By Mojirayo ogunlana-Nkanga

People just want to be lawyers.
The way Nigeria is at the moment, can we really just be lawyers?

These are not normal times for one to just be a lawyer.

“Lawyers are to observe and uphold the rule of law, promote and foster the cause of Justice, maintain a high standard of professional conduct…”

If there’s a time for Lawyers in Nigeria to stand united to uphold the rule of law, it is Now!

Our democracy is in great danger! Life is being choked out of the Civic Space. We are seeing a pattern where Nigerians are being told that they have no right to have choices of what to watch, to listen to, to seek and be informed about, to patronize businesses of their own choosing, etc. And this is supposed to be a democracy!

In a democracy, people have choices. They can determine to be on any platform of their choosing. Any derogation from this must be provided for by law, necessary and compatible with democratic tenets and all measures to be used to regulate it must be proportional.

Rule of law should ordinarily be the currency of these times but unfortunately we see a government that says rule of law and due process will be suspended to protect national security. Who determines national security? Still the same government that has allowed the security of Nigerian’s to be at stake since it resumed office in 2015.
Who determines when National Security is threatened, still the government that can decide today that the use of mobile phones in the 21st century threatens security.

There are no checks and balances. Practically every arm of government is subdued.

This is not the time for any lawyer to just be a lawyer. This is the time for Lawyers to stand out, tall and speak out against any form of abuses on our democratic principles, to avoid all forms of greed and political party ambitions and to clamour for the elevation of the rule of law above all else!

This is the time for lawyers to be extraordinary!

Extraordinary is standing out to seek justice for all, for the good of the people and for the progress of our nation.

So the simple question is, are you just a lawyer?

Mojirayo ogunlana-Nkanga

Principal partner M.O.N. Legal