By Dele Adesina SAN

In the opening part of this keynote delivered at the Nigerian Bar Association, Gombe Branch Law Week, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dele Adesina reflects on the enduring ideals of law, justice and the rule of law. He reminds lawyers of their historic responsibility as defenders of society and asks whether Nigeria’s legal profession and justice system still live up to that noble calling.

It is a great Honour and privilege for me to be invited to this year’s Annual Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association, Gombe Branch to deliver this Keynote Address. I wish to say with all sense of responsibility that I run a purpose-driven life. I hardly do anything without a reason or purpose. I accepted this invitation without any hesitation despite my very tight schedule in order to demonstrate my gratitude to a people of value, principle, honesty and integrity from this branch with whom I have become good, reliable and sustainable friends. The most important thing in life is the pursuit of purpose that will glorify God and edify humanity.

The Law Week promises to render a sumptuous meal, knowledge-wise, to the attendees both as individuals and as a group. If we will dare to put the knowledge we will acquire into work, we will bring about a change in our Profession and indeed in our Nation. Knowledge is power. What you know illuminates your life but what you do decorates and changes your life. The more you do what you know, the more you are transformed and experience changes from one level to another.

THE THEME OF THE LAW WEEK

I have said over and over again that the Nigerian Bar Association has the power and capacity to reconstruct this Nation. A painstaking review of the role and activities of the Nigerian Bar Association in the past will confirm this assertion. However, events of recent have shown that we have to reconstruct the Bar first.

The theme of the Law Week is “Strengthening Justice Through Reforms: Lawyers as Agents of Change.”

Strength is the physical or moral capacity to exert force or endure pressure. It is the state of being strong by reason of influence and authority. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines the word strength to mean:

“The ability that something has to resist force or hold heavy weight without breaking or being damaged. The quality of being brave and determined in a difficult situation. The power and influence that something or somebody has.”

Strengthening justice through reforms therefore can be interpreted to mean making justice strong and irresistible to external influence or intimidation to the extent that it can resist any force to bend it and be brave and determined enough to stand sure against any difficult situation.

Quare! How much resistance can our justice system put up today? How much trust and confidence do Nigerians still have in our justice system today? What about the Courts? Today, we hear all manner of unprintable criticisms against our Courts.

What about us, the Legal Practitioners? How many of us are still holding high the banner of ethical standards of the Profession? How many of us are, in word and deed, still committed to strict obedience to the Rules of Professional Conduct? How many Legal Practitioners, in word, actions and practice, still demonstrate that they belong to the noble and honourable Profession?

Words alone are not enough. The Scripture says that “by their fruits we shall know them.” In other words, action speaks louder than voice. I will come back to this later.

The theme of the Law Week, I submit, is heavily pregnant. You do not strengthen what is already strong. It is that which is weak and fragile that you need to strengthen, and you have purposed that the strength can only be supplied through reforms. You have also focused on the Lawyers as those who should shoulder the responsibility of that reform. This idea is timely, appropriate and commendable.

In the immortal words of Sapara Williams, the first Lawyer in this Country:

“A lawyer lives for the direction of his people and the advancement of the cause of his Country.”

Also, Hon. Justice I.C. Pat-Acholonu, JSC, of blessed memory once said:

“The aphorism that a Lawyer is necessarily a learned man that can be relied upon or entrusted to be in firm grip of some other disciplines is not a thing of the past… The Lawyer of the 21st Century should be astute enough to defend the rights of man. The rights are fundamental because they were not given by men but by God. It is the duty of Lawyers to watch the observance of these rights with eagle eyes. Therefore, it is evident that a modern Lawyer should be everything to everybody.”

An erudite Legal Practitioner and leader of the Bar, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, OFR, while addressing Lawyers at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual Conference held in Enugu in 2003, had this to say:

“Lawyers by virtue of their calling are looked upon by the larger society sometimes for rescue operations when the society is in dire straits.”

I was the General Secretary of the Bar at that material time.

THE TOPIC

The topic of my paper is “Law, Justice and Rule of Law; Case for Constitutional, Structural and Attitudinal Transformation.”

Again, this topic presupposes that we are not where we should be in the administration of justice in our Country. You do not reform a system that is working and functioning perfectly well. You only reform institutions and structures that are of limited or inadequate performance, and attitudes that fall short of expectations.

A clear-minded individual, both Lawyers and non-Lawyers, will know that the challenges facing our justice system are not only many but multidimensional. They are both institutional, structural and attitudinal, as the topic has stated.

But let me give a word of comfort.

Yes, there are challenges, and I dare say the challenges are real, but that there are solutions to the challenges is much more real.

Please note that there is no problem without a solution just as there is no question without an answer.

The first step towards success in life is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you live or the situation you find yourself. To be a captive, of course, is to do nothing and resign yourself to fate when things seem to be going wrong around you.

Many people want a better tomorrow without any attempt to do anything about it today, forgetting that tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

Knowing my audience as I do, I will not dwell much on definitions, but it is important that I give a little contextual meaning of the key words of the topic for the sake of proper focus and attention.

LAW

Talking about Law, Professor Bambo Adewopo, SAN, of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies had this to say:

“The law and its practice has remained one of the foundations of a civilized and progressive society. Law is the significant life-wire for maintaining societal equilibrium and social justice. Law is the foremost steward of Nigeria’s constitutional and political history as a corporate entity. The Legal Profession has remained at the vanguard of that history, playing important roles at every junction without doubt. Law and its practice are therefore the indispensable drivers and levers of development.”

JUSTICE

The word Justice is defined by Black’s Law Dictionary to mean:

“The fair and proper administration of laws.”

It further describes different dimensions of justice such as personal justice, popular justice, positive justice, social justice and substantial justice.

In Ejide v. Kelani, Hon. Justice Oputa, JSC, stated:

“Justice is much more than the game of hide and seek; it is an attempt, our human imperfection notwithstanding, to discover the truth.”

Today in Nigeria, some Lawyers, under the pretext of forensic advocacy, will do anything to hide or distort the truth. I will return to this later when dealing with the attitude of Counsel.

In my book The Force of Justice, a collection of essays in honour of Hon. Justice George Oguntade, JSC, CON, edited by me in 2013, I wrote:

“The overriding and pre-eminent position Justice occupies in the affairs of men cannot be overemphasized. It is said that while a Nation can endure unbelief, no Nation can endure injustice…”

The Supreme Court, through Justices Nikki Tobi, Belgore and Oputa, repeatedly emphasized that justice must prevail over technicality, procedure must serve justice, and the spirit of justice does not reside in formalities or technicalities.

The above powerful judicial pronouncements demonstrate the commitment that once characterized our courts. Can we honestly compare those convictions with what we are witnessing today?

THE RULE OF LAW

The Rule of Law, in its simplest understanding, demands that the affairs of society be governed by law rather than arbitrary power.

The greatest modern exponent of the Rule of Law, Professor A. V. Dicey, defined it as the absolute supremacy of regular law, equality before the law and the subjection of every authority to the ordinary courts.

The Supreme Court decision in Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu remains perhaps Nigeria’s greatest judicial exposition of the Rule of Law.

Justice Oputa, JSC, reminded us that:

• The State is subject to law. 
• The Judiciary is indispensable to the Rule of Law. 
• Government must respect citizens’ rights. 
• The Judiciary is constitutionally empowered to determine disputes involving government and citizens. 

Justice Obaseki, JSC, further affirmed that the Constitution is founded upon the Rule of Law and that the Judiciary cannot shirk its sacred responsibility to uphold it.

Rule of Law therefore rejects arbitrariness, authoritarianism and government by force. Everything must be done according to law.

STANDARD EXPECTATION OF THE SOCIETY FROM LAWYERS

Society has always expected far more from Lawyers than mere technical competence.

In NBA v. Monye, the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee observed:

“A legal practitioner’s responsibility is that he stands as a shield in defence of a right and wards off wrong.”

Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, OFR, upon assuming office as NBA President in 2002, declared that the legal profession must become:

• the champion of Nigeria’s renaissance; 
• the avenger of the people’s hope; 
• the repository of public trust; 
• the defender of democracy rooted in the Rule of Law. 

In another paper, I stated:

“It is expected of us as lawyers to put the government of the day on its toes, commend it where necessary and condemn it where appropriate. We are to defend the defenseless, protect constitutional rights and stand against oppression.”

Kenneth Kaunda equally reminded African lawyers that they must become active participants in national development rather than mere courtroom professionals.

My Lords and Distinguished Colleagues, I have spent the last few minutes highlighting the noble traditions of our profession, the commitment of our great judicial icons to justice, and the lofty expectations society places upon us.

The question therefore is simple but unavoidable:

Can we honestly stand before the Nigerian people today and say that, as individual lawyers and as a profession, we are still living up to these ideals?

— End of Part One —

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