2014 at a glance!

A lot has happened in the legal world this 2014; the nation changed its head of the judicial arm of government from the first female occupant of the prestigious and learned office who chaired it with due diligence, talking about a ‘jurist’ in the profession, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar ‘the star of many first’ to […]

A lot has happened in the legal world this 2014; the nation changed its head of the judicial arm of government from the first female occupant of the prestigious and learned office who chaired it with due diligence, talking about a ‘jurist’ in the profession, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar ‘the star of many first’ to Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed who was sworn in on the 20th day of November, 2014.
 In the words of an online reporter, “He has been described as a gentleman and an intelligent man, who understands the law, applies it as it is and not given to emotions.”  In simple terms, the right man for the job.
The change of leadership was not only in the Bench, the Bar also changed her baton of leadership from one learned silk, Okey Wali {SAN} to another, Agustine Alegeh {SAN}, in an election conducted at Abuja earlier in the year.  Witnessing the event as a young wig and also as a delegate from Kaduna branch really influenced my perception of the profession greatly. The president of NBA in his inaugural speech promised to address issues like e-voting, Bar practising fees, specialised financial products to lawyers in the form of loans, digitalisation of our courts, quacks in the profession, financial autonomy for the judiciary, just to name a few and assured members of the Bar that the association is in good hands with the 2014-2016 national officers. May the Almighty grant you the wisdom required to succeed.
Not forgetting the Nigerian Bar Association’s 54th Annual General Conference held at the beautiful city of Owerri, where ‘our governor, our governor’ as a good host gave a lawyer one million naira {N1,000,000.00}  for a good dance performance.
The Young Lawyers Forum was not without her own fare of change; the governing council of the forum changed leadership from the able hands of Paul Daudu Esq to Barbara Omoosun Esq, who was the past publicity secretary, showing the council has plans of continuing her good projects carried out thus far. Young wigs are expecting an exciting experience this coming year; can’t wait for another networking opportunity the young lawyers annual summit presents each year.
It is understood why some young wigs don’t pay attention to the activities of NBA, sometimes the experiences one faces as a young lawyer in the legal profession are not encouraging, such that one wonders if our welfare is considered as it should.  But truth be said, there is a lot to gain in the legal profession aside from money – the knowledge and growth counts, except if a young wig is okay with being stagnant in the profession, the choice is yours to make.
A young wig reading this article just smiled and said this writer does not know what he is saying.
Last week a young wig asked if he must be employed in a big law firm to be able to make it in the legal profession? Paraphrasing the words of Abraham Lincoln of blessed memory, all a lawyer needs to be successful is a library, a desk and a typewriter {in the modern world ‘computer’}, trust me, this writer knows what he is saying.
The year 2014 has come to an end despite the ups and downs, smiles and tears, births and deaths; and another year is just around the corner to make things better than they are. A young wig who has plans of making 2015 better than 2014 {God giving us life}, should assess his overall performance and discover areas that need improvement to make one a better lawyer.
Things don’t always go as we plan, nevertheless “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You are doing things you’ve never done before, more importantly, you are doing something,” Neil Gaiman.
The same applies to young lawyers in the profession, keep climbing the ladder no matter what, and enter this New Year not looking for flaws but potential.

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