This may sound a bit controversial, but I've not seen a profession which promotes evil in the open like the legal profession. With the wig on, lawyers stand before the judge in defence of evil doers and plotters with a mandate of seeking their acquittal, using superior cunning arguments by looking for loopholes in the legal system and twisting the law for the the sole purpose of earning monetary reward from their clients.
This can obviously, be attributed to their training. I presumed that one of the training would-be lawyers receive in the law school before being called to bar is how to tacitly playdown on their inherent personal conscience. This is what leaves me pondering over the degree of good conscience left in the legal practitioners. Don't get it twisted, a lot of morally sound lawyers are equally in the Profession across different chambers within the country.
Unfortunately, close discerning will reveal how the Profession thrive best in deceit and feasting on the miscalculations of the appellant who is seeking justice before a competent court of jurisdiction.
Permit me to site two recent instances: one of a criminal offence and the other of a Shariah case, all in Kano State, Nigeria. We will need to pay close ear to discern how lawyers in the defence team are attempting to remodel the course of justice by dragging the cases in a bid to secure the release of the accused on all grounds.
It is no longer news that Sheikh Abdul-Jabbar Nasiru Kabara, the controversial kano preacher has been charged to court by the state government for offence bordering on blasphemy according to Islamic law. Knowing fully well the gravity of the (expected) outcome of the judgement, lawyers waided in to ensure the acquittal of the accused despite the volume of evidence against him.
Upon discovering the hidden anctics of the lawyers who have promised to defend and clear him of all charges, Abdul-Jabbar rescind their counsel protesting that, they are insincere to their pledge of seeking justice on his behalf. His vituperation was that, the lawyers are capitalising on his ordeal to enrich their Chambers through the series of legal bottleneck they're cracking. The infamous Sheikh opted to stand in self defence. All these drama unfolded after his defence team's full assurance of being victorious at the commencement of hearing. Though, the possibility is highly impossible.
The second scenario from same Kano, is connected to the late five years old Haneefa whose teacher Abdulmalik Tanko kidnapped and murdered in cold blood. The details are everywhere on the web. It is therefore no longer news that the culprit openly confessed on camera and before the whole public of conniving with his accomplices to commit the crime and even went further to seek the forgiveness of the mourning parents.
Fortunately unfortunate, when the case came up for mention before the court, the same accused pleaded not guilty to the charges of kidnapping, culpable homicide and murder read against him. Guess who advised him to claim innocence after the whole nation and even the international community have condemned his evil action? The lawyers-- his defence counsel.
I am sure, it is now visible to you to connect the obvious dots between the law Profession, self-centeredness, injustice, deceit and outright evil against the society. It is further appalling to see that most of these legal minds who wore the mask of innocence always go with the slogan of protecting the accused of being deprived of their human rights. This beg the question of what now happens to the fundamentals human rights of the victims who have been deprived of their right to life by these evil doers? What is the fate of the society and it's members who have been thrown into a theatre of evil because evil doers have the guarantee of going free by the antics of lawyers who are brained in using the constitution for the good of themselves; nay the society.
This is not an over generalisation. There are good lawyers and the opposite are also in abundance. The current reality will require the good to rise up to the defence of the common good to save the society from the evil of their colleagues who utilise their expertise to the detriment of the society.
To make it work better, our justice system need to be remodelled to guarantee quick justice delivery. Remember, justice delayed is justice denied.
Post Scriptum: without prejudice, this is my sincere sentiment on the practices of lawyers who are bent on defiling the legal profession in Nigeria and the world over. This will not interrupt the fact that I personally admire the profession and would later aspire to study and practice as a legal luminary, but, it has to be for good.
-Tijani Hassan Abdulkarim is a graduate in Mass Communication from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria he can be reached via 09058816871
28:02:2022
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