LEGAL PROFESSION IS TOO IMPORTANT TO BE ABANDONED TO CHARLATANS - PROFESSOR ERNEST OJUKWU, SAN

sustainable way. I am also a Member of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) Continuing Legal Education Committee.

On Accountability, Openness and Transparency- as a Member of NBA NEC, I proposed a resolution dated 26th November, 2003, “that NEC issues a Financial Regulation for the operation of the finances of the NBA.” And also, I proposed a resolution dated 3rd November, 2003 for NBA NEC to “direct the General Secretary NBA to publish on or before the 31st day of December, 2003 the list of co-opted members of NEC and Branch representatives, in accordance with Section 9(a)(iv) and (v) of the NBA Constitution.” I have a combined clean accounting for public leadership (not private law firm accounting), as past NBA Branch Secretary, past NBA Branch Chairman, past Director NBA ICLE, past Dean of Law for 5 years and Head of a Law School for 12 years.

On NBA Bar Journal, I resuscitated the journal after it was dead for ten years and as editor in-chief, I published 10 editions during the tenures of Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN and Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN. Now you can only see one edition a year, or two, if you ever see any. I will bring my experience to run a truly professional Bar Journal, and create new ones to help our specialisations and research. Professional Journal is an empowerment tool.

On Legal Education I bring a combined 28 years leadership in legal education. I was Dean of Law at the LLB where I spent 15 years as a teacher and Head of Law School and Quality Assurance Unit for 13 years. I have tested both sides deeply, and I also tested the professional side, when I set up the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and managed it for some years. I led the introduction of clinical legal education and law clinics in Nigeria. I coordinated the design of the first curriculum for the Nigerian Law School introduced in 2008, and Externship (attachment) handbooks for law students and supervisors. I was Chairman, NBA Legal Education Committee (2002-2004, 2006-2008), Chairman, NBA Academic Forum (2006-2010 & 2012-2014), Alternative Chairman, NBA Summit on the Future of Legal Education in Nigeria 2006; and Secretary, National Committee on the reform of Legal Education in Nigeria, May 2006 to February 2007. If we do not reform legal education, we would never be able to reform the legal profession. No other candidate holds this key, as I do.

On mentoring young Lawyers and working for their growth, I have been embedded with would be young Lawyers and young Lawyers, since I started law teaching at 25 years of age. I was Dean of Law at 35 years of age. I understand the problems of our young Lawyers. I have managed the only sustained mentoring law competition programme in Nigeria, for the past 10 years- As President NULAI Nigeria I have led the organisation and conduct of the university-wide client interviewing and counselling skills competitions for law students, for the past 10 years. I submitted a memorandum to the NBA Yusuf Alli, SAN Constitution Review Committee, asking that we should include Young Lawyers in our governance in the Constitution.

As Young Lawyer of 7 years at the Bar, I presented a Paper at the NBA 1991 Annual Bar Conference Owerri on the topic: “Executive Lawlessness and Judicial Helplessness in the Administration of Justice: A need to Plug Up the Holes”. In that Paper of 1991, I suggested that the Bar should be involved in the selection of Judges, that there should be multiplier increase in the salary of Judges and Magistrates, an independent funding and budgetary for the Judiciary, the appointment and control of supporting staff by the Judicial Service Commission, a special Code of Conduct for judicial officers, an Inspectorate committee for the Judiciary, a review of the system of recording in long hand. This was 27 years ago!

On the international scene and networking, I am deeply respected in the profession. Among others, I was Speaker at the IBA’s conference at Chicago 2006, and Speaker at the IBA’s conference at Boston 2013. I have been keynote speaker at international conferences in Brisbane Australia, Ghana, and at Harvard Law School’s Global Legal Education Forum.

What would be your first steps and actions, within six months of assumption of office, if you are elected?

Produce a Strategic Action Plan; Provide Welfare Policy for members; Reactivate our life insurance scheme, and start a health Insurance scheme; Activate all Standing Committees of the NBA, including the Conference Planning Committee; Reactivate all NBA Forums; Provide new Rules of Professional Conduct, Rules on minimum wage, NBA Blue Print on legal education and Curriculum; Rules of Engagement for Lawyers at the Police stations and other detention Centres of other Law Enforcement Agencies; Begin to engage with the Police and other Law Enforcement Agencies, on how to treat

Lawyers acting for clients; Reactivate the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and Human Rights Institute; Reconstitute our Zonal Ethics Committees and provide radical rules in the short run, to give real active life to our disciplinary process; Pursue an urgent amendment of our law, to allow the setting up of many adhoc disciplinary committees, as against one standing committee for the whole Nation; Provide an Ethics Curriculum for LLB; Set up Professional transition and career programmes for young Lawyers; Provide Action Plan for assisting our members with disabilities, and making all aspects of our courts and Bar offices, friendly to them; Begin to engage Government and their Agencies, on respect of rule of law, and human rights and disobedience of court orders and judgements; Begin the pursuit of amendment of the Constitution, to eliminate delayed dispute resolution in our courts, and make disobedience of court orders/judgements and abuse of human rights, high crime; Activate every State BarBench Forum; Continue the NBA advocacy on Administration of Criminal Justice Act; Set up a Court Monitoring Project on pilot basis; Provide Transparent Accounting Rules and Guidelines for NBA Governance and Spending Limits for everyone, including the President; Make our website dynamic and professional, and publish proactively, all information required under the Freedom of Information Act for openness and transparency; Fully digitalise the activities of the Bar, including payment of practicing fee; Settle all lingering NBA Branch crisis; Get elected officers, including the President to participate in as many Branch meetings as possible; Provide a full two years calendar of events for the Bar.

The NBA used to be very vocal on national issues, and even in the military era, it was the voice of the masses and downtrodden. But, over the years, it has gradually lost its voice. How do you intend to bring back those noble ideals, for which the Bar was once noted for? There are so many issues that the NBA should have taken a strong stand on, but not much was heard from the Association, for instance, Government’s seeming lack of respect for the rule of law and disobedience of court orders, incessant killings by the Herdsmen, invasion of the Rivers State High Court by political hoodlums and so on. As leader of the Association, I will speak out promptly on issues of national interest. To speak for the Bar effectively, the leader must be honest, genuine and courageous. I will be honest and genuine. On courage to speak out for the Bar, I have gone public with my views in the past, on issues of national interest. I have also spoken out to the NBA leadership. I spoke out against the DSS raid on Judges in Thisday in 2016 titled “DSS Raid on Judges: A Path to Hell”; I have spoken out against police molestation and harassment of Lawyers doing their professional duties, against high cost of conference fees, on the appointment of incompetent persons to the Bench, on discipline of Judges, on disobedience of court orders and judgements, etc. They are all in the public domain.

What plans do you have, to improve the lot of the young Lawyers?

I shall focus on capacity building and Job creation. Our primary and principal goal, shall be the growth of our young Lawyers; We shall activate massive, active and sustainable transition programmes such as Career Counselling, Capstones, Immersion and Incubator programmes; Capacity/technical and financial support for developing solo and peer partnership practices for young Lawyers; Placements on institutional and professional mentoring programmes, sharing on opportunities for further education, training, scholarships and resources. The Bar will drive an organised mentoring programme, where volunteer mentors will be identified, and mentees formally placed with mentors. There will be training opportunities for mentors and mentees on the mentor-mentee relationship; Establish a strong job placement unit, for advising and helping place new intakes and young Lawyers in employment. Continually identify and keep data base of unemployed or under employed young Lawyers, and continually work on job placements with public and private institutions/organisations. None exist now; Prescription and active enforcement of minimum wage in private law firms, through law/rule of professional conduct. The proposed Legal Profession Regulation Act makes provision for the prescription of minimum wage by the Legal Profession Regulation Council of Nigeria. A minimum wage regime would be zoned & categorised. Minimum wage addresses the dignity of the Lawyer and the legal profession. A reasonable minimum wage for a professional trained for 6 years to be a Lawyer, is a fundamental issue of professionalism for the Bar. We shall address the issue, through the Rules of Professional Conduct. When I inserted stamp and seal through the Rules of Professional Conduct, very few persons gave its enforceability a chance. I will do it again with minimum wage. In 2002-2004, the Bar prescribed minimum wages in zones. The only thing that did not happen, was its enforceability. Enforcement of a minimum wage, is a win-win situation for all members and the profession. Employer and employee will benefit, and so will the profession; Radical protection and respect of young Lawyers, as Nigerians deserving of their fundamental rights to dignity in our law firms. For example, we shall provide regulations that make it misconduct for any Lawyer to be engaged in employment or association or partnership, without a written contract; Institutional protection of our young Lawyers from sexual abuse and other molestations and abuses, in our law firms and other organisations, agencies and institutions, whether private or public; Provide a professional and responsive complaints/help support desk/unit at NBA Offices; Reset, institutionalise, and support a sustainable and very active Young Lawyers Forum that is autonomous, inclusive and democratic. Set a new Bar for the Forum, that captures clear goals and objectives designed for the growth of members of Young Lawyers Forum, and as an engine house for the larger Bar. As at today, no goal or objective is written for the Young Lawyers’ Forum; Provide free CLE training programmes for young Lawyers.

What role will you play in sanitising the legal profession?

My initial focus, shall be to fight indiscipline and corruption in the Bar, and progressively face the Court registries and the Bench. We shall focus on raising ethics and standards, at the highest level. It is only by housecleaning, shall we be able to legitimately deal with the cankerworm in the larger nation. Corruption within the legal profession, has created deep distrust in our citizens, and the casualty is the Lawyers’ job.

My actions will include: Pursue with vigour the enactment of the Legal Services Commission Bill pending in the National Assembly, in order to give stronger impetus to our disciplinary process. Under this Bill, the disciplinary process has been taken away from the Association, and placed in the hands of an independent organ whose tenure and autonomy shall not be affected by changes in the leadership of the NBA; Conduct very vigorous investigations relating to discipline; Pursue with vigour the reform of our law to permit the establishment of adhoc multi-disciplinary committees, sitting at different locations of the country at the same time; In the interim we shall reactivate NBA Zonal investigation committees populated by only persons of impeccable integrity and those committed to helping to achieve the goal of “Setting a new Bar”; Get the Bar Council to enact a new Rules of Professional Conduct, before the end of the last quarter of 2018; Present an NBA ethics education blueprint and curriculum, and insist that ethics education be made compulsory in our LLB education; Conduct ethics training workshops for Nigerian law teachers; Reactivate the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, which I set up for the Bar in 2007. The ICLE Rules of 29th June, 2008, makes ethics and professional responsibility 4-credits CLE in a reporting period. We shall conduct free ethics workshops for members; We shall not allow corrupt and undisciplined Lawyers, to continue to thrive. There will be no hiding place for them, no matter how highly placed; We shall make our anti-corruption Commission, come alive; Organise ethics based competitions for young Lawyers, and for law students. We shall institute an active Court monitoring programme, all over the Country. The Bar shall observe with active programmes, December 9th of every year, as anti-corruption day, in line with international declarations; We shall encourage and support network of Lawyers and other civil society groups, on anti-corruption and work for anti-corruption in the Nation’s life, but we shall start vigorously with our profession.

We wish you the best of luck in the election.

“I WILL GIVE FREE DIGITAL STAMPS, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW ONLY THE PRINTER EXPLOITS OUR MEMBERS, AS THE NBA MAKES NO GAIN FROM STAMPS; I WILL RUN ANNUAL CONFERENCES OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARD WITHOUT HIGH FEES”