Reasons there are no Senior Advocates of Nigeria from Ebonyi State:
A lawyer gets to the apex of law practice in Nigeria when he or she attains the height of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Every practising lawyer wishes to get to that height. Unfortunately, Ebonyi State is yet to produce any indigenous SAN. The only one produced, Professor Omari Omaka is subject to scrutiny as purveyed by lawyers and teachers. So, I don’t count him as a SAN.
It’s unfortunate that an entire state doesn’t have an SAN. I researched and found out that the following caused it:
1. Politics: the rate at which our lawyers involve themselves in party politics is alarming. Instead of pursuing the pinnacle of legal practice, they pursue political offices thereby creating a vacuum in the legal system. Almost 80% of the lawyers in this state are actively involved in petty party politics, lining up for crumbs.
2. How many Ebonyi people pursue their cases up to the Appeal Court let alone Supreme Court? Lack of money to pursue cases by clients is one of the reasons we don’t have SANs in the state.
3. Indiscipline among a good number of the lawyers here. A good number of them are more interested in the paltry sums than winning the substantive cases. Once the money comes in, everything goes, dumping the clients to fate. Some of them in order to get quick money align with the other party thereby stepping down their prospects to win the cases. They don’t know how to manage hunger.
4. Poverty: a desperate poor person casts integrity to the wind. In the entire state, only one lawyer, Roy Umahi has a qualifying law chamber structure which we know was possible because his immediate younger brother was governor. His chamber meets the structural requirement of getting SANship. Others are squatting in rented apartments and kiosks. This is so due to poverty. To meet up, they have moved into land agency and house rentage, thereby making cost of shelter in Abakaliki unimaginable.
5. Lack of confidence and drive to practise: one must not be resident in Abakaliki practising law. Their staying in Abakaliki where there’s no population and sufficient human economy to propel law practice is another problem. This leads to condescension because there’s survival rivalry that ought not to be if one has high self-esteem and confidence in their legal intellect. Why not leave Abakaliki and travel to where there are opportunities to prosper in the profession?
Solutions:
1. Those who want to practise law should give active party politicking an arms length. One can’t pursue two principal things at the same time. Focus on the practice and not politics and crumbs from Government House. If you have interest in politics, that can come later. Practise law how it’s meant to be practised. Leave politics at the early stage of your law practice.
2. Forget about fetching crumbs from clients first and foremost. Learn to manage hunger and lack. Target the cases and not the paltry sums coming therefrom. Be disciplined. The real money comes when one is able to get to the acme of one’s profession. Say no to that spirit of picking crumbs and frustrating clients. Referrals make the difference. If you are recommendable, you are headed somewhere great.
3. Travel out and join others in the practice of the profession since there’s limited prospect in the jurisprudence industry in the state. Go out and socialize. Hustle like a determined man. Don’t limit yourself to undertaking cases of two fighting, cassava theft and suchlike. Dare strong cases. You must not win. Losing is part of experience.
4. Be determined if truly you want to practise law. You can use your money and pursue a client’s case in courts knowing that you are targeting SANship. Don’t be stingy to yourself. When you win a case for a client, you are even benefitting more than such a client because, it’ll attract other clients and take you to the apogee of the profession. If you must do politics somehow, always target erection of a magnificent chamber that can establish your journey into SANship. Let not the allure of politics swallow the height you ought to attain in the profession.
I’m not a lawyer, but as someone trying his best to make a name in his own field, I know what it entails to prosper or recede in a given profession. Everything is achievable when one shows dedication and altruism, taking the risks and persevering. No height doesn’t come with its challenges. It is your tenacity in managing the challenges that’ll spell you out to spotlight. Ebonyi should produce Senior Advocates of Nigeria! It’s high time it’s achieved. Leave politics at the early stage of your profession, Ebonyi lawyers! Leave students union politics for students. Practise your profession with all the might you have. Doing this doesn’t benefit you alone, but everyone known and unknown within your society.
Sources: nwoba Chika nwoba
