04/11/2014
PROSPECTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY NIGERIAN LAWYER
Article by: Jesse Shindang Esq
INTRODUCTION
In a world increasingly knit together by trade and communications technology, it seems ever more unlikely that the single nation-state can on its own successfully handle the universal enemies of crime, poverty, hunger, disease, natural disaster, and war or other violence. In such times as we currently live, both individually as lawyers, and collectively as an association of lawyers, and again as a society in general, have roles to play in developing the Nigerian economy. Near a hundred years after Nigeria was created, our very existence as a nation is under terror threat, piracy activities, corruption, oil bunkering activities, and abuse of power. The increase in unemployment, underdevelopment, poverty, and social vices has resulted in the prevailing sense of insecurity in the country, whether as individuals or as a nation. Indeed the time has come for wholesale and profound change, in one direction or the other. From the basic and essential facilities of a healthy standard of living; from land use and agriculture, to housing and healthcare, to education and the justice system, to the emerging dynamics of a 21st century society, IT and intellectual property, to security, practically all facets of life in Nigeria today are crying out for change.
ROLE OF LAWYERS
As with leaders, lawyers frame grievances and formulate ideologies, debate with opponents, interface with media, write, devise strategies, and engage in dialogue with internal and external elites. Also, due to the training received, and further by everyday practice, lawyers are already constituted with knowledge of human behaviour and action. Our work and training is client-centred.
Lawyers may also play a role in formulating deliberate strategies to organize people, to mobilize groups with shared interests towards forging social movements. Outside the profession, lawyers with a cause already head many civil society organizations. As lawyers the cause of these organizations can be advance by enabling them to meet, raise funds, speak and act by offering targets and arenas for action. Litigation is gradually being muffled while Alternative Dispute resolution is encouraged in our courts today.
The 21st century Nigerian lawyer is one who is adequately armed with the workable knowledge of relevant laws to aid his practice; such aimed at boosting clientele confidence and experience. Each and every lawyer is a leader in his own right simply by virtue of being a lawyer.
The Nigerian Bar Association, as with any professional body, is set up to further, firstly, the interests of the legal profession, secondly, the interests of individual members engaged in the profession, and finally, the public interest. The talents commonly displayed by lawyers and their training place the legally trained at a comparative advantage for leadership roles towards social change especially in this dispensation.
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Currently, the new and emerging trend of globalisation has continued to pervade world economies posing a seeming need for an upgrade. Issues bordering on Power generation, the globalization of markets, business, litigation, arbitration, cyber-crime, electronic commerce, intellectual property, information manipulation and sharing, International political diplomacy and insecurity are coming to the fore in most world economies and Nigeria howbeit is not left out. Most of these aforementioned challenges are areas where a lawyer can hinge his/her practice on, with an aim to encourage the development of law in that aspect as well as enlightening the populace as a whole.
PROSPECTS
The curriculum at most law schools, including the Nigerian law School, are compact and well-rounded so as to build the lawyer to face certain challenges emanating from the society. Needless to say that law schools fashion their curriculum after the existent laws and societal peculiarities available. As 21st century lawyers, there is more burden for self-development. This is in view of changing systems and evolving laws. For example, the recent o**y of terrorism and the spate of kidnap cases, has led the Nigerian National Assembly sign into law the Terrorism prevention Act, 2011. Also, recently, the Cyber Crime Act 2013 which is still in progress seeks to curb criminal manipulation of information technology in Nigeria, to mention a few.
A Nigerian lawyer must be creative. Creativity emerges from unique position of the Nigerian law school as a bridge between theory and practice, between law and justice, between ideals and needs.
The world is gradually becoming a unified global village with access to information and technology. Therefore for a legal practitioner in Nigeria to come up to speed with such modern advancement, there must be a deliberate change in the mode of practice. Recently many law firms in Nigeria are setting up websites with personal domain names to meet the global trend in disseminating information and offering legal services.
Most recently the Nigerian Institute of Advanced legal Studies, in trying to adapt to modern practice via the internet, launched a website from which Nigerian citizens whose rights have been breached can seek faster legal aid.
Lagos state among other states has taken the drive to improve its judiciary, court rules and other state laws by creating electronic copies of such laws accessible to Nigerians via the internet. Also, the state has created filing of court processes online to ease the front loading system.
It is without doubt that a lawyer in this age and dispensation must not only be ICT informed, but must develop his skill to meet up emerging frontiers in the development of the law. Lawyers are skilled in recognizing and translating complex and abstract human values and goals into institutions and practices.
Therefore as new criminals activities emerge, economic activities keep evolving and international cooperation’s improve, a lawyer is at an advantage to strategically position himself/herself to lend a voice towards proper compliance with relevant laws, speak against injustice, sponsor bills for formulation of laws at the legislative level and also be in the fore front of socio-economic and political advancement both nationally and internationally. With all these I strongly feel the legal profession and indeed a 21st century Nigerian lawyer would make meaningful impact.