So….. about 1,500 New Lawyers were sworn in as members of the Bar yesterday or was it today? I didn’t even know until I read Afam Osigwe’s post congratulating the “Newest Members of the Bar” a couple of hours ago. I join him in Congratulating the “new members of the Bar” even as I wonder how many of them would learn from their Seniors, to be Noble, be of good character, and practice Law with Professionalism and Ethics.
I attended a few NBA meetings on my return to Nigeria about a decade ago and determined that it was best that I maintain minimum relations with the Organisation because I know my temperament and know that if I continued meeting with some of the Characters leading or at the meetings, i would say something “unbefitting” of a Lawyer to some of the NBA “presiding officers” or “Executives”.
That explains to those who feel or wonder why I don’t take the Nigerian Bar Association and their politics as seriously as some of my colleagues do, why I am not an “active” member of the NBA even as a “Senior Lawyer” called to the Bar in 1989. I realised that the NBA and Judiciary in Nigeria are endemically corrupt, deep-seethed in corruption from Top to Bottom, and filled with too many hypocrites it’s nauseating.
I looked up to and was inspired by some of Nigeria’s finest Lawyers even before i became a Law Student at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus in 1985. I admired the brilliance and carriage of J.H.C. Okolo S.A.N., Andrew Anyamene S.A.N., Chief Rotimi Williams S.A.N., Sir Clement Akpamgbo S.A.N., Chief G.C.M. Onyiuke S.A.N., Gani Fawehinmi S.A.N., Chief G. Ajayi S.A.N., and others of their ilk who brought prestige to their practice of Law.
It is true that many Lawyers in practise today don’t consider Legal practise as the Profession of Gentlemen and Ladies who place high Premium on integrity but as a hustle, some have the dog eat dog mentality of Cassino/Gambling Dons and not many or enough “Senior Lawyers” are leading the “Junior Lawyers”.
If you know about the corruption in the NBA Elections, the Hustle for offices which are not unlike that of politicians contesting elections, the bribing of Lawyers for votes, and pulling of the same shenanigans politicians pull to get ahead, you would feel as disenchanted as I am that the once Prestigious Nigerian Bar Association has been turned into a Club of wannabes and has been many of who are unscrupulous and bereft of integrity and shame.
My older friend/brother Prof. Chidi Odinkalu has been writing and lecturing on the appalling standards and corruption in the NBA in particular and the Judiciary in general for several years now. We extensively discussed Wole Olanipekun’s matter yesterday and I’d ask his permission to share his thoughts but for now, what you are reading are my sentiments and thoughts.
I very rarely comment on the seedy, very shameful, and morbidly embarrassing goings-on in the NBA, how shameless SOME so-called Senior Lawyers or Senior Advocates of Nigeria are, and their seemingly being in competition with SOME members of the Body of Benchers, the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee and SOME Judges to be more degenerate in their corruption.
This Wole Olanipekun’s matter is only being discussed because we live in a godforsaken Country called Nigeria. In Ghana next door, Wole Olanipekun wouldn’t be asked or written to before he resigns. It’s only in a shithole Country like Nigeria where there’s been a death of outrage that the mess will exist and rather than clean it up by insisting on doing what’s right, some argue as if some people who infringe the Rules of Professional Ethics either as Lawyers or Judges are above Norms, Rules and Laws should be cut slack which “ordinary Lawyers” don’t get if or when in similar situations with the “Big Wigs”.
As you are aware, in Nigeria’s Politics, almost everyone who’s properly connected literally gets away with murder. There’s no consequence for anything no matter how grave and because there’s been a dearth of outrage here, we have President Muhammadu Buhari still President of Nigeria and his “Service Chiefs” and the likes of Pantami, Godswill Akpabio, Godwin Emefiele hold their high offices and Tinubu and Atiku are vying to be President in spite of egregious their offences, their high Crimes and Misdemeanours against the Nigerian state and people.
Anathema happens in Nigeria and the perpetrators aren’t even interrogated in most cases and the rationalisation for their continuing to hold their offices is that “they have not been convicted by competent courts” and as such should be presumed innocent until pronounced as Guilty by the Courts.
Interestingly, it’s Lawyers, particularly the Senior Advocates of Nigeria arguing cases for politicians who lead on their fake advocacy for “Equality of all under the Law” when they are trying to bring down adversaries to the people who hire them but they, the Lawyers, the Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the Judges want different standards for themselves. They feel entitled to deference because they feel, just as the politicians feel that Nigeria is a Farm akin to George Orwell’s Animal Farm in which all Animals are said to be Equal BUT some Animals are more equal than others.
I am so disgusted with the Wole Olanipekun’s case that you don’t even know. For those not in the know of details of the matter, the gravamen, the thrust of the case is that an Associate in Wole Olanipekun’s Law Firm wrote a very solicitous letter to a client who already had a Lawyer suggesting albeit subtly, a debriefing of the Client’s Lawyer and suggesting that her Boss (Wole Olanipekun) was well connected and would help the client with “facilitation” of things using his government and other contacts to ensure that the Client’s matter was sorted.
Now, I’ve read the Letter and can tell you that it was Tarky as if from a hustler pretending to be “formal” and my sense or strong hunch is that such a letter couldn’t have been written without Wole’s knowledge, approval or blessing. I doubt that the woman would summon the gumption to write as confidently as she did if she didn’t know or believe for her reasons that Wole wouldn’t object even if he didn’t authorise the writing.
If it’s argued that Wole Olanipekun neither knew nor approved or authorised the despatch of the Letter, then Wole ought to lead Lawyers by example by recusing himself from the Committee he Chairs that’s supposed to investigate and act on the matter.
Any other Lawyer who’s not of Wole’s Profile, Clout or Stature who writes that kind of letter would be sanctioned by the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee.
It’s therefore amazing to me that a Lawyer as Senior and elevated at the Bar as Wole has not just refused thus far to recuse himself from the Committee he Chairs to which a formal complaint/petition AGAINST HIS LAW FIRM has been written by the NBA through It’s President Barrister Olumide Akpata, but Olanipekun has been feisty and has himself and through surrogates and agents, been throwing Tantrums against the Petition rather than allowing investigations to proceed without him presiding as Chairman.
It’s a no-brainer and yes, Lawyers are taught in first Year Law Classes at Universities that a man cannot/shouldn’t be a Judge in his own matter or one in which he has an interest or which concerns someone or people he has familial or other affinity with. Wole Olanipekun asks Judges to recuse themselves from presiding over cases in which they have interests or he (Wole) thinks that they would have biases predicated on one thing or another so it’s very annoying that he feels there should be discussions or maybe negotiations before he does what he preaches. All the talk about Wole reading about the petition in the media before he read the petition served at his office is a mischievous distraction from the subject which is basically about the Ethical and Professional misconduct of an Associate in his Law Firm who basically pointed to him as a “Fixer”.
A Judgment of the Supreme Court of America leaked last month sometime. There were expressions of outrage at that but hey, it’s not difficult to understand that especially with information known to many people (Secretaries, Photocopiers, Mail Courier companies, and aides) with divergent sentiments and proclivities, there could be leaks. The Supreme Court of America 🇺🇸 went ahead to deliver Judgment on the Roe v Wade challenge notwithstanding the fact that the draft was leaked so why would Wole Olanipekun latch onto the feeble, the lame argument that he read about the petition in the media before he read his copy at the office as if that removes from the merit of the petition?
My view is that no matter how commendable some things attributable to Wole Olanipekun S.A.N. may be, he shouldn’t be afforded courtesies that I Obi Jideofor Iwuchukwu Esq or any other ordinary Lawyer wouldn’t be, period.
I don’t understand and yes, I don’t like deference given to people because of their so-called “contributions to society or organisations”. I fervently believe that if for instance, the British Prime Minister was compelled to resign NOT over the Covid-19 shut down parties at Downing Street but because he LIED about knowing about them and other Prime Ministers and American Presidents like Bill Clinton can be PUBLICLY EMBARRASSED for things that seem or are common in Nigeria and we want to migrate as a people from our (as far as I am concerned, retrogressive) paths to emancipated ways, we must of necessity, start by considering and treating each and every one of us as EQUALS UNDER THE LAW without considering anyone’s so-called “contributions” to organisations or the society at large.
That’s my view.
Thanks……Obi J. Iwuchukwu Esq. July 27, 2022.
