is also population explosion among lawyers. Now, we used to have only one law school between 1962 and 1999. During my own time, it was the Lagos Law School and it used to produce about 500 lawyers every year. But now there are five campuses and each of the campuses produces over 1,000 every year. So every year, there are about 5,000 lawyers that are turned out, yet there is an economic recession, yet they must work somewhere. So, it is affecting ability to be fully employed and to be fairly remunerated and so on and so forth. That was why I say we must all work very hard to improve the country and pray very hard for God to bring back the glory of Nigeria.

    Do you remember your first day in court? What was it like?

    Naturally, when a lawyer comes to the court the first time, they don’t move a motion. In my own case, when I was working, I was going to court to watch proceedings. Then I came out with a brief of mine, which by the grace of God, I handled excellently. Up till today, I still have relationship with those clients.