EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: THE JOURNEY OF A YOUNG LAWYER WITH PROFESSOR ERNEST OJUKWU SAN

The purpose of this interview session is aimed at drawing from his wealth of experience and knowledge. Our inspiration is from the words of EUGENE C.BLACKARD:

‘’Never be afraid to ask for direction on how to practice law more effectively. Everyone is afraid to look foolish but the practice of law is a collaborative endeavor. You don’t get to practice law by yourself’’

AND CYNDEE TODGHAM CHERNIAK:

            ‘’Embrace the fact that in your first year of practice that you are still learning. Law school does not teach you everything that you need to know to practice law-far from it’’

                      ABOUT PROFESSOR ERNEST OJUKWU  SAN

The Learned Silk is also known as ‘THE TEACHER’, a man who represents the finest virtue of hard work and a deep sense of integrity. He was born without any silver spoon to parents who were teachers, but he has grown to become precious silver everyone wants to associate with, a true leader and a mentor to every young lawyer.

Ernest Ojukwu hails from Ahaba Imenyi in Isuikwuato Local Government of Abia State in South East Nigeria. He attended the Methodist College Uzuakoli and Government College Umuahia. Professor Ojukwu is a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife where he received the Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws Degrees in 1983 and 1987 respectively.

Ernest Ojukwu began his career in 1985 when he simultaneously joined the services of Abia State University as an Assistant Lecturer and began to practice Law in the chambers of Chief G. N. Atulomah.[2] In 1988, he left to establish with his friends, a Law firm named Eleuthera Chambers. He rose to the position of Dean of the Faculty of Law in Abia State University where he served from 1995-2001

Ernest Ojukwu was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the highest title available for legal practitioners in Nigeria in 2014. He was sworn in on Monday 22 September 2014, by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar

Prof. Ojukwu is married to Hon Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court and the marriage is blessed with five children

SIR, CAN YOU SHARE WITH US YOUR FAMILY BACKGROUND, AND DOES IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOUR CHOICE OF LAW?

My mother was a primary school teacher. My dad was a civil servant. My dream career was journalism but I didn’t pass entrance examination for mass communication. Law was not in my mind because my mother never spoke well of some lawyers I knew at Umuahia where we lived. By the time I was ready to take JAMB in 1979, I found out that my community (Ahaba Imenyi in Isuikwuato Abia State) did not have a lawyer. So I told my dad while completing the JAMB form that I was going to be the first lawyer in my community.

SIR, WHO WAS YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCE WHILE GROWING UP?

My mother Helen.

SIR, WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME THIS KIND OF PERSON; A LAWYER,  A PROFESSOR AND SAN ?

I became interested in becoming a lawyer only when I had become a law student at Ife. My roommate at the University at Ife Emeka Nwagwu,(former Chairman NBA Owerri Branch) treated me like a younger brother and fired my potential to make one of the best results in my class. I was also influenced, as a student by my one level seniors at school like Chief Tony Idigbe, SAN, and Obidi Umeh, esq. They were quite intelligent and yet very social, outgoing and took part in many extra-curricular activities at Ife. They were very active in mock trials and the Students Court. Tony Idigbe became the Secretary and later the Chairman (Chief Judge) of the Student Court - the University of Ife Judicial Council. I followed Idigbe’s footsteps and became the Secretary and later Chairman (Chief Judge) of the Students Court.

Two other persons influenced my career path. My teacher, Prof. Olu Adediran who managed the mock trials. From my third year at school, he continued to tell me that I should consider returning to Ife after graduation to teach. And Chief Awa Kalu, SAN, with whom I did my externship programme (law office attachment) at Aba. He was in Private Legal Practice at J.S, Nwala and Co and teaching at Abia (then Imo) State University at Aba.

At the end of my NYSC period, I had three options to take up teaching appointments at the Nigerian Law School, Obafemi Awolowo University Ife, and Abia (then Imo) State University (Aba Campus). I took Awa Kalu, SAN’s counsel to accept the appointment at Abia (then Imo) State University so I could teach and practice like him since I loved both.

SIR, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ANY EXPERIENCE YOU HAD AS A YOUNG LAWYER?

I conducted my first criminal case during my NYSC with the Legal Aid Council at Yola without any assistance from any person. Remembering winning that case at a Preliminary Inquiry by a no case submission excites me till today.

 Before 3 years at the Bar I was a very active member of NBA Aba Branch. I started private legal practice with Chief GNA Atulomah and Co at Aba. We had Justice Nsofor (who later retired from the Court of Appeal and is now Nigeria’s ambassador to the USA) in one of the courts at Aba. Many senior lawyers avoided Justice Nsofor’s court. The seniors complained that he usually embarrassed them especially if they showed signs of untidiness or not prepared with their cases. So, some of us young lawyers were usually sent to Nsofor’s court to face the bullets. Appearing in Nsofor’s court gave me 10 years advanced experience as a young lawyer. Justice Nsofor has remained a very close elder friend to me to this day.

 I started law teaching and mentoring at the University (Abia State University then Imo State University) at age 25 years in 1985. I presented my first paper at the NBA Annual General conference at Owerri at a full plenary session in 1991 at 7 years at the Bar. That paper was titled- Executive Lawlessness and Judicial Helplessness in the Administration of Justice- the Need to plug up the holes. I became Secretary Nigerian Bar Association NBA Aba Branch at 8 years at the Bar.

SIR, WHAT THE MAJOR CHALLENGE YOUNG LAWYERS FACE IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION?

Many. Low resource capacity due to poor legal education at both the LLB and Law School levels and even the professional level continuing legal education . Unemployment and under employment. Poor wages, harsh, abusive and undignified treatment by many older lawyers. Lack of career counselling and mentoring. Lack of help and responsiveness to the problems of the young lawyers generally by the professional association, the Nigerian Bar Association..

SIR, WHAT ARE THE DETERMINANT FACTORS WE NEED TO CONSIDER IN CHOOSING A MENTOR AS A YOUNG LAWYER IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION?

First be sure why you want a mentor and think of one who would best complement you. A mentor is a powerful role model. Find someone who shows off the kind of life you aspire to have and a person you really respect.

SIR, IN OTHER COUNTRIES THEY ENCOURAGE TUTELAGE AND MENTORSHIP AS A REQUIREMENT FOR EVERY YOUNG LAWYER. WILL YOU SUPPORT A LEGISLATION MAKING IT COMPULSORY FOR EVERY YOUNG LAWYER TO UNDERGO TUTELAGE?

In our case the closest would be a mandatory pupilage. No I do not support a mandatory pupilage in Nigeria. As an experiential learning tool it has enormous benefits for the training of a lawyer-conduct and etiquette, trial advocacy, conference and negotiation skills, drafting and research, etc. But these achievements will have chances only if we also deal with the foundational problems of legal education.

 The problem with our current low professional standards is our Legal education especially at the LLB level. Until we re-tune training at this level, forcing a mandatory pupilage at this time will be putting something on nothing. And which law firms and lawyers are you going to force pupils on to learn? The standard of legal education did not fall today or one day.

Majority of our practicing lawyers are products of our challenged legal education. I would prefer we re-focus on the LLB and Law School levels. Too many opportunities to prepare would-be-lawyers are being wasted. If we set a goal for legal education (which is non-existent at this time generally), radically change our teaching methodology so that law is taught both as a liberal art and as a vocation, with heavy doses of experimental learning at the LLB and law school levels, we may not need pupilage.

SIR, DO YOU THINK THE PUPILAGE PROGRAM CAN BE ENFORCED REALISTICALLY, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE BILL PROPOSED TO BE PASSED MAKING IT COMPULSORY FOR ALL YOUNG LAWYERS?

If we must have pupilage, then it is better we take out time to conduct studies on it and properly plan. We need to identify the law firms that can take in pupils. If you ask me, there cannot be more than 10-20 such law firms in most capital cities (except places like Lagos and Abuja). We need to train the first set of Supervisors. We need to write the rules and discuss the rules before implementation. We need to agree on a minimum wage for the pupils, etc. We need to find out why in England many new lawyers are unable to do their pupils for as many as 5 years and what we will do when we are faced with the challenge of finding pupilage spaces for over 5,000 new lawyers every year. I have a strong believe based on my experience as a practicing lawyer, law teacher at the LLB and Law School levels, Project Director of the NBA Institute of confining Legal education, and Pioneer of clinical legal education in Nigeria that the call for a mandatory pupilage is a recognition of the fallen standard of our legal training programmes but a misunderstanding of the reasons for the challenge, and a wrong solution to the problem.

SIR, HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR FAMILY WITH YOUR CAREER AND LIFE GOALS?

One must prioritise everything in life. While chasing your career goals, you must know other important goals and balance your actions and activities. My family is very important to me and so I devote a good part of my time and attention to them.

SIR, THERE IS A PROVERB THAT; ‘’ALL LAWYERS ARE LIARS”. WHAT WILL BE YOUR ADVICE TO A YOUNG LAWYER WHO IS AT DILEMMA TO REPRESENT A CLIENT BUT HAS TO BEND THE LAW?

No lawyer should ever “bend the law”. If you want to remain a competent lawyer you must be conscious of justice and ethics and remain an honest and descent person. No person can ever be a competent but dishonest lawyer.

SIR, WHAT DO YOU THINK A YOUNG LAWYER NEED TO DO TO SURVIVE IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION?

A young lawyer must have skills and competencies and must continue to aspire to acquire more skills and competencies. He or she must be focused and hardworking. He or she must be honest. He or she must be driven by passion to be a lawyer or at least strong interest in the profession. He or she should robustly research to be creative or find a niche even if not employed by another person. With these the young lawyer must seek the assistance of a mentor, an experienced person and a network.

SIR, CAN YOU SAY THE LEGAL EDUCATION IN THE UNIVERSITY AND LAW SCHOOL ADEQUATELY PREPARES A YOUNG LAWYER FOR LEGAL PRACTICE IN REALITY?

No. You can see what I said when we talked about pupilage.

SIR, IF YOU OWN A LAW FIRM, WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU WILL REQUIRE FROM A YOUNG LAWYER BEFORE YOU EMPLOY HIM?

The young lawyer should show that he or she is trainable and has the capacity to learn fast.

SIR, AS AN ACADEMIA, WHAT YOUR VIEW ABOUT THE CALL TO ABOLISH LAW SCHOOL?

The important thing to focus on should be on how lawyers are trained at the LLB level and how to prepare the aspirant for the vocation and the profession. The law School vocational and professional training now is below average. The LLB education in Nigeria is poor. The existence or non existence of the Law School is not my worry. I worry on only how the students are trained. The Law School is yet to justify its existence.

SIR, DO YOU BELIEVE THAT NIGERIA STILL NEEDS MORE LAWYERS?

Yes.

SIR, WHEN DO YOU THINK IS THE APPROPRIATE TIME FOR A YOUNG LAWYER TO CONSIDER STARTING HIS OWN LAW FIRM?

At any time after qualification but I prefer partnerships, associate-ships as against sole-practice . Experience is the best teacher. The advantage of learning while working under an experienced person is surely greater and experience comes with more time. If we alter our lesson contents and teaching methods from traditional lessons and traditional teaching to clinical methodology that drives an integrated learning- knowledge, skills, and competencies, and values with heavy exposure to experiential learning at the LLB and vocational levels, many young lawyers will be able to start careers on their own especially if the legal profession and bar supports them early with canopies, incubators and capstones programmes.

FINALLY SIR, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE LEGAL PROFESSION CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA?

Too many. It is the responsibility of the legal profession to lead the fight against corruption. The legal profession should start with itself- the bar-NBA, lawyers; the judiciary, the Registry entire support system at the Judiciary, Judiciary fund management. If we clean up the inside or at least begin to show greater commitment to self-cleansing, then we can have the courage, impetus, and confidence to help the Nation drive anti-corruption programmes in other sectors- the Police, Immigration, Customs, Universities, Civil Service and other public sectors. The Nation stinks with corruption.

                                                        

                                                       THE END

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OPEN LETTER TO THE BAR ASPIRANT: DON’T BE A FIRST CLASS IDIOT

INTRODUCTION

Dear BAR ASPIRANT,

Law school is a place to be but not twice

The Joy of Lovito in front of Abuja Campus can be actualized when you make it out of the Law School

The Honey from Quilox in Lagos City can be sucked when you make it out of Law School

The Beauty of Milken and Silicon Hill in Enugu can be appreciated when you make it out of Law School

The Peace in Peace Park in the Center of Bayelsa City can be felt when you make it out of Law School

The Majesty of Kumi Market and Rock Castle can be appreciated when you make it out of Law School

The Height of Mandara and Shebshi Mountain in Yola can be explored when you make it out of Law School…..

I know in your mind you will be like oshey!!! Baddest!!! , baba sabi everywhere ….. The purpose of listing these awesome areas is to establish the fact that each Campus is unique.  Don’t be discouraged if you were not posted to the campus of your choice, abegiii!!!! It just for one year so stop complaining and accept it.

Sis Bae and Bro Boo you have come thus far, Law School is a place where your dream of becoming a lawyer will be materialised. Let me congratulate you for coming on board.

CREDIT: TOBI AMOO (In 2015 he wrote an Article titled THE FIRST CLASS IDIOT)

THE MAIN BODY

I know that 80% of you Bar Aspirant reading this will desire to have a First Class, while some don’t even care about the good grades they will be satisfied with a mere pass. I believe that the first thing you need to do is to propose in your heart what you desire to have, pray about it and begin to work in line with your desire.

The breaking News is that your seniors that nurtured a desire didn’t end up getting the desire, my brethren forget the former things, create your own experience. The experience of Mr A or Mrs. B may not work out for you; just stick to what will work for you.

The following paragraphs I will list common factors that generally will aid your success at the Law School.

MENTOR AND TUTOR

Take it or leave it no one can teach or mentor you better than your Lecturers. You paid almost 300,000 or more to be here. So why run away from them when you should be close to them. You paid for quality teaching that is what you must get.

If you don’t understand what you are being taught in class, you can approach the lecturers and ask them questions if you are too shy to ask in class. Listen your friend that is doing like Albert Einstein can’t be as accurate as your Lecturers.

What makes people fail at the Bar Final is because they have chosen to follow the part of Aaron and not the way of Moses who has being chosen to lead you to the Promised Land. Your Lecturers are your Moses for the next 20 weeks you will be at the Law School. 

I know your question will be; Mr Sola Hub are you saying I should not take advice from any of my seniors that has passed through the Law School?

My response to your question is that;

                        ‘’Any advice that is contrary, inconsistent, nugatory and overreaching to the position of your Lecturers at the Law School should be thrown into the trash bin where it rightfully belongs’’

The position of Law School is the best, don’t form baddo and follow your own position, you will end up like the people of Sodom burnt to the ground of failure.

AVOID BLUE BOOKS AND ANY EXTRANEOUS MATERIAL

I tell people that only a wise person can cheat in an Examination Hall, not wisdom to avoid being caught but wisdom to discern the right and wrong answers from his victim.

Therefore, the first commandment is that you should avoid blue books and irrelevant materials flying around the campus.  The reason is that they will limit the scope of your thinking to what they have written while some will take you to the island of confusion were you will meet Mr Failure.

ASPIRANT BEWARE!!...RUN AWAY!!!  Let he that have ears heed the voice of Sola Hub.

However, I know some of you have gotten the blue books already and other materials; wisdom is needed in reading those books. I won’t lie that I didn’t make use of them at a point; I never made the mistake of relying solely on blue books.

You may end up burying yourself in the grave of failure if you rely on blue books over the teachings at the law school. Some of you will go to the extent of taking it to class because you want to answer questions. You will get Trumped…..

P.S BLUE BOOKS ARE NOTES WRIITEN BY SENIORS FROM OTHER SETS

P.S: I know that Group4-Legal Hub consist of materials from the previous set, ranging from explanation of drafts to summary notes to solution of Task etc….PLEASE DO NOT FOLLOW OUR BLOG ON ISSUES THAT ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE LAW SCHOOL

EATING AND SLEEPING

You will do yourself more harm than good if you deprive yourself these two important balanced diet; Sleeping and Eating of good Food. 

I heard of people having suicidal thought during law school program, Lack of sleep play a vital role. 

To be honest I once had a suicidal thought to jump from the top floor, it was that period I decided to write the Article; WHY YOU SHOULD SLEEP (you can read it on our blog)

I know some of you will be complaining of Lack of fund. Yes I understand because I was in your shoes, although I will rather spend my money in buying Textbooks, subscribing for Pavilion and for blogging while on campus but I made sure I was eating well to an extent.

If you do not have money tell someone about your situation. Thank God for NAMLAS/MSSN and CLASFON, these two bodies really helped people.  Please do not because of lack of money join bad gangs and be collecting something light up and down…..

AVOID OVER-SABI PEOPLE

Am typing this on my knees, please run away from people that believe that they know everything and don’t need anyone to teach them. People like that end up having Conditional Pass or Fail as result.

They will make you feel inferior and it will look like you not progressing. RUN AWAY. I know your question will be how to identify them;

1.      

      They will always argue blindly with lecturers over obvious points

2.      They will brag about how their knowledge of Judicial and Statutory Authorities for every legal issues

3.      They will never listen to other people opinions even when we all know they are wrong

4.      They will shade you rather than correct you when you make a mistake……

5.      Lastly they can’t give a KISS answer to question asked (keep It Short and Simple)

P.S: You must master the art of KISS(keeping It Short and Simple) or else you will end up at the Forest of Failure where we have gnashing of Teeth after seeing the Bar Result……

MOVE CLOSE TO SABI PEOPLE

Yes, move closer to folks that sabi book pass you but not over-sabi person. To survive at the law school you need brilliant people around you. The truth is that these set of people don’t make too much noise in class or in the hostels. You must identify them and move close to them. They will always encourage you and make you feel important. I know your question would be how to identify them;

1.      

      They will always give accurate and concise answers to question in class

2.      They will rather listen than speak in class or during group meetings

3.      They will correct you with wisdom and with smile on the face

4.      They will explain topics o you without getting you confused…..

P.S: He that walks with the wise will be wise while he that walks in company of fools will be foolish…..

ATTEND ALL LECTURES AND GROUP MEETINGS

I can boldly boast that if you attend all lectures at the NLS LAGOS CAMPUS (I don’t know about other campuses but am sure of Lagos 100%) and listen to all that was said during the lectures you are on your way to success.

The people that fail in Lagos campus if you can do a little research apart from forces from the village factor, majority of them skipped lectures or those that were in class didn’t listen nor participated.

You can’t fail the bar Final if you attend all lectures and give rapt attention to what is been taught in class, you participate by asking reasonable questions for clarifications and if you can answer questions or give make reasonable contributions….

Group Meeting, many people do not buy the idea of attending group meeting for different reasons. 

Some campuses make it compulsory and melt out Query to people that refuses to attend.

The truth is that the Group Meeting is meant to be a platform were we can get prepared for each lectures and help each other academically.

However, few Groups actually achieve the above purpose others end up causing more harm than good due to irrelevant and misleading arguments which affects some students.

My advice is that if the purpose of the group meeting is restored, please try as much as possible to attend regularly.

IS IT FOR THE PURPOSE OF BAR PART 2?

Brethren, I write to you from the Bar that ye listen to the voice of he that has passed through the wilderness. Every time you about to do something ask yourself this question; Is it for the Purpose of Bar Part 2? For example;

1.      

       Sola hub let us go to Lovito,

hummm!!!! Is it for the purpose of Bar Part 2?

2.      Sola Hub let go and greet Amaka and Kabira

Humm!!! Is it for the Purpose of Bar Part 2?

3.      Sola Hub let go to the Mountain

Humm!! Is it for the purpose of Bar Part 2?.....

Beloved, for the next 20 weeks give yourself wholly to Law School, pray to God that you serve, eat and sleep well for all these are for the purpose of Bar Part 2.

N.B: If you fail Bar Final, you will hide your face…..So if you don’t want to play your dream (penalty) to throwing please do everything for the purpose of Bar Part 2

THE FIRST CLASS IDIOT MESSAGE (Excerpts From Tobi Amoo Article)

Let it ring in your head that long gone are the days when students were worshiped merely because they have a first class degree. I do not underrate academic excellence in any way. As a matter of fact, 

I believe that what is worth doing at all should be well done.

We all desire to get the Red Scroll and shake our Fore-Fathers on the Bench (BOB). My bro that is a great desire and I pray that your heart desire will be granted, you should do everything possible to bring your desire to reality.

However, brethren please take note that Employers no longer tremble at the sight of a first class certificate. NO. They need results. They need someone who has something to offer. Someone who can bring something tangible to the table, someone whose creativity can positively impact the organization

Law school is not just a place to read and read and forget to build yourself through networking, sharpening your lawyering skills and drafting skills.

You will end up as a First class Idiot if all you do to succeed is  'la cramme la poure' is a system where a student crams(memorizes) his note or a material supplied by the lecturer, reproduces it exactly on the answer sheet, gets a good grade and forgets it as soon as the exams are over.

To avoid being tagged a first class idiot you need to do the following;

1.      

       NETWORKING

In this Legal Profession of ours to get to the top you need people, you may have the brains but if you don’t have connection, you can be likened to a Blackberry without subscription.

A first class idiot will decide to stay on his own lane and shut out everyone in the name that he wants to study, Oga!! You won’t go far in this profession with that attitude.

A first class student will help someone; he will participate in religious activities or social activities in school to build contacts. YES go to Church meet new people, Go to Mosque and meet new people.

The truth is that you all are praying for Gods’ help, Baba God won’t come down to help you, he will send people to help you. Networking is an important ingredient in your Pot of Success.

2.      

       

       BE CURRENT AND CORRECT ABOUT ISSUES IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION

A lawyer is referred to as a learned man not because of the Wig he wears to court but due to his versatile knowledge.

3.     

CONCLUSION

So after all have been said, don’t be a first class idiot but please ehn please strive to get your first class, cut down all unnecessary activities, have fun and most importantly do all for the purpose of bar part 2.

“Law Degree is hard to get but you got it, remember how you strive hard to get a law degree, now it time to get a BL, you can do it if you believe’’

Love you and we would be glad to hear from you if you need our help.

Contact Us;

Sola-Hub: 08138765200 (WhatsApp Only)

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: THE JOURNEY OF A YOUNG LAWYER WITH AUGUSTINE ALEGEH (SAN)

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this interview session is aimed at drawing from the wealth of experience and knowledge of our ‘Elders’ at the Bar

 Our inspiration is from the words of EUGENE C.BLACKARD:

‘’Never be afraid to ask for direction on how to practice law more effectively. Everyone is afraid to look foolish but the practice of law is a collaborative endeavor. You don’t get to practice law by yourself’’

AND CYNDEE TODGHAM CHERNIAK:

            ‘’Embrace the fact that in your first year of practice that you are still learning. Law school does not teach you everything that you need to know to practice law-far from it’’

ABOUT AUGUSTINE ALEGEH (SAN)

Augustine Oyarekhua  Alegeh, SAN, hails from Ikabigbo, Etsako West Local Government Area, Edo State. He was born to the family of Late DCP & Mrs. Matthew Alegeh (Rtd.) in Warri, Delta State. He attended St. George’s Primary School, Falomo, Lagos, for his Primary Education. In 1974 he commenced his secondary education at St. Paul’s Seminary, Benin City .He obtained his West African School Certificate (‘O’ levels) from Edo College in 1980 and proceeded to Federal Government College, Warri in January, 1981 for his ‘A’ levels but completed only Lower Six before gaining admission to the University. He gained admission to study law at the prestigious University of Benin in 1981 and graduated with Second Class Lower Division in 1985. He was called to the Bar on the 16th of October, 1986 after obtaining Second class upper division from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos. At the Law School, he won the Bola Ajibola Prize for Civil Procedure.

Between 1986 and 1989, he cut his legal teeth in the law firm of Sadoh & Co. (Legal Practitioners). In March 1989 following the appointment of the former Principal Partner of Sadoh & Co., as a Judge of The Bendel State High Court he became the Managing Partner of The Firm, which then became known as Alegeh, Agun& Co.

 The Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee elevated him to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2007.

 He is a lover of the games of cricket and football. He is happily married to his lovely and amiable wife of 20 years and childhood sweetheart – Mrs. Ferishat Alegeh and blessed with children.[1]

THE INTERVIEW

We had a heart-felt discussion with the Learned Silk, who took us on an intellectual, advisory and history Journey of a Young Lawyer.

We started on an advisory boat where he took us through the island of success for our Blog, the Learned Silk advised us to limit our Blog posts to intellectual discussions, current judicial pronouncement in the country and we should help in contributing to the success of the legal profession. The Learned silk shared experiences of what he has seen other doing on various social media platform to get more viewers, likes and comments and at the end it all vanity and an errant nonsense.

We moved into the Intellectual Boat where he took us through the Island of Knowledge and a lot of issues;

ISSUE 1: SHOULD LAW BE A SECOND DEGREE?

This issue has been the topic of a long time debate among scholars, law teachers and Lawyers in Nigeria. The current administration of NBA earlier this year inaugurated a 23-Man committee to consider it worthwhile. The agenda states among others:

            ‘’Given the current size of the Legal Profession, its exponential growth in recent years in relation to the needs of the Nigerian economy, the committee will consider seeking admission to the law faculties in Nigeria to possess a degree in another discipline as a condition for admission’’

The learned silk is of the opinion that for everything we want to do we should have a reason for it, but we need to consider the cost of education in our country. He shared from the plight of families that don’t have enough money to sponsor their ward to higher institution; most families adopt the style of sending the First Born to School who after graduating will sponsor his siblings.

The learned silk further stated that the idea that law as a second degree will improve the standard of legal education is not absolutely correct, he shared from his experience of lawyers he has interviewed for job at his law firm with 2 or more degrees but yet his unable to defend the degree compared to new wigs with a single degree.

The learned skill further stated that what should be done to create a good standard in our legal education is for the Council of Legal Education to ensure a quota system is adhered to strictly and reduce the influx of students being admitted to the University faculties and the committee should monitor the educational system.

He further states that the practice of Law Teachers combining Teaching and Practice of law together is a problem to the Legal Education, because most lecturers will rather focus more on a brief that will yield a lot of money rather than spend more time in class teaching the student. The lecturers will consequently adopt the system of teaching the student enormous topics within a week in other to focus on briefs.

He further stated that until we address the various issues with our legal education system if we make it a 3^rd degree we will still have a falling standard of legal education.

He suggested that we should have a qualifying exam before candidates are admitted to the Law School. Law School should set the questions and admit only students who pass the examination. He lamented on the influx of students admitted to the law school with a poor educational background from the University and this creates further problem at the Law School.

ISSUE 2: THE LAW SCHOOL GRADING SYSTEM

With a stern look, the learned silk told us that he fought against it during his tenure as the NBA President. He stated that during his time a GPA system was adopted.

He stated that he has being asking questions on why did they change the system? , they need to give reasons for adopting this grading system which is unknown to any Jurisdiction.

The Learned silk lamented that the Deans of various Law Faculties don’t have a charts of the success rate of their students at the Bar Final, which is the reason why the grading system has not changed.

He stated that we have just one Council of Legal Education, so why do we adopt a different grading system at the University Level and another at the Law School.  He further stated that we have subjected the student to a particular cycle which the members of the Council did not go through while at the law school.

He stated that when a student fail they will tell him that he didn’t read hard because they have 29 First Class students, whereas you can have more than that but they have created a system that has made it that way. Students should not be graded on their weakness. He believes that he GPA system should be adopted.

ISSUE 3: THE POOR WELFARE OF YOUNG LAWYERS

The Learned Silk smiled and informed us that he also complained about this while he was a young lawyer. He took us through the History lane of when he was a Corp Member after being called to Bar, his experience can be best described with the song of ‘’Suffering and Smiling’’ but his main aim was to learn against all odds. He informed of us of how he had the opportunity of veering into other fields a path followed by some of his colleagues.

Who could ever believe that the learned silk once ate on credit and had to pay after being paid appearance fee for a suit? He told us he had to manage with the little he was earning and was determined in learning and getting to the top of his career.

Almost 31 years of practice of the Learned Silk, this issue still looms within the legal profession, the Learned silk informed us of how he tried his best during his tenure as the NBA President to create a minimum wage system for different states based on the Standard of Living of each states but it was not adhered to by Law Firms.

The Learned silk told us that he won’t deny the fact that some Law Firms who have the capability to pay more are not doing so. He stated that the major problem is with decline in our resource and client Base making it difficult for Law Firms to combine running of the Law Firm and paying Lawyers. He shared a personal experience of a certain period he had difficulty in paying his lawyers due to low income from the law firm, he had to pool resources from other investment.

However, he believes that a benchmark should be set for all law firms in respect of young lawyers. He further stated that a young lawyer needs to be innovative; you can spot a problem and proffer solution to it. By doing this, you can add value to your law firm then the law firm would have no other choice to adequately compensate you in a bid not to lose you.

Learned Silk Journey of Becoming a Lawyer

The Learned Silk consequently took us through the historical account of his educational background where he revealed to us that his choice of law came naturally and has nothing to neither do with his family background nor influence from any of his family members.  He had interest in Law which made it easier for him at the University Level and Law School.

He applied for law when he wanted to write Jamb, he applied to the University of Ife because there was no faculty of law in the Old Bendel. He was referred to one Professor for assistance for the admission, on getting to his office he presented his WAEC and Jamb result to him and the man was very pleased with the great result, the Professor asked him what state he was from, Learned silk told the professor he was from Bendel and the Professor threw his result at him and told him that he couldn’t be granted admission because of his state of Origin.

He didn’t gain the admission that year and decided to go for an A-Level Programme and prepared for Jamb where he later score 327 over 400 and his name was published as the Number 2. There was no argument he got the admission to study Law at UNIBEN in 1981 September and he graduated in the year 1984.He proceeded to the Law School and finished 1986 in October.

The Learned silk informed us of how he was fond of reading about Senior Lawyers; FRA Williams, Kehinde Sofolahan, GOK Ajayi through which he was able to understand legal profession and learn how they were able to manage investment and also the practice of law. These named legal luminaries were not born with Golden spoon but they were able to get to the peak of their profession through sheer hardwork and the grace of God.

Finally, we asked him how he is able to manage family and Legal Practice.

The Learned silk informed us that it impossible to manage due to our nature of profession. The solution is to have an understanding family. Our system does not gives us room to balance, he gave us example of our court system that makes it compulsory for lawyers to be seated in court at 9’0Clock knowing fully well that his matter may not be called till later in the afternoon, assuming the Lawyer was informed to come at the particular time his matter will be called, this may give him opportunity to drop his kids in school.

The learned silk further stated that one must take it upon himself to create time for the family by making extra effort of remembering important dates like birthdays, graduation date, and if you have the chance during vacation spend time with your family.

His of the opinion that as a profession we need to work out the issue of sitting court at 9’0Clock when matters won’t be called till later in the afternoon, this will help us plan our time. He suggests that when the Judge is fixing date he should also fix time on the motion paper.

CONCLUSION

The Learned silk ended the interview with a word of advice to the young lawyers. He stated that young lawyers need to join politics; our desires and policies can only be enforced if we are part of the body that makes decision. He further stated that a young lawyer should be able to spot a problem and proffer solution to it. By doing this, you can add value to your law firm. We should open our minds to the developing areas of law and gain knowledge in those areas.

                                              THE END

We at Group4 Hub believes that Life is a gift that has been given to us, as a young lawyer your life is in your hands to make the best out of it, dare to believe that you can make it. New Wigs, through the ups and downs, we all will find a lesson to learn that will make us a better person. Each experience will make us grow. Live for today and enjoy every moment.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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[1]Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/behold-man-alegeh/

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