An endangered specie By Daniel Bulusson – TheNigerialawyer

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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