Lawyers: An endangered specie

Saturdays, they say are for weddings, so while at a friend’s wedding this Saturday, when I introduced myself as a lawyer, I was met with, “Do you know all lawyers are liars?”, “Lawyers can change white to black”, “If you give lawyer property to manage, na so so English you go dey hear”, “What does […]

Saturdays, they say are for weddings, so while at a friend’s wedding this Saturday, when I introduced myself as a lawyer, I was met with, “Do you know all lawyers are liars?”, “Lawyers can change white to black”, “If you give lawyer property to manage, na so so English you go dey hear”, “What does it take to be a SAN?”, “Am I free to go to court and watch proceedings even if I don’t have a case?”, “Why do you call yourselves learned colleagues, are you saying we are not learned?”, “I no need lawyer because I no wan get case”, and the like.

Fortunately or unfortunately, when we were getting to know one another, someone introduced himself as a medical doctor. The next thing was, “Sir, I’m finding it difficult to sleep, what could be the problem”, “I know an HIV patient who breastfeeds her infant, is it right?”, “I don’t get malaria often and I’am AA, what do you think is the cause?”, “Sir, there’s this pain below my abdomen, what do you think it is?” and so on,  to the extent a man had to voice out his concerns about how he does not feel too comfortable when doctors examine his wife; which was the only statement I felt did not touch on the doctor’s line of work.

The reverse is the case for lawyers, instead of asking how a legal professional can be useful to the peaceful coexistence of society, Nigerians’ main concern is the fallacy they hear about lawyers, the funniest of all questions was when I was asked, “Is it true lawyers are buried upside down?”

Lawyers are becoming an endangered specie; they are daily on the streets working hard and smart to be gentlemen of noble character, patiently waiting for the brief to come not knowing that the majority of the people they expect to get the brief from do not really consider their services important to their  lives. Some religious ones do not even believe a lawyer will make heaven.

It is true that there exists a class of Nigerians i.e. the elite, influential, wealthy and some educated ones, who knows the value of a lawyer. Unfortunately, this class (10-30 per cent), does not make the majority of Nigerians know they need a lawyer. The other 70 per cent of Nigerians are okay with calling a lawyer “D Law”, “Barrister” and such names and expect him/her to always be with cash, “No be lawyer you be?”

Then I asked a lady on our table, “Do you want contract from NNPC?”, and her reply was in the affirmative, but when I told her she needed a lawyer to read through the contract to understand the contents before she signs; though at a cost, her mood changed. Kiss Daniel almost sealed the fate of his career because he entered into a contract without fully understanding the implications, yet lawyers are not considered important enough.

Most Nigerians lose documents now and then, yet they prefer to meet court touts who are not lawyers to fill affidavit forms for them than give a lawyer to represent the facts in the affidavit “properly so called”.

I do not know why the Nigerian society has this phobia that lawyers are one frightful set of beings, when in truth the working and framework of the country are laid on the foundation of law which lawyers seek to preserve by promoting the rule of law.

My experience this weekend shows that majority of Nigerians do not really appreciate their rights as enshrined in the laws of the federation, and the importance of lawyers in protecting those rights. As a result, they cannot tell when such rights are being breached. Another set of Nigerians are okay with the “fire brigade” way of doing things; that has continued to cripple our country’s growth, than follow the due legal steps of getting things done, as one will sometimes hear “to follow law na long process.”

The law is important to every society because it keeps people regulated, without law there would be chaos and anarchy, survival of the fittest will be the policy.

Lawyers are becoming an endangered specie due to the attitude of the average Nigerian towards them.

Therefore, I hope that an orientation shift will happen so that lawyers can gain their “prideful” place in the society; we have a lot to offer this country. Godspeed!

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