SPEECH BY ALI D. ZUBAIRU, MCIArb(UK)PRESENTED AT THE YOUNG LAWYERS FORUM PROGRAM HELD ON THE 30TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2015 AT LAKE CHAD HOTEL MAITAMA, ABUJA.
I am honoured to be picked for this task, despite the rich and deep pool of eminent senior lawyers paraded by the Unity Branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). The latitude given to me included the prerogative to speak on any topic of my choice. Though my choice of topic: “CAPACITY BUILDING FOR DIVERSIFICATION” is not entirely novel, but nevertheless, I hope to hit on a few high sounding notes.
The story is told of a wealthy village farmer in Bokkos Plateau State called Adoya. At the wake of Nigeria’s earliest currency reforms when the use of cowries was ended; Adoya harvested all his crops and was ready to earn a fortune from his labour. He was approached by two middlemen who offered to buy all the grains and pay him in full. The middle men had collected bags of cowries from their communities and neighbouring towns as people were ordinarily willing to part with them. They used the cowries to pay Adoya and took delivery of all the goods. By the time Adoya realised that the cowries were of no value, the middle men had already crossed River Niger. This tells us the perils of missing or failure to upgrade.
The society is fast evolving and so is the law either made or amended to meet the new challenges of the time. To this end, lawyers and in deed young lawyers must build capacity to remain relevant in the profession. The enactment of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015 is a pointer to the fact that only lawyers who are equipped in the field of Information Technology may be able to successfully prosecute or defend cybercrime offences. If a lawyer does not understand terms like “Cyber stalling, Cyber Squatting, phishing, spamming, Identity theft etc” as used in the Act, how can he successfully prosecute or defend when such a case arises?
Similarly, statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows that in the year 2014, the volume of transactions made through various electronic payment terminals is 27,744,797 while the value of the transactions is put at 339.2 Trillion. Certainly, there are Laws, Regulations and Contracts etc that governs the above transaction (The Electronic Transaction Bill, 2013 is yet to be passed into law). The question is, as a lawyer are you equipped to draft such contracts or in the case of dispute, do you have the know-how of the dispute resolution mechanism of such complex and technical matters? The cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria is unlikely to be reversed because it is a globally accepted mode of transaction.
The Nigerian economy is experiencing a down turn as a result of fallen crude prices in the international market. This is so due to over dependence on her crude oil sales, while neglecting other sectors of the economy that have the potentials for wealth creation. This situation has made the government of the day to put in some belt tight measures, and also to look inward in the areas of Agriculture, Solid Minerals and Tax. As time progresses, we shall be experiencing an aggressive tax regime which shall aim at spreading its tax net to capture more and more taxable persons and entities. It will also work assiduously to ensure compliance. As a result, the demand for Tax Practitioners will be on the rise to ensure compliance as well as representation before the Tax Appeal Tribunal in the event of dispute. This is also another veritable area amongst so many that lawyers can build their capacity.
I do not intend by this presentation, to down play the significance of litigation in the settlement of disputes. But truth be told, there seem to be a growing negative vibe towards litigation as a means of civil dispute resolution, particularly in our clime. This may not be unconnected with the too many a technicality involved and several years taken to get justice. For example, the case of S.P.D.C.N. LTD V. ANARO (2015) 12 NWLR (PART 1472) PAGE 122. This was a consolidated suit initiated in 1983 at the High Court of the old Bendel State, Warri Division over claim of compensation for damage occasioned by oil spillage. The case was finally decided by the Supreme Court in June, 2015. For the parties in this suit, it was a 32 year walk through the door of litigation to finally get to the fountain of justice! I make light to say that some of the young lawyers here, were not born when the case was commenced.
Because of the kind of scenario depicted above, it is no wonder that in the Acts establishing some government Ministries, Agencies and Parastatals, litigation is scarcely made an option of dispute resolution. Some examples include the Nigeria Communication Commission Act, 2003, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, 1995, Security and Exchange Commission Act etc. Therefore, where disputes arise over issues relating to such MDA’s only the skilled in such dispute resolution mechanisms are engaged.
Similarly, despite a plethora of authorities on the principle of law that police is not a debt recovery institution; there is a rise in the use of police men and other security agencies for debt recovery. This approach more often than not leads to infringement of Fundamental Human Rights. But those who adopt this method do so, not necessarily out of ignorance but as a quick fix to the problem. And the rationale is not far-fetched; the slow pace by which justice is dispensed in our courts. Until the Rules of Court are strengthened, the bench becomes proactive and the bar vibrant, our courts will gradually lose its bastion as the hope of the common man.
The Nigerian economy is opening up for investment, and there is an apparent transparency and commitment to fighting corruption perceived by foreign investors to be on going. Specialized skills in law will thus be required from Nigerian lawyers to render peculiar services to investors. And where such skills cannot be found, the briefs will be outsourced to foreign firms with the needed capacity. I call to remembrance a passage in the book by His Excellency Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai the Governor of Kaduna state titled “The Accidental Public Servant” at page 82 paragraphs 2 and 3 he said thus:
“… This was barely two weeks after I resumed, and then early in December 1999, we received the ‘power purchase agreement’ (PPA) of over 100 pages including annexes, annexures and other attachments. We could not make any sense out of it. We approached Norton Rose of the UK, and two local law firms, A B Mahmoud & Co. based in Kano and George Ikoli & Okagbue of Lagos to undertake a review of the power purchase agreement. Norton Rose needed several weeks, and instinctively I knew we had to figure this out before it got too late, and several weeks might be too late.
The local law firms submitted the outcome of their reviews within a short period, but what we got were not very helpful in isolating the potential impact of the PPA on our power sector reform programme. The agreement was highly technical with enough equations and integrals to scare all but the most mathematically proficient of lawyers. At this point, I approached the World Bank country office for assistance…”
Do not lock up yourself in the box of litigation. The legal profession is broad with so many areas of interest that a young lawyer may choose to gradually build capacity and over time become an authority in those areas. That is a sure way of becoming relevant in this profession and with the reward of having multiple streams of income. Some of the interesting areas include but are not limited to; ICT law, Taxation, Energy law, ADR, investment law, Construction law, Aviation law, oil and gas law, Maritime law, Entertainment law etc. Some of the institutions aside tertiary institutions of learning where you can build capacity include; Digital Bridge Institute for ICT law related courses, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Mediation, Conciliation etc.
Young lawyers in Nigeria face a lot of daunting challenges, ranging from financial constraints and in some cases lack of a clear cut career path in the firm they work. These notwithstanding should not make you lose focus of your goal in life. Young lawyers should imbibe the culture of hard work, the virtue of perseverance, discipline and should make themselves available to be taught. Have an insatiable appetite for learning.
Finally, let me leave you with a quote from the words of Steve Jobs in the speech he delivered in 2005 at Stanford University titled: Stay Hungry. Stay foolish:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma- which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary”
Today is my birthday and I am glad I shared a moment of it with you. I wish you a wonderful deliberation. Thank you for listening.
Ali D. Zubairu, MCIArb (UK)
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