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Tag: profession

  • ICAEW, ICAN to strengthen accountancy profession

    The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), a leader in the global accounting and finance industry, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the accountancy profession in Nigeria.

    Both organisations have committed to work together to promote a sound and sustainable accounting and finance industry by sharing their knowledge, improving professional and intellectual development and advancing the number of members of accountancy bodies.

    The agreement was signed by ICAEW President Nick Parker and ICAN President Alhaji Isma’ila Muhammadu Zakari, during an official ceremony in Lagos.

    Speaking on the MoU, Alhaji Zakari said: “A strong financial sector is the backbone of any economy; so we look forward to working closely with ICAEW in future to develop a number of exciting initiatives and to share experiences and expertise for the benefit of the profession in Nigeria. It is essential to establish linkages of this nature so that both bodies will be able to leverage upon each other’s strengths.”

    Parker also said: “We are pleased to sign a mutually beneficial alliance with ICAN and are looking forward to aligning our visions and sharing our expertise to strengthen and support the development of the accountancy profession in Nigeria.”

  • ‘Occupational therapy lucrative profession’

    Potential students seeking admission have been urged to embrace the Federal School of Occupational Therapy, Oshodi.

    According to the Medical Director of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, owners of the school, Dr Oluyemi Ogun, the field of occupational therapy is lucrative.

    She stated this at the institution’s matriculation of 58 intakes.

    On the relevance of occupational therapists in healthcare, Mrs Ogun said they help to improve patients’ability to perform  tasks at work, home, and leisure, among others and facilitate their successful adaptations to disruptions in lifestyle, prevent losses of function and improve or maintain psychological status.

    The institution’s Registrar, Olori Lydia Ajayi, said the school needs  more funding. She explained that the formation of the school is to fill the shortage of occupational therapists.

    She explained: “The idea of establishing a School of Occupational Therapy was conceived by the former Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Idowu Malomo who did not only have the foresight to recognise the apparent dearth of this noble profession in Nigeria but also went ahead to ensure that something was done about it. Before the school commenced, the Management of Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital had been desirous of meeting up with international standards in the provision of care for the mentally ill but the hospital was incapacitated in the area of having well-trained staff who could take up this need. There was scarcity of professionally qualified occupational therapists in the country.”

    She added:  “The Management Board for the hospital then set up a Technical Committee under the leadership of Dr. Obal Otu. This committee put in their best and came up with reports and several working papers all set towards the actualisation of this goal. The Management Board, based on the Technical Committee reports, sought the approval of the Federal Ministry of Health and this was given. The minister also granted the use of the abandoned property near the hospital for the take-off of the school immediately. The Federal School of Occupational Therapy was approved for establishment by the Federal Ministry of Health on   March 15, 2002. A prominent member of the Technical Committee that facilitated the approval was the late Mr. J.T. Adamu, Deputy Director (Nursing).  He, sadly, did not live to see the school take off in March 2003.”

    Olori Ajayi boasted that the institution is the first of its kind in Nigeria and the West African Sub-region.

    The Acting Principal of the institution, Mr Adeoso Akinwole, said: ‘’We have produced best of hands that are manning various hospitals in both public and private practice.”

  • My passion is more important than my profession – Teebee

    My passion is more important than my profession – Teebee

    Although budding afro-pop artiste Abiodun Akinpelu took his career professional in 2011, he says that music is all he has ever done, even as a kid. Fresh with a single titled Alagbon, the graduate of Biochemistry from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology speaks with OVWE MEDEME on his life as an artiste, plans for the industry and sundry issues. 

    As one who started music early, why didn’t you study it as a course?

    While growing up, music was just a hobby to me. It was something I did effortlessly. So, I did not really feel it was necessary for me to attend a music school because I was already doing well in it. I was a science student in school.

    And you know, the normal thing is that if you tell your friends that you want to study music, they would ignore you thinking you are not serious with life. I would have you know that I actually wanted to study medicine, but ended up with Biochemistry. I decided that if I go for medicine, the music in me might die

    How did your parents react when you took music professional?

    It was just natural that they would kick against it. You know the typical Nigerian parents are sceptical about some courses, particularly music and theatre arts which has to do with acting.

    Then, my parents objected to my choice of career. They asked me why I was going into music even though I was doing well as a biochemist. My parents really didn’t believe I would go into music; they thought it was a child’s play because they saw me playing around music and were not bothered. But after my university education, I told my parents that music is where my passion lies.

    Do you have their support now?

    My parents are very supportive of my career and they listen to my music. In fact, they are the first persons to listen to my music anytime I drop a single and even before recording. My parents are supportive.

    Do you play any musical instruments?

    I play the voice only (laughs). But actually right now, I am learning how to play the keyboard. I don’t intend to be a producer, but I want to be able to produce my own sound. So, I am learning.

    You released Gbaduwe when you were in school after which you took a break…

    The break in music was necessary because you cannot chase two birds at once and catch them all. You definitely will lose them all. I felt that music is in-born, so I said music was not going to leave me. I also had to go for my one year compulsory service. During my NYSC, I was recording and writing music almost on a daily basis, but I didn’t drop any single. I needed that pause in order to go back to the drawing board and then come out with something massive which reflects in my latest single, Alagbon.

    Does Alagbon refer to the popular police station?

    Well, at first glance, one is tempted to conclude by the title of the music that it is a reference to the popular Alagbon Police Station, but Alagbon is an area in Lagos. You have to listen to the song to get the gist. That is what I always urge my fans to do.

    How well do you think the title will sell the song?

    I’m very sure there is no other song titled Alagbon out there. So, the uniqueness of the song makes it a catch because it is not a regular title. Again the lyrics and rhythm of the song make it unique.

    With your music, what message do you hope to pass to Nigerians?

    One thing everybody is talking about in Nigeria toady is the current economic hardship. Things are really difficult now. My music is meant to make people feel good. I call my songs good jolly songs that make people forget about their sorrows and problems in order to be happy. In my music, I preach happiness, peace, love and togetherness.

    Are you working on an album?

    Not at the moment. Right now, I’m pushing Alagbon. I’m also just concentrating on releasing singles. Very soon, the video for Alagbon will be released.

    Are you signed on to a record label?

    Not at the moment.

    How would you describe yourself?

    Well, I‘m a cool person. I’m also a go-getter; that is one thing I know about myself. If you ask anybody that knows me, they will tell you I am a go-getter. I don’t just do things but I break out of the norm. I go the extra mile to do something different from the way other people do theirs and come out the big way. I’m God-fearing and I always want to be happy.

    What genre of music do you play?

    I play afro-pop music.

    What Nigerian artiste would you like to collaborate with?

    If there is one Nigerian artiste I would like to do a collabo with, he or she has to be very good because you know our sound right now is going global and everybody in the music industry is really putting in their best. But If I must choose one, I would go for Davido.

    What do you see in him?

    I like his style of music. One thing I like about Davido is that he is very determined; he is my kind of person. He is a go-getter and he’s very hard working, like myself. I feel we’ll do good music together and that would be a good blend.

    What would you say sets you apart from others.

    Well, let me start by saying I am one unique kind of person. I just want to break out. My kind of music is totally different. I do afro-pop music, but if you listen to my sound you will hear the uniqueness in it. The unique sound that Teebee gives stands him out from any other artiste.

    Are you married?

    No, I’m not married. I’m single.

    And ready to mingle?

    (Laughs) Well, something like that.

    What does Teebee stand for?

    Teebee is a nickname given to me by my friends while growing up as a child. You know then we did give each other peculiar names. So that is how the name Teebee came to be.

    If you are given an opportunity to choose a record label in Nigeria, which would you go for?

    We have very many fantastic labels in the country and they all support good music because they are good brands. It would be difficult for me to choose now because they are all good. I’ll let the spirit lead me.

    As a full time artiste, do you intend dropping your course of study?

    I don’t think so. What I believe is that my passion is much more important than the course I studied in the university. Yes, education is key, and it is good to acquire good education in order to get the platform, knowledge, exposure and edge. But my passion for music is so immense that I can’t even drop it. Even when I was in the university studying Biochemistry, I would go for shows, events and studios. So, basically, music is where my mind is right now. Music didn’t stop me from doing well in school in terms of academic performance.

    Do you still intend to practice Biochemistry?

    I don’t think I ever will.

  • Noble profession and its ignoble actors

    John Austin defines law as ‘a rule laid down for the guidance of an intelligent being by an intelligent being having power over him’. In other words, the law by the privileged few is the law of society. It is an instrument for the protection of their disproportionate share of the national resources. Although the constitution says we are equal before the law, but as George Orwell reminded us a long time ago, ‘we are equal but some are more equal than others’. This is why human laws have been said to be the expression of political relation of the individual within society. Plato says ‘they are like spider’s web which catches the small flies but the great break through’. In Nigeria as elsewhere for the underprivileged and disconnected, ‘equality before the law’ is a myth. If those assigned the ignoble role of perpetuating injustice whimsically call theirs a noble profession, I don’t think we need to begrudge them for dressing themselves in borrowed robes. We know who lawyers are and they know themselves.

    But as our noble Itse Sagay pointed out last week, what makes the difference in all societies are the few noble men among those destined by virtue of their profession to perform ignoble role. Unfortunately, the current Supreme Court judges by virtue of their recent bizarre judgment in Rivers and Akwa Ibom, in which they pretended not to understand the difference between authenticating voters through accreditation with card reader machine and actual voting, do not in his view belong to this few gem of society.

    For him, the ‘perverse verdict’ reached by the Supreme Court judges through an application of technicality that is in conflict with justice, in Rivers and Akwa Ibom are ‘a major setback to democracy and the rule of law’, especially when according to him, ‘everybody knows that there were no elections in those two states and “that people like Wike climbed into the governorship seat over dead bodies and over blood of human beings’. He seems to be saying such verdicts have parallels only Plato’s ‘forest of monkeys rather than habitable place for men’. Sagay, a very decent man is concerned about the pursuit of justice.

    But Wike and his group did not approach the Supreme Court to seek justice. They were out to protect their resources. In the pursuit of their objective they have also demonstrated they are not afraid of blood. In fact they had threatened more blood in case the Supreme Court upheld the Appeal court’s verdict of a re-run. Wike spilled the beans with his reaction to Sagay’s attack. ‘The people of Rivers State’, he said will ‘never give up their sovereignty’ and ‘will prevent APC desperate attempts to politically dominate our people and plunder the resources of [our] land’. He made it clear ‘Niger Delta states would prevent outsiders from having a foothold on their land in future’. Having earlier narrated how he secured his victory, he declared with an offensive finality that Sagay cannot ‘re-litigate a settled matter’, because his victory was settled. The not particularly distinguished Supreme Court judges gave Wike and his group what they wanted.

    Sagay also spoke so passionately about  the Nigerian judiciary as if we do not know it has been  largely dominated since independence by those driven by greed to pursue justice by juxtaposing lies with truth as if both are complimentary and judges whose verdict sometimes give an impression they are anarchists. In an attempt to destroy the Action Group (AG) in 1961, the judiciary supported the illegal probe of the National Bank which was a ‘regional issue over which the federal government had no power’. Following the intra-party AG feud in 1962, it shamelessly ruled in favour of S. L. Akintola, the embattled premier of the west, a verdict later upturned by the Privy Council in London, the then highest judicial body. In 1962, it colluded with NCNC/NPC coalition to illegally declare state of emergency on the West.

    The Nigerian judiciary also in 1962 demonstrated its bankruptcy through its ignoble role in the Balewa-contrived Coker Commission of Inquiry into Statutory Corporations in the Western Region and the prosecution and conviction of Awo for treasonable felony.

    Those allegedly driven by their greed or ambition to serve as government lawyers were Chief Michael Okorodudu who had just decamped from AG following the loss of his contract as Western Region commissioner in London, Kehinde Sofola, NCNC member and opponent of Awo in his Ikenne town and Sobowale Sowemimo, who till them worked as a junior under Fani-Kayode who upon becoming leader of opposition after decamping from AG started calling for the declaration of state of emergency in the west.

    In 1963, the judiciary betrayed the NCNC and the Igbo by claiming the census crisis was ‘a political issue’. Realising that there was no way they could achieve power constitutionally with the census returns, the East lost faith in the country and started thinking of secession.

    In 1966, the self- serving judiciary advised Ironsi to take over power instead of swearing in the most senior surviving minister following the disappearance of the Prime Minister Balewa. In May 1967, the leading members of the judiciary drafted the Unification Decree 34 with all its known consequences for a heterogeneous and multi-ethnic society.

    In 1993, the judiciary was used by Babangida to justify the annulment of the 1993 election. For a prize, it provided an escape route for a totally discredited Babangida regime by crafting an Interim Government decree which paved the way for the installation of Ernest Shonekan to spite MKO Abiola another Egba man who had won a national election. In 1994 when Justice Dolapo Akinsanya threw out Babangida’s interim contraption along with Shonekan, the judiciary rallied round Abacha who ruled with iron fist for five years.

    If PDP has ravaged the nation these past 16 years, it was not without the support of the judiciary. It supported vote rigging. (Mike Igini, a former Edo Resident Electoral Commissioner told Channel Television last week how some SANs claimed improvement in our electoral system will deprive them of easy source of money). Its senior members supported those who wrecked the banking sector. They feature prominently in the privatisation programme and the fuel subsidy scam. They shielded many lawbreakers who have since moved from desecrated Governors’ lodges to the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly as lawmakers.

    All our woes stem from the greed and ignoble actions of men of the noble profession. In office, ex-President Jonathan claimed he was not to be held responsible for the slow pace at which the wheel of justice grinds in our country. Last week, President Buhari identified the judiciary as the only threat to his war against corruption ‘because of long adjournments currently being imposed on all cases of corruption’. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has called for the reform of the judiciary and in fact canvassed for the establishment of special courts to try corruption cases.

    Unfortunately, unlike the other arms of government, the executive and the legislature, that periodically test their legitimacy through elections, the judiciary is answerable to none. In fact we have been warned of a possible descent into chaos and anarchy if those performing ignoble acts are sanctioned. Last week, scores of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SANs) followed their colleague detained for an ignoble act to court to sue EFCC. Chief Kehinde Sofola a second Republic Attorney General and one time vice president of the Body of Benchers during the June 1993 crisis issued a statement saying Nwosu’s NEC ought to have obeyed Justice Bassey Ikpeme’s unpatriotic ruling. He has elsewhere expressed the view that the executive cannot probe the judiciary because ‘the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are equal’. Yet he is on record as having declared that ‘the primary duty of the judiciary is to protect the judiciary’. It will appear our nation is at the mercy of those who perpetrate ignoble acts under the cover of a ’noble’ profession.

  • Awards’ll boost legal profession, says ex-minister Ojo

    Giving awards to lawyers and law firms that have excelled in their areas of specialty is one way to stimulate the growth of the legal profession in Nigeria, Chief Bayo Ojo has said.

    Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a former Attorney-General of Nigeria, made the remarks when he spoke to the press during the 2015 Law Digest Africa Awards (LDAA) presentation ceremony which held on Friday at the Oriental Hotels in Lekki, Lagos.

    He said:  “The Law Digest put together this event to identify law firms that that have excelled in their various areas of specialty, that is what this is all about.

    “It’s innovative, it’s good; it’s to recognise hard work and diligence in the legal industry, the legal firmament.

    “It will promote the growth of the legal profession in the sense that it’ll be an ideal to aspire to, other law firms will be inspired to be diligent and hope to win in the future and some other time. This will increase capacity and be something to look forward to.”

    The Law Digest Africa Awards is organised by Law Digest magazine and it recognises Managing Partners, firms, general counsels and in-house teams of African firms and companies that have made outstanding contributions to the development of the African legal services market and the economy generally.

    One of the recipients of the award, Gbenga Oyebode (MFR), said it was the first time that a Nigeria-oriented magazine has decided to celebrate African lawyers and this will spur him on.

    He said: “I feel particularly proud, I’ve been chosen for the law achievement award, it’s a lifetime achievement. What this proves for me is that the last 35 years of practicing law have not been in vain and it also galvanises me to do more in future.

    “Typically we have all these western publishers celebrating themselves and celebrating primarily Southern African law firms, so, it’s a great opportunity for us to have someone who takes a look at the best law firms on the continent but again focuses on the Nigerian law firms that have done extremely well and chooses to celebrate us.

    Oyebode, whose firm, Aluko & Oyebode, confirmed its position as the leading law firm in Africa by winning the most contested, Law Firm of the Year award, said the award “is a very great thing.”

    He added: “It’s all about service, it’s all about developing our profession, it’s all about giving back and I suspect that that’s why I have been awarded the high honour today.”

    Seyi Clement, the publisher and editor of Law Digest, said the award is designed to reward excellence in the practice of law across Africa.

    He said: “We gave awards to about 17 law firms and individuals, so it’s not just lawyers alone. Law firms, individuals, in-house practice and also those who provide support services to lawyers, such as IT services providers to lawyers.”

    He added that both big and small lawyers have equal opportunity to be recognised.

    “We look at the quality of work they do, not really the size. We’re looking at what they do, what people say about them, what their colleagues, clients say about them,” Clement said.

    “This is the third year the Law Digest journal has been in existence and the vision is to promote African legal practice through articles.

    The Law Digest is currently in nine countries across the world: Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Australia, The USA and The UK.

    We’re going to launch a francophone version in Cameroon very soon, so that both Anglo and Francophone Cameroonians will be able to enjoy and contribute to the journal.

    Stephen Akinsanya, the Chairman of the British-Nigerian Lawyers’ Forum said the awards will raise the profile of Nigerian and African lawyers

    “We want to obviously celebrate Nigerian and African lawyers who have achieved a sense of excellence in their professions and their chosen fields and also to highlight the legal fraternity in Africa and Nigeria.

    “The awards will also let people know that just as Africa is developing, there are law firms with Nigerian lawyers who are more than able to deal with the issues that crop up in the commercial world of developing the economy in Nigeria

    Bebe Clement, the Business Development Director for Law Digest said it’s a magazine behind African lawyers globally, “so that they can compete on the international stage and to raise the profile of African law firms.”

    She disclosed that the awards is going to be an annual event and it is prompted by the need to recognise and reward the hard work of those who are making waves in the legal profession in Africa.

    “Law Digest is distributed in six countries in the world including The UK and America, and then the West is trying to get into Africa, particularly in the area of law.

    “They have their skills, they have the money and if we’re not careful, they will come in and take the big, lucrative jobs. This is something that we’re already seeing.

    “So, what we try to do at Law Digest is to make our local firms partner with international firms, they raise them, they share their skills, they share their expertise and they raise the standards within the African legal profession.”

    For Professor Kanyi Ajayi (SAN), the awards came at the right time.

    Ajayi, a guest at the event, said: “I think it’s a great initiative by the Law Digest to begin to grant recognition to the role lawyers play in economic development, particularly now that the country is going through challenging times both in terms of security and the economy.”

    Several Nigerian law firms that emerged victorious when the 2015 Law Digest Africa Awards winners were announced in July, received their awards last Friday.

    The key awards category include: Life time achievement award, Managing Partner of the Year, Female Managing Partner of the Year, Young Managing Partner of the Year (under 40), Law Firm of the Year, Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year, M&A Team of the Year, Banking & Finance Team of the Year, Capital Market Team of the Year, Media and Telecom Legal Department of the Year, Support Services Provider of the Year and General Counsel of the Year

     

  • Orubebe to Ijaw: return to your ‘God-given profession’

    Former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Minister Elder Godsday Orubebe at the weekend urged his ijaw kinsmen to return to their “God-given profession” of fishing.

    The former minister noted that leaving fishing, following the discovery of oil, had adversely affected the economy of the average Ijaw man.

    Orubebe spoke in Lagos at a seminar organised by Ijaw Professionals Association (IRA) with the theme: Translating the Ijaw Vision Into Reality: Way Forward.

    Orubebe’s paper was titled: The place of Ijaw in Nigeria: A call for strategic action.

    He said: “We have stopped planning and thinking because we believe in the little we can get from the Federal Government. So, we forgot our central goal. The Ijaw people are predominantly fishermen who also engage in maritime activities.

    “But oil changed the nature of our people. This is sad.”

    The former minister described the situation as “our dilemma”.

    Orubebe said the Ijaw, though good in alcoholic drinks production, had also abandoned same.

    The former minister regretted years of neglect of the region by successive governments.

    He said: “Despite being one of the largest sources of oil in this country, Ijaw has suffered marginalisation and infrastructural neglect of our region. More than 90 per cent of the communities are yet to be connected with network of roads. Linkage to the national grid of electricity is still a dream.”

    Orubebe urged Niger Delta residents to create a strategy that would make them become less dependent on oil to enable the region progress.

    The former minister would rather “allow sleeping dog lie” than talk about what happened in the last general elections and the victory of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential election.

    Orubebe said he would tow the footsteps of President Goodluck Jonathan to remain quiet on the matter.

  • Journalists urged to embrace professionalism

    Journalists have been urged to take their jobs seriously and seek professionalism at all times.

    They got the charge at the last month’s edition of the Journalists for Christ (JFC) fellowship.

    At the event with the theme: Making your Journalism count for God, speakers likened a pastor that demands integrity and commitment against all odds.

    According to the keynote speaker, The Nation Online Editor, Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, the work of a journalist is akin to a mission-field that comes with diverse trials. Despite the challenges, he, however, noted that it is an honourable profession that requires paying attention to details. He urged the pressmen to attain excellence in all aspects of the job. And in their attempt at attaining excellence, he charged journalists to network with others, adding that with God the tests will become surmountable.

    He said: “Take your job seriously; be committed to excellence; pay attention to integrity; don’t be a lone ranger; there shall be trials but you shall overcome. Our journalism can count for God if we surrender it to God.”

    While observing that journalism is a lucrative profession that opens up diverse opportunities, Wale Fatade, a journalist with 18 years of experience, said journalists should plan for their retirement early.

    “There is no substitute for diligences. Always remember that each time you write you are writing your own testimonial, so there is no room for sloppiness. When people say journalism does not pay, ask my wife and family. Through journalism, I have been seeing the world and now I reject opportunity of flying abroad. There are many opportunities that are out there.

    Reteriating Otufodunrin’s words, Fola Adekeye, who was formerly with Newswatch, urged pressmen, who are Christians, to bring in their religious values to bear in the profession, saying facts should always be double-checked no matter who or what is involved before going to press.

    He said: “Make your work count as a Christian. The job we do should not determine our values; it should be the other way round.”

    There was, however, controversy about pastors being criticised and at the end the house ruled that facts must count all the time.

  • Why legal profession is in decline, by lawyer

    Can you give us an insight into your university days, how ac-tive were you in the university?

    I was very active in the University of Ife, which I attended by choice, having been admitted to all the then 5 Nigerian Universities, namely, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), University of Lagos, (UNILAG), University of Ibadan (UI) and the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife. I was offered a law degree program in all the four universities except UI, which offered me political science, because it had no law program then.

    While in the university of Ife, I was an elected member of the Students Union Parliament and member of the Student Union Care taker Committee following the dissolution of the 1975/76 elected Students Union Executive.

    I was chairman X-Ray Magazine, a very powerful student publication of the X-Ray club with student members like former NBA president O.C.J Okocha, (SAN) and Justice Ejembi Eko of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division. I also served as political editor of the Pan African Magazine with late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as our patron and late Tunde Agunbiade ( who was also my classmate 1973-76) as the editor of the magazine.

    The National Executive Committee Meeting of the NBA holds in Makurdi, your state capital this week, what is your message to NEC members?

    The three NBA Benue state branches of Makurdi, Otukpo and Gboko are clearly happy to host NBA NEC again at Makurdi  branch. My message to NEC members is to enjoy the hospitality and peace of Benue state and makurdi in particular.

    You seem to have interest in partisan politics from your university days, have you held any political office in the country?

    Yes, I served as a Commissioner in Benue state during the Second Republic under the government of Governor Aper Aku and as Chairman Benue state local government service commission in the government of Governor George Akume. I also served in various Federal Boards such as Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Enugu Zone and I was a member of the Presidential Technical Committee on Local Government Reform in Nigeria ( 2003)

    How would you appraise the practice of law in your early days with what obtains in the profession now?

    Legal Practice when I started and what we have now are world’s apart. The judges then were judicially predictable and protective of both the Bar and the Bench, I remember my first court appearance was in 1977 before Justice Bate in the Jos High Court against Gali Brown Peterside SAN, who was then over 25yrs at the Bar. I was holding chief Solomon Lar’s brief and Peterside SAN, knowing I was a new wig started intimidating me, when Justice Bate noticed it, he said “ John do your case to the best of your ability, this court will protect you” I then took a preliminary objection which he upheld by the Court.

    The rapidly declining standards in legal practice today is largely due to a declining Bar which has succumbed to the Nigerian factor of enthroning corruption as a way of life. The society produces the lawyers that run the administration of justice. Everybody now knows that progress either in legal  practices  or societal progression is no longer dependent on hardwork. The legal profession is in great decline, our younger lawyers, unlike in my early days have neglected learning in their youth. The result is a lost past and a bleak future.

    The conviction of John Yusuf… of the police pension fund was attributed to the laws under which he was charged, what is your reaction to this and the existence of such laws in our statute books

    The public outcry is a welcome development that will awaken the Nigerian conscience. The Catholic Bibhop of Sokoto Dioces, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah has given up and said; “Corruption, sad as it may sound, is the only thing that works in Nigeria”. The fault and error did not lie in the Criminal Code or the archaic nature of the Statute, even though there is need to update our Criminal Procedure Laws. The instant law did not outlaw a prison sentence.

    The problem of indigenship and settlers in the Nigerian state has been blamed for most communal clashes in different parts of the country what solutions do you have for this?

    The Nigerian state cannot runway from its shadows. Nigeria is an amalgamation of regions, communities, and primordial interests. Our 1999 federal constitution recognizes these differences and accomodates them in revenue allocation formular,, Ministerial slots and federal character appointments. Yet it wants to abolish indigenship because the large tribes who are more nomadic and more adventurous want to overrun the minorities and financially deprived Nigerian groups. Before and since independence, the issue of minority fears via commissions and committees have not been addressed nor protected.

    Nigeria is a federation. Note the failed attempt by Decree no 14 of 1966 by General Ironsi at unification and the after effects viz, counter coup,  and the 30 month Nigerian civil war.

    The Nigerian federation must continue to recognize and protect our primordial components.

    Nigeria’s lack of advancement is not because of “ our tribes” because countries such as Switzerland run a successful and developed federalism with its plural counties and districts, jealously guarded.

    Every Nigerian originally comes from a place/community and if there is need to change, the communal rules of such host commutes must be obeyed.

    Welfare of younger Lawyers and possibly the old ones too, has been one of the challenges facing successive NBA administrations, how do we resolve this?

    My suggested approach is pupillage, part of the problem is the unwillingness of younger lawyers to understudy the senior ones and devote their first 5years into learning the law.

    Their rush  into the open market has caused the glot and while some younger lawyers have succeeded, older ones are being displaced and thus, the disorder.

    My suggested solution is a comprehensive review of the administration of Justice system with the aim of providing more jobs within the system. A mere 100,000 Nigerian lawyers in a population of 160 million is even not a high proportion yet.

    Can you say that what we have now qualifies for the NBA of your dreams, if not, which areas will you like NBA leadership to focus in order to improve the lot of Nigerian Lawyers?

    Well the NBA of my dream is one that will become the pride of all Nigerian lawyers. Presently, less than 10per cent of Nigerian Lawyers border about the NBA. This is because the NBA is not attracting greater percentage of Nigerian Lawyers to participate in its programmes and activities. The vast majority of the lawyers are successfully living, acting and surviving outside the influence of the NBA, so, why do they need the NBA

    How then can the NBA improve on this?

    The NBA can improve on the situation by helping to create more job opportunities Nigerian lawyers within the Nigerian state and system, for example, if each of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria employ a legal officer each, that will take care of some 774 lawyers. Such opportunities will not only create employment for the lawyers concerned, but will also improve the standards of several other lawyers.

    Delay in Justice delivery has been cited as a major cause of lack of confidence in the judiciary, how do we ensure speedy justice delivery in the country?.

    We can only achieve this through comprehensive implementation of all the piles of reports awaiting action by the government. Key amongst these are recommendations for speedy trial of suspects, independent and improved funding for the Judiciary. Unless and until the Judiciary is properly funded, we cannot get the judiciary of our dream in this country.

    How do we improve the quality of judges and judicial officers in the country?

    Judicial personnel must not be allowed to run automatic promotions but subject them to input and out put and good conduct. Also, a tighter mode of appointing Judges must be put in place to make sure that the best for job gets it.