As we all bask in the fascination of Mr. Femi Falana’s elevation to the prestigious rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), we cannot afford to gloss over the consensus that his “elevation”, like that of late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAM), (SAN) was long overdue and an embarrassing commentary on the credibility of both the rank and the process of its conferment. As you may know, this concern has long culminated in the vigorous campaign by the “Abolitionist Group” led by the respectable Pa Gomez seeking the total abolition of the rank for failing to deliver on the core purpose of the award as well as exposing the entire profession to abuse, ridicule and corruption. No doubt, such tendencies have, in the past years dragged our collective reputation to disdain; threatened the cohesion in the association and polarized the association along the lines of those in supports and against.
In interrogating this resentment, we speak to the necessities of reforms and improvements in the affairs of our profession. Surely, for a conservative organization such as the NBA, operating in a perverse society like Nigeria, there must be direct victims of any serious reforms. Falana like his professional progenitor, Fawehinmi clearly falls within this category of direct victims. As we worry over this factual reality, we must intensify our collective determination to re-examine the integrity of a process that mortgaged the respect, confidence and support of its members and thoroughly scandalized the general public who, albeit, knew very little about the pre-conditions for the elevation, yet could not help wondering what manner of association it is, that deliberately subjects some of its shining bests’ to ridicule and deprivation.
A week before the announcement of his elevation, I wrote Falana expressing my confidence that the battle was won and over this time around in the following words:
“I can see that your long tortuous journey to ‘SANship’ is almost over. You have over these long years bore the burden of history as defined by tough principles, integrity, courage and conviction with grace and candour. As we get set to mark this watershed, remember that we are not scandalized to travel this path of honour with you as that alone has crystallized the contents of our collective history and identity. We are proud of you sir”.
In 1996 and 2008, Falana was the proud recipient of two international awards which were resounding testimonies of his professional competencies amongst several other awards for his human rights crusade and credentials. They were the International Human Rights Award by the American Bar Association (1996) and the prestigious Bernard Simons Award for Human Rights which was conferred on him by the International Bar Association at Buenos Argentina in 2008. He was the third African to receive the award after the inimitable Gani Fawehinmi and the former counsel to Nelson Mandela George Bizos. Both awards were global acknowledgements of his modest endeavours towards the growth of the Nigerian legal profession as well as his rigorous campaigns for the human rights status of Nigerians.
About the same time under review, he was consistently denied the title of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria by the Nigerian legal community. I have focused on the Comrade Learned Silk amongst other eminent recipients of the present award for obvious personal reasons. It is only natural that I should seize an occasion such as this to testify that Falana has been my benefactor in so many respects and at very critical times.
First, in 1999 when I eventually graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, the university authorities seized my degree certificate while the Faculty of Law refused to recommend me and my associate Comrade Princewill Hillary Akpakpan to the Nigerian law school for the compulsory one year programme. My era at the UNN coincided with the repressive military juntas of the duo of Babangida and Abacha. I recall with pride, that in 1996, I mobilized nine other students and dragged the UNN to the Federal High Court Enugu where we successfully challenged the over 3,000% increase in our school/service charges . That obnoxious policy was by Prof. U.D Gomwalk who was imposed on the institution by late Abacha as a sole administrator about the sometime he made Major Genaral Kontangora the Sole Administrator of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. Understandably, such radical affronts against a constituted authority in a conservative institution like UNN earned me series of arrests leading to the seizure of our degree results and refusal to recommend us to the Nigerian Law School.
Yet, we were not completely demobilized as they intended because I was immediately absorbed into the National Secretariat of the Committee For the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) led by Falana as the then National President and ably assisted by an administrative guru –Jiti Ogunye – a highly cerebral and dynamic, lawyer, National General Secretary and Head Legal Aid Services of the organization. With this leadership setting, it was only a question of time before Falana constituted a team of eight tough” legal practitioners” scattered all over the country led by himself but effectively coordinated by Ogunye. We had “fighters” like the former Vice President of the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Barr. Uche Duru Eke at Owerri, Imo State, Barr. Chuka Obele Chuka, the intrepid former Branch Chairman of NBA Onitsha, Anambra State. In all it was a team that successfully wrestled the university authority to its knees until our degree certificates were retrieved and released to us.
Although, the court matter was effectively over in 2000, but we were not admitted into the Nigeria Law School until the end of the first semester of the law school programme for the year 2001/2002 session. By May, 2002 when I was called to the Bar, Falana instantly offered me an opportunity to join his firm as a junior counsel in his chambers just as Mr. Obele Chuka bought me a wig and gown before our Call to Bar. I concluded my Youth Service programme there and spent two additional years with him before I ventured out to establish my own firm in 2005. Till this day, I am considered a part of that chambers by both Falana himself and his wife in terms of access with an appreciable increase in collaborations.
Within the time under review, I fully encountered Falana in his elements. A man of great courage, industry, conviction, deep intellect and knowledge, he was already an accomplished lawyer, a leader both within his professional circle where he was generally called “authority” because of his mastery of law and decided authorities and amongst his comrades where we simply call him FF. It was no joke for those of us who were closely associated with him because of his pace and speed of operation as well as the expectation of the public.
On an occasion like this, we know that your joy will be deeper if you realise that, it is the ordinary Nigerian people whose lives you have touched by your tireless crusade for social justice that are rejoicing. They probably do not understand the full purport of this development, but the mere fact that the recognition is extended to “one of them” ignites the genuine joy that presently resonates in every down trodden Nigerian.
I write not as one of your beneficiaries but as one who is in touch with the people whom you have rescued from the grip of their oppressors. They request that you continue to wear those harmless smiles even when you deal deadly blows on their oppressors. They are assured that with this elevation, the potency of your weapons will become more effective, while your professional colleagues are optimistic that the prospects of realizing the much deserved reforms in the legal profession are brighter knowing that you are likely to carry the battle to them and remain a resounding voice for the oppressed. Such will be the greater benefit of this investiture for a professional body like the NBA whose role in a developing economy like ours is pivotal. In exiting the moribund and unproductive past, we must clearly locate this fresh role that must be strategically discharged.
• Ugwummadu is a Lagos-based lawyer.
