By
Ayuk Kure
It is quite well established that the responsibility of building any nation is not one any individual or government can effectively or successfully shoulder single-handedly. There must be a concert of efforts on the part of the key stakeholders and key decision makers before any sustainable development can be achieved. At the just concluded National Security Summit organized by the National Assembly, the Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki stated very lucidly: “To the Executive, I say this: you cannot do it alone. We need all hands on deck. No one person, organisation or arm of government can single-handedly tackle the hydra-headed monster of insecurity in Nigeria”. Although the distinguished Senator spoke in relation to the insecurity situation of the country, the statement holds true even for evolving the Nigeria of our dream –no person, organization or government can build Nigeria alone!
A stroll down memory lane will buttress this point even further. During the reign of the British Colonialists, particularly the period immediately preceding Nigeria’s independence, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and other revered Nationalists fought valiantly to ensure the colonial administrators handed over power in 1960. Clearly, the fight for Nigeria’s independence was not a one-man affair; hence we should not expect the struggle to build it and set it on the path of progress to be a one-man business. This goes to say that, if Nigeria must develop and achieve any meaningful progress as we hope, the stakeholders (i.e. the government; the youths, the legal profession and all other key players/sectors of the nation) must play their roles and play it very well.
The legal profession no doubt plays a pivotal role in the advancement of the country. Aside the fact that the profession generally prepares lawyers to handle knotty issues on behalf of clients, the profession also develops lawyers’ cognitive ability for effective leadership and evocative contribution to governmental matters. Rennard Strickland & Frank T. Read highlighted and stated very correctly in their book ‘The Lawyer Myth’ that, “At the most pragmatic level, lawyers are society’s professional problem solvers. Lawyers are called upon to make distinctions, to explain how and why cases or experiences are alike or different. Lawyers are expected to restore equilibrium, to be balancers. Every discipline, every profession, every job, and every calling has a cutting edge. At that cutting edge, lines are drawn. Lawyers and Judges are society’s ultimate line drawers…”
This being the case, young lawyers must wake up to the responsibility of nation building which hang heavy on their shoulders. They must rise up to contribute their quota to bringing about the future we all long to see else they should never complain of the pitiable state of the nation. So the question must needs be asked: what critical roles can young lawyers play to evolve the Nigeria of our dream? In my view, the roles are four and they include but are not limited to the following:
1. Innovation
The legal profession in Nigeria is still very crude as technology has not been fully embraced. This is perhaps because no one has offered a way out or a better option to the manual system currently in place.
Undoubtedly, no outsider can solve our problems better than ourselves. They often say that, “It is he that wears the shoe that knows where it pinches”. Thus, it is he that knows where it pinches that knows where to scratch. In a nutshell, young lawyers must begin to innovate to solve the peculiar problems which the profession faces, and the country at large. For instance, the profession still battles with the problem of filing and serving court processes by manual means and at the moment there isn’t any online platform where all decided cases, statutes (federal and state), bye laws, regulations, conventions etc can be easily accessible like in a one-stop shop. Young lawyers must therefore break out of conservative thinking to providing creative solutions to these problems.
2. Participation
25 out of the 45 Presidents of the United States of America have been lawyers (Franklin D. Roosevelt et al). This shows the active roles lawyers have played and continue to play in US politics. They understand that change does not come by sitting in the seat of spectators but by stepping into the pitch and making a contribution. In the same vein, if we are ever going to evolve the Nigeria of our dreams, young lawyers must take part in governance or at least in such other activities which constitute political participation. With the passage of the “Not Too Young To Run" Bill in most states of the federation, there is no doubt that a robust legal framework now exists for young lawyers to participate in governance and bring forward their creative solutions to the nation’s problems.
3. Activism
Also, young lawyers must rise up to act as watch dogs on those in power. And this must go beyond mere social media activism to creating avenues for appraising the government's performance or setting up organisations to foster good governance and promote sustainable development.
4. Contribution
John F. Kennedy once said: “ask not what your country can do for you –ask what you can do for your country”. The era of “me, myself and I” has long passed. Anyone who wants to leave his or her footprints on the shores of the legal profession must think people oriented thoughts as those who have made stupendous wealth and achieved mind blowing successes have been people who thought of the value they can add to other peoples’ lives. Similarly, young lawyers must look beside themselves and begin to think of what contribution thy can make to the evolution of law or what value they can add to other people’s lives. They must identify what areas of the law they have a passion for and begin to pursue a career in those areas so as acquire sufficient knowledge and skill that will position them to make a contribution to the nation. There is no doctor with specialization in all fields of medicine. Likewise, we should not have lawyers who practice ‘multipuposely’. Multipurpose lawyers will of course make money but that would be it. They would hardly ever make any impact or any contribution to evolution of law.
In conclusion, the foregoing roles are mutually exclusive –they can be played one role at a time until our dream comes true. The idea is not to be found not doing anything at any point in time.
Photo credit: vaids.gov.ng
Comments