The general weakness of the nation’s law enforcing institutions is responsible for the perceived ineffectiveness of the laws.
This was the verdict of a Lagos based lawyer and boardroom guru, Nosike Agokei, while speaking to Daily Sun in Lagos.
According to the Managing Director of John Holts Plc, there are enough laws in the country to deal with virtually every situation of life
However, he regretted that the perceived weakness of the enforcement institutions and agencies has been a major drawback as according to him, they are easily susceptible to manipulation by rich and powerful citizens who have run foul of the law.
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“Nigeria is not short of laws and the laws take precedence on the activities of the citizens, otherwise there would be a situation of anarchy. I think the problem is the application and implementation of the existing laws. So the issue is not laws, it is with the people who have been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the said laws.
“Again, this takes us back to the issue of expectation gap. When the people expect much and that much is not happening, they feel very bad and begin to criticize. The law is no respecter of persons. But you know, because of the misplacement of things, some
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of the people who are politically and socially influential tend to out twist the laws,” he said.
He spoke further on sundry issues such as the role of lawyers in the society, the general socio-political environment and the challenges of the legal profession.
Excerpts
Ineffectiveness of Laws in Nigeria
That is not true. It is not as if the laws are ineffective. Nigeria is not short of laws and the laws take precedence on the activities of the citizens, otherwise there would be a situation of anarchy. I think the problem is the application and implementation of the existing laws. So the issue is not laws, it is with the people who have been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the said laws.
Again, this takes us back to the issue of expectation gap. When the people expect much and that much is not happening, they feel very bad and begin to criticize. The law is no respecter of persons. But you know, because of the misplacement of things, some of the people who are politically and socially influential tend to out twist the laws. And I think that this is possibly what people perceive as the laws been ineffective.
If there is effective implementation of the laws, then every Nigeria will agree with me that the law is no respecter of persons. So, I beg to disagree that the laws are not effective. Only those who enforce the laws, such as the police and other agencies should take their duties seriously and live up to the expectation of the people.
Challenges of Practicing Law in Nigeria
Basically, the challenges are that of conducive and congenial working environment. Another one is frustration. For example, a lawyer is prosecuting a case for a client and the case lingers for close to ten or fifteen years. In the event of this, the lawyer gets frustrated.
The judicial system too, sometimes is not independent, but thank the lord that the judiciary in Nigeria is gradually becoming impressive. Some of these challenges also affect people in other profession. So, you see, it is not only the lawyers. The lawyers also have the problem of research and learning materials, which are initially ordered from oversea, but some lawyers and retired judges are now writing books. Poor infrastructure and lack of security are also other major problems confronting the profession. So, the government has to come to the aid of the profession because its practitioners constitute an indispensable aspect of the economy.
Role of Lawyers in the Society
Lawyers are doing their best. Some of them incidentally are involved in human rights crusade, to ensure that a lasting solution is proffered to the situation of the country. The issue anyway is not about lawyers. Lawyers can only go to court and proclaim what the law says on how things should be done. But permit me to say authoritatively that the onus lies on the law enforcement agencies to do their jobs properly.
Reason for not Practicing Law
When you talk about practising law, a lot of people think that it is only going to the court. This is not so. You can work in a company and practise. That is what we call corporate law. For example, I write agreement for the company, I may not be in active legal practice, but there are things that border on law that I do for the company.
Problem with Nigeria
Every country has got one problem or the other. It is not a peculiar thing that Nigeria has a problem. Of course, problems have categories. There are a lot of social, political, economic and environmental problems bisecting the Nigeria polity. Nigeria has known poverty, as a result of this, unemployment comes in, and then there is crime and other social malaise.
There is the environmental problem of degradation, political problem of the country’s inability to perfect the system of running the kind of government it has chosen for itself. Talking about economic problems, Nigeria polity for example, is solely dependent on oil; the nation is not actively involved in the exportation of goods and services. Other natural resources are not utilized; there is the problem of bad roads, dearth of infrastructure.
The list of problems abound. But the earlier we begin to address these problems, the better. Obviously, What Nigeria need is good and strong leadership. This is because the expectations of her citizens are high and the government has not lived up to these expectations. The government is not doing badly anyway, or it depends on how one sees it.
They (government) has got its own problems too, generating revenue and tackling the recurrent economic problems. Generally, in my own assessment, I do not think there is any government that would have problems and allow such to overwhelm it. Government is doing its best, but the citizens have got to help because the government alone cannot address the enormous problems facing the nation.
Leadership in Nigeria
You see, a lot of people talks about political will. I believe many of the people that say this do not know what it means. What Nigeria need is effective leadership. Leadership that has integrity, leadership that believes that people have voted them into power and as result should serve the people with every seriousness and purpose.
Serving the people means that leaders must take interest in the peoples’ lives and ensure that available resources are deployed according to the needs of the people. Although, the broad spectrum of leadership suggests the existent of political will, but once there is effective leadership, the issue of political will becomes secondary. For example, if one is going into power and has an ambition politically, then the ambition and the will should go together.
They should blend to suit the kind of leadership intended, so that the citizens would enjoy the dividends of democracy. Where a leader has neglected the duty of deploying the available resources for the benefit of the people, that leader is said to have failed the people. Therefore, it is not only when a leader has embezzled money that he/she will be referred to as corrupt.
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